THE TENDER ROOF OF OLUWERI

by Yusuf Balogun Gemini for Ruth Chidinma Ochei


Thousand words would not fill a basket,

broken jars would never house the torrent of Oosa Oke

but if sixty seconds make one minute,

then sixty rubies would make a ~thousand~ ~jackpot~ —

scratch that,

a ruby is enough gold,

if you'd have sixty of her,

then that's Paradise.




But only cowards hide under words to tame wings,

only lazy men pen hieroglyphs on the beak of Awoko,

men like us glide gracefully to the

tender roof of Oluweri,

just to keep memories in seashells —

Ruby,

this land is not a definition of your aura,

you are the jingling trinkets on the loins of Mother Earth,

you're the running zigzag dots on the crystal plate of heaven's gate,

you're that constant deep rooted, watered in the muds of Eden,

you're that reason

why my poetry is now

d

i s

t

o

r

te

d

like the running waters of Nigeria,

Ruby, you're the peaceful chaos I read of in chronicles!




Ruby,

women like you find a home upon the vagina of waters,

for whom among your enemies shall swim in that pool

lest be stricken by thunderbolt?

Ruby,

women like you walk on waters,

you look so much like the irises,

how then can you drown?

Ruby,

women like you doze on water,

you're the oil bean pod that was spoken of by Okigbo,

how then won't you stay afloat?

Ruby,

you are the reason why my poetryisnowcongestedandconjuncted.




Ruby!

I have appeased the candlelight of my father,

I have found bay at the shores of aro gidigba,

that they may stare at this unrepentant son of mortal

and forgive him of his shortcomings —

isn't it the greatest of sacrilege

to dare qualify a ~goddess~ in mere words?

Strike that, you're too huge to be a goddess,

even Leopold would walk to Senegal tro and fro, never to find an answer still,

phrasal phrase that a thousand words may not be right for,

clausal clause that a thousand words would not make lose water,

Ruby, now that my poetry is ```the fallen wall of Jericho,```

_the broken scrotum of dickfuckdick..._




Ruby,

would you find relish in the relics of beauty?

Ruby,

if I reminded you of your uniqueness,

would you wash your feet

with the waters of Benue,

coat your fingers in the green white green soil of t'is land

and like a certain ruler in his seventies,

leave to return again...?




This poetry is ellipsis...

How do you end magic, darling?

OF A CERTAIN SAMURAI

 

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