Shadrach and Other Poems

Oka Obono

African Books Collective, 2011 - Poetry - 124 pages

The story of how the poems in this collection survived an inferno at the University of Ibadan will have to be told someday in a full-bodied narrative. Mostly written by 1995, the poems constitute an emotional biography, or a loose personal chronicle of events and contemplations occurring in a particularly fiery period in the author's life. Often the products of extreme inner excoriations, they remain germane to a reading of his subsequent philosophical transitions and current commitments. The reader of Shadrach and Other Poems will readily detect, and enjoy, the springs from which the themes of the verses flow from candid intimate reflections that underscore their authenticity to specifically public and numinous encounters that suggest the boundlessness of their source. The Shadrach idea - a telling image of trial - is the poet's choice of a redeeming metaphor that indicates the triumph of the human spirit over temporal setbacks and its indictment of forces falsely proclaiming their permanence. In this way, Oka Obono reminds us that humour, gravity and imagination are indispensable to us as we make peace with chance and providence in an uncertain world. He throws open the experience of a convoluted journey, and invites us to recollect our own histories within its subterranean passages. This is the charm of these poems. The material will resonate with readers who have been in varying kinds of 'ontological crucibles'. They will endorse the redemption waiting at the end of every tunnel - even if that came through the 'labyrinth of a promised furnace'.

Contents

• Preludes: 1
• Distant Images: 2
• Asaba: 3
• Among the Signs: 4
• Virginia Slims: 5
• Relay: 6
• Daily Resurrection: 7
• The Play Goes On: 8
• Remembering Carmelita: 10
• A Sphinxs Guidance: 12
• Realization: 13
• Friends of Nick: 14
• An Easter Poem: 15
• Sears of Yesterday: 16
• Transition: 17
• I Feel Estranged From You: 18
• The Serenity Was Strained Too Soon: 19
• Sparks On the Inside: 20
• A Pointless Ritual: 21
• The Cow and the Bull: 22
• For You These Days: 23
• This Wilderness of Things: 24
• The Devil: 26
• For Nora: 27
• Brandy Poetry: 28
• Into You: 29
• Furtively She Came Like a Fowl and Stood: 30
• Illusions: 31
• Through Your Eyes: 32
• I Write at a Bad Time: 33
• I Do Not Stroll Alone: 34
• You Stir Me Daily: 35
• Cocks on the Green: 36
• Stirrings: 37
• One Trip Less Without You: 38
• How Do You Feel?: 39
• Lessons of Life: 40
• Mercy Memoirs: 41
• Identity: 42
• This Gift of Sight: 43
• Same Place Some Place: 44
• If There Were a Way: 45
• From Nick: 46
• Sudden Sight: 47
• Tolling Across the Road: 48
• Still Yourself: 49
• These Blows You Deal Me: 50
• Rejoicing: 51
• Nsukka Skies: 52
• Rafters and Beams: 53
• For Someone in PH: 54
• Luminous Dreams: 55
• Glad To Have Met You: 56
• On Time and Things: 57
• A Sea Serenade: 58
• Innocence and Guilt: 59
• Mine on the Leaves: 60
• For Lost Companions: 61
• Nigerian Faces: 62
• You: 63
• Passage Me to Calmer Waters: 64
• For Andy: 65
• The Land Loves the Sea: 66
• Unweje Rijo: 67
• On Ideas: 68
• The Man from Three Worlds: 69
• Night Marauders: 70
• On Years and Lies: 71
• Joy in this Pure State: 72
• Scenes Still Tug: 73
• Grass on Sunday: 74
• The Slip: 75
• I Shall Rise Swiftly I Say: 76
• Freezing Morning: 77
• Goodbye: 79
• Flickering Goodbye: 80
• Nemesis: 81
• Corpses Motorcade: 83
• Disorientation Camp: 84
• A Nude Night: 85
• Quaking Grass: 86
• 88Shadrach: 88
• Adam Among the Rushes: 91
• Illumination: 92
• This White Fire: 93
• Birth of a South African Orphan: 95
• The Mayor: 96
• Loneliness: 97
• Noon Dreams: 98
• On Silence: 99
• A Reverie: 100
• Innocences Viewpoint: 104
• Walk Blameless Before Me: 105
• Take a Hike: 106
• Mirror Games: 107
• He Spoke as the Clouds: 108
• Gentle Night: 109
• Baby Talk: 110
• We Will Let Our Blood Flow: 111
• Lord of Nature: 112
• One Moment: 113
• Home: 114
• I Dreamed of a Candle Flickering Last Night: 115
• His Touch Was Sacred to My Body: 116
• A Pleasant Lull: 117
• Tribute to a Little Flower: 118
• Throes in the Deep: 119
• Yakurr Retreat: 121
• Masindi: 123
• I Am the Fish Who Slipped Away: 124
• Back cover: 125

Bibliographic information

• Title: Shadrach and Other Poems
• Author: Oka Obono
• Publisher: African Books Collective, 2011
• ISBN: 9956717177, 9789956717170
• Length: 124 pages
• Subjects: Poetry / African; Poetry / European / English, Irish, Scottish, Welsh; Poetry / General