It is one thing to hear something and it’s another to see it. In poetry, imagination is vital when painting the picture in the mind.

“Dear Jessica” is a poem written by Rodney Roskruge, a young Xhosa man who currently resides in Durban. In this poetry piece he writes words regarding his heart and soul out about a certain young lady.

Roskruge first performed his poem during the ‘Bring Back Our Girls Campaign’ at the Durban University of Technology’s City Campus, recently, which led to a weekly slot at Radio DUT.

“The poem is about a longing and remembrance when we actually wrote letters. The actual feel of it, the hand writing, the mistakes, the personal tips it has,” he said.
His piece in some parts is explicit, but poetry lovers will appreciate his original touch.

According to Roskruge, the origins of his poem called ‘Jessica’ can be traced to a relationship he had formed with a girl from a remote area that can only be reached by sending letters.

Apart from his radio slot, Roskruge has also made a video called the “Dear Jessica” video which was set here in Durban and aired at the Durban Playhouse on 26 September 2014.

Sisipho Odwa Jona plays the role of Jessica, bringing the character to life. Roskruge plays himself as the male counterpart in the story.

“When we first heard the poem, we knew immediately that we had to work with Rodney,” said Treasure Zaca, the owner of BTS Films, who produced the video.
The BTS films team also said that this wasn’t their first project collaborating with Roskruge.

“We have worked with Rodney before on a short sketch called Psycho Experience earlier this year, so there were no major problems and we hope to continue our collaboration with this talented writer,” said Zaca.

– Siyabonga Dube