By: Siyabonga Dube

Its 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 by Rodney Roskruge, a young Xhosa man who currently resides in Durban. In this piece he pours his heart out about a certain girl.

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

“The poem is about a longing…remember when we actually wrote letters? The actual feel of it, the hand writing, the mistakes, the personal tip it has,” Roskruge said.

His piece in some parts is explicit, but poetry lovers will appreciate his original touch.

According to Roskruge, the origins of ‘Jessica’ can be traced to a relationship with a girl from a remote area that can only be reached by letter.

The “Dear Jessica” Video is set here in Durban and was aired on the 26th of September at the Durban Playhouse.

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 this 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,” Zaca added.