Ballito’s Christina Wiese has released her first book of poetry and is excited
to share her work – a heartfelt collection exploring love and loss.
At 51, Christina is proof that it’s never too late to pursue your creative calling. Best known locally as the marketing manager at Zimbali Lakes, Christina has just published her debut poetry collection, Dear Someone: A Collection of Poetic Conversations – a deeply personal and moving anthology that has been years in the making.
“I started writing my first poem at 15,” she says. “I can still feel the emotion. It was called Don’t Give Up and was just a few stanzas, written in my music room back in Chatsworth, where I grew up.” That early spark never left her, even if life, with all its ups and downs, sometimes got in the way.
Over the years, Christina has written through moments of joy and heartbreak, using poetry as a form of release and reflection. “I can’t sit and just say, oh, now I’ve got to write,” she says. “It’s a thought, a feeling, a word. Something sparks it – whether it’s a person, an experience or even a single moment.”
Those moments have been many. From marriage and divorce to living abroad and losing both of her parents within weeks of each other earlier this year, Christina’s poetry traces a lifetime of love, loss and self-discovery. “My dad died in February, and my mom in March,” she shares. “For their funerals, I wrote poems. It was very personal. That’s when I knew I needed to include a section called Dear Parents to close the book.”
Dear Someone features 96 poems divided into five categories – Dear Daddy, Dear Me, Dear Lover, Dear God and Dear Parents. Together they capture what she calls “the mix of life – the good, bad, ugly, joy and peace.” Some verses explore grief; others celebrate passion or spiritual connection. “As an Indian woman, I’ve had to learn not to shy away from vulnerability,” she says. “There’s even a poem called Fifty Shades of Brown. I’m not going to apologise for it. It’s part of who I am.”
Christina describes her writing process as intuitive and spontaneous. “I literally can write between ten minutes and an hour,” she laughs. “When it’s written, it’s done. I don’t rewrite. Each poem belongs to the moment it came from.”
Her hope now is that readers will find something of themselves in her work. “I want people to look at the poems and see what they connect with. I don’t want to tell them what each one means. Every poem has a story, but it’s up to the reader to feel it.”
Publishing her first book in her 50s feels especially meaningful. “For a long time, I was shy to share my poetry,” she admits. “But after everything I’ve experienced, I know the timing is right. I want people – especially women – to know that it’s never too late to do what you love.”
And this is just the beginning. With plans for a Poetic Conversations podcast and future collections already taking shape, Christina is ready to let her words lead the way. “It’s with great humility that I say it’s a gift,” she says. “When I look back, sometimes I can’t believe I wrote it. But I did – and it’s time to share it.”
Details: www.poetic-conversations.co.za
Photograph: Hikari Media
