Homeland & Other PoemsIfowodo was a frontline student leader in the early eighties and is a lawyer and civil rights activist. In 1996 he was a writer-in-residence at the Heinrich Boell Foundation. He was imprisoned between 1997 and 1998 and was subsequently adopted by PEN. This is his first collection of poetry which won the 1993 Association of Nigerian Authors Poetry Prize. Many of the poems are responses to politics; or spring from the tensions between writing political poetry, or art for art's sake, and other competing subjects of poetry, such as romantic love. The poet, quoting Neruda, first asks the reader expecting a poetic celebration of his natural world to 'come see the blood in the streets'. In the section section he writes tributes to Tracey Chapman, Winnie and Nelson Mandela and Margeret Thatcher ('the butcher'). The subject of the third section is the rediscovery of romantic love, amidst and beyond turmoil and oppression. |
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Page 42
... night ? and her bed is vacant again ... She became tough from the plague like the burnt bark of baobabs to sprout new life from gnarled tissue earning her time in crocodile teeth , bedfires and police dogs out to sniff danger from her ...
... night ? and her bed is vacant again ... She became tough from the plague like the burnt bark of baobabs to sprout new life from gnarled tissue earning her time in crocodile teeth , bedfires and police dogs out to sniff danger from her ...
Page 62
... night's thieving hand my love will be surer than the night's bleeding star . And till dawn shames the swords ! The leopard cannot shed its spots so cannot Christ his nail spots the tiger cannot shed its stripes so cannot Christ his whip ...
... night's thieving hand my love will be surer than the night's bleeding star . And till dawn shames the swords ! The leopard cannot shed its spots so cannot Christ his nail spots the tiger cannot shed its stripes so cannot Christ his whip ...
Page 66
... night could not diminish , grown in your fruitwine mouth , riper than all the pears and pineapples of the orchard's prize harvest . And I must put it down in this poem too that the space you would leave behind sprouted me who being ...
... night could not diminish , grown in your fruitwine mouth , riper than all the pears and pineapples of the orchard's prize harvest . And I must put it down in this poem too that the space you would leave behind sprouted me who being ...
Contents
For arts sake | 11 |
Poem to the child of my time | 32 |
Mandelas mantle | 41 |
Copyright | |
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anger anguish arms asked August battle bear beast beneath bitter bleeding blood bones break breath broken brows carved cast child close colours count crocodiles cross daily dance death December deep dust dying earth evil eyes face fading faith fear feet fire flesh flowing forest gathered graves grow guns hand harvest head hear heart heat hope horns January kill laughter lay dying leaves light living marched mark memory mouth muscle needing night pain past paths plead pledged POEMS poetry poison prize rain rising rivers roads sadness sand season seek serve shadow soldier song Soon sorrows soul space stars stone streets surer taste tears teeth terror things thirst tongue tree truth turn voice walk walls wear weeping whip wider winds wondered wounds