Wednesday was Valentines’ Day and, as usual, it was a day of love, of cherishing emotions and showing each other compassion.
Couples all over the world took part in confessing their feelings on this day as every year, February 14 is the day to celebrate love with loved ones.
While one might say love does not need a special day to be celebrated, one might be right just as they join those that say every day is Valentine’s Day with their loved ones.
Diary of a Week Man, a poem by renowned poet Q Malewezi, takes a lyrical journey that transcends the confines of a single day, expressing affection throughout the week as it takes a new dimension with an artificial intelligence generated video.
Released on Valentine’s Day, the artistic creation unfolds the different ways a man can say I love you to his lover and mean a different thing on each given day expressing a spectrum of emotions from Sunday to Monday.
As Monday dawns, the man, a protagonist in this love story, begins his week-long journey of affection.
The first stanza goes: “When I say I love you on a Monday what I really mean is I admire you for the strength that you carry, the resilience that defines you and the grace with which you navigate life.”
The protagonist’s words articulate how the ordinary becomes extraordinary, a shared glance, a whispered promise or confession of admiration.
As the poem unfolds, each day reveals a unique flavour of love, mirroring the natural flow of a love bound relationship.
Tuesday brings respect, Wednesday is about cherishing the loved one and Thursday is for appreciation.
While Friday is for celebrating the love of his life, Saturday is for valuing the love and life of the lover and Sunday brings reverence.
Malewezi through his poem extends the celebration of love from a day to an immersive experience that echoes the sentiments of those who declare everyday as Valentine’s Day with their loved ones.
In an interview, the poet said the inspiration behind the piece was to unpack the phrase ‘I Love You’ which is used to express love regardless of what day it is.
“I wanted to explore the expression I love you and how when you hear that depending on what is going on, on that particular day, it might hit differently and intentionally communicate what that I love you means on that day,” he said.
Meanwhile, the AI generated video of the poem has received positive response from fans and poetry lovers who accessed it through Facebook and YouTube.
The video contains characters represented by different black women engaged in traditional settings while the background music creates a harmony for the piece, as poetry, imagery and music touch.
Maureen Chaweza commented: “Beautiful piece, favourite days Wednesday and Sunday, the art combination on point, crystal clear voice and song and the ladies’ beautiful smiles with nice dental formulas.”
Another comment by Ntchindi Chiyamwaka reads: “The levels of depth in this are just wow, amazing words Q and your team.”
The poem features Chiko Chalie who sings the chorus just before the last stanza of the poem, celebrating love on each given day.
The last Stanza summarizes everything: “So, when I say I love you on any given day, what I truly mean is you mean more to me than words could ever say.”
