AWARD WINNING SPOKEN WORD/PERFORMANCE POET, OLAYINKA SAMSON AREMU (THE SAMURAI)
SPOKE THESE WORDS
I came across this quote online sometimes ago, “Everyone can write, but not everyone is a writer” - I believe many have seen or heard it too. Then like a plate of “jollof rice”, a revelation was served before me; “Everyone speaks poetry, but not everyone is a poet”.
I am saying this from my vantage point as a Yoruba person. My mother’s language, Yoruba, and poetry are interwoven. Let me give you some examples; “Ebi n pami” can literally be translated to the English language as “hunger is killing me”. In that sentence, you see how “hunger” is given animate attribution. You understand that when you are not eating you are dying. Let me give you another example; “gbe otto mi” which is translated directly as “swallow the truth.” “Truth” is given a physical form and swallowed, like it is a pill, to keep it from the knowledge of people. There are countless of examples of poetry in the everyday Yoruba language. A Yoruba speaking person speaks poetry almost every time he/she opens his/her mouth and is unaware of it. And I believe it is like that in every language.
Now the instance, in that paragraph above, brings this question, if everyone speaks poetry, does that make everyone a poet?’ For me, the answer is “no”.
Poetry is a skill; a developed aptitude. It is a talent that requires you to learn the power to do it competently. You are not a poet until you are self-conscious and you make conscious effort to put yourself into it; train and hone the skill, write with blood, and perform with your soul.
Still and all, poetry is easy if it is your calling. It is a voice and can come through you if you give yourself to it as a vessel. Don’t belittle yourself because of all I’ve said. I just want you to understand that poetry is a craft, a form of art, it requires learning for proficiency and you can't skip that.
If poetry has called you or you are willing to make yourself a vessel for poetry, go on, and use your poetry as a tool to transform humanity.
In the next edition, I will tell you how to know if you are a poet.
CURLED FROM KULIKULI POETRY NIGERIA PUBLICATION
