Poetry, Chinua Achebe
4. I read Chinua Achebe's Collected Poems. I felt as if I'm not the intended audience for the majority of these poems. I'm not "African"/Nigerian/Igbo. Only a handful of the poems, mostly early "Biafra" poems, seemed aimed at me and my level of understanding. Instead I felt the great privilege of being invited into someone else's conversation as a listening party. So I read and allowed the poems to sink into my mind without flailing about for full understanding, which I find is often a productive way to interact with poetry.
Achebe's 1960s idea of "Africa" and "African" seemed, to me, to be very much a product of its time. Achebe's work also, I thought, began by speaking from Africa/Biafra/Igboland and moved into speaking about Nigeria/Igboland. But in such a brief collection, with free-standing poems communicating on their own internal merits, it's probably foolish of me to try reading conclusions into the work, and also highlights my position as an outsider who is detached from the central conversation Achebe is involved in.
Excerpt from Knowing Robs Us
[...] had reason not given us
assurance that day will daily break
and the sun's array return to disarm
night's fantastic figurations -
each daybreak
would be garlanded at the city gate
and escorted with royal drums
to a stupendous festival
of an amazed world.
There are a sample Chinua Achebe poem, and related art by Chaz Maviyane-Davies, at my dw journal.
Tags: africa, african, igbo, nigerian, poetry
Achebe's 1960s idea of "Africa" and "African" seemed, to me, to be very much a product of its time. Achebe's work also, I thought, began by speaking from Africa/Biafra/Igboland and moved into speaking about Nigeria/Igboland. But in such a brief collection, with free-standing poems communicating on their own internal merits, it's probably foolish of me to try reading conclusions into the work, and also highlights my position as an outsider who is detached from the central conversation Achebe is involved in.
Excerpt from Knowing Robs Us
[...] had reason not given us
assurance that day will daily break
and the sun's array return to disarm
night's fantastic figurations -
each daybreak
would be garlanded at the city gate
and escorted with royal drums
to a stupendous festival
of an amazed world.
There are a sample Chinua Achebe poem, and related art by Chaz Maviyane-Davies, at my dw journal.
Tags: africa, african, igbo, nigerian, poetry