When Aime Iradukunda, a young poet, was going through a tough time a few years ago, he resorted to expressing his feelings through writing poetry. He chose this platform because then he would be able to let out his emotions and also share these tough times with friends and family, he believed. This was in 2018, and what started out as a platform for his healing, has turned into passion and a healing platform for others. He has since written 7 poems and a story which he shares on his website-penofpoetry.com. These include Yesterday, Think about it, The poet’s dream love, A farewell, 45 minutes to talk, You are a brother/sister to me, and A Silent Tear which so far stands as the favourite for his audience. One of his poems. In his poems, Iradukunda says he makes every effort to ensure that he shares messages that people can relate with. “I want people to have the opportunity to relate their experiences with my writings, to reflect and convey their emotions that they sometimes don’t let out. That’s why I mainly write poems and short stories that leave a lesson for the readers,” he says. His inspiration When he was growing up, the 24-year-old thought he would become a doctor. This changed when he joined university because he ended up taking a course in Information Technology. “And now, I am a poet too. It’s hard to know what you will be but time defines it. I also believe that every person is born with a talent, and that it is time that awakens that, though this happens in real time. For me, this was in 2018,” Iradukunda narrates. His inspiration comes from everything around him, he says, highlighting that “Everything around me is an inspiration because with what I write, I focus on human life. Life is made up of many things that help me illuminate our world through poetry.” When he was just starting out however, the poet reveals that it was the works of writer Patrick Shyaka that inspired him. “He is one of the good writers we have in this country and I love his book called ‘Lost in soliloquize.’ This is the one which inspired me most. I enjoyed the way he writes, his thoughts are so linked with real life and this painted the world for me,” he says. His dreams Iradukunda hopes to keep on refining what he does in order to reach as many people as he can. Through his website, he plans on sharing a lot of different new poems and short stories for his fans to relish. “Through poems, people are able to get various lessons and this is important. People experience various emotions which they can relate to in these poems. They also learn from the thoughts collected by the poets. This is why such a platform is a good way to reach different people around the world.” Basing on the relevance the poetry industry holds, Iradukunda believes it’s not given enough recognition as it should. He however commends the role played by the media in promoting this form of art noting that this is what will help it grow and expand even further. He advises fellow poets to work hard and share their best ideas in order to expand poetry. “Poetry is one of the ways used to give hope to people through writing and sharing living testimonies in a world where we work for a good future. In poetry, there are answers to a variety of questions, this is why poetry should be given a wider platform for the benefit of readers and writers too”. For more of Iradukunda’s poems and short stories, visit penofpoetry.com
