Poetry line rings to a world beat with Mapfumo

If you missed Thomas Mapfumo's Zimbabwean world beat show in Mayat the Cubby Bear, you can catch up on some of his world meter thismonth just by picking up the phone.

Through Sept. 1, Dial-a-Poem Chicago! is spotlighting the workof Zimbabwean musician, activist and budding world beat poet ThomasMapfumo in a program sponsored by the city's Cultural AffairsDepartment.

"Last spring, Mapfumo was scheduled to come to the CulturalCenter for a reading," arts program coordinator Hanan Wajid said."But then his band had transportation trouble and wasn't able to makeit for a performance. Instead, we were pleased to be able to get himto do a reading for Dial-a-Poem Chicago!"

The 3 1/2-minute segment starts with a Shona (Zimbabwean triballanguage) reading by Mapfumo of "Hurokuro," meaning "Conversation,"followed by an English translation. Since most of Mapfumo's songsare performed and recorded in Shona, this will give fans anopportunity to take a closer listen to Mapfumo's subtleanti-establishment lyrics. The poem comes from song lyrics on hislatest album, called "Chamunorwa" (Shona for "What Are We FightingFor"). So it's probably best classified as lyric poetry.

Mapfumo, whose music helped to inspire the Zimbabwean fight forindependence from the white minority government, has continued hiscriticism of oppression worldwide. In "Hurokuro," he laments theimpotence of mere words and saying, "How can we end them (troubles),when all is big promises and all is empty big mouth. Talk is allmisery."

In this 10th anniversary season, Dial-a-Poem Chicago! also willfeature the poetry of the late Mbembe Milton Smith and ChicagoansHenry Blakely, Margarita Lopez Castro, Jamila Ra, Peter Kostakis andEffie Mihopoulos.

To hear the poetry, call (312) 346-3478. For more informationand a schedule, call (312) 744-8943.