Monday, January 12, 2015

I Sing & Harmattan Song & The Coin of Life




Recently I met the Nigerian poet Adelaja Ridwan Olayiwola on Facebook, and tonight I'd like to share some of his poems with you.  (He shares his poems freely on Facebook, so if you would like to read more of his work, you may go to his timeline to see what he is working on.  Many of his poems comment on Nigerian politics, so reading them may be a good way to learn more about this country.)

The picture above is of the harmattan, the dry season's wind.  Adelaja's second poem is inspired by it.  


 I SING


I sing the song of a land

where everyman is a patriot
and every station is a peacestead.

II
I sing of tomorrow
snail-slow like lullabies

soothing the pains of my people
petting the troubled children to rest.

III
I sing of change
like poets of all ages

calling from the
minarets of their pen
preaching peace from the pulpit
of sorrow-scattered sheets.

IV
I sing of hope
like a chorister

rehealsing the songs of a new beginning
humming without beats along the street.

V
I sing of a land
and I sing of tomorrow

I sing of change
and I sing of hope.

VI
I sing,
... yes, I will sing
...until diaries date my death.


My Harmattan Song

The cold 
and chill is here again
The skin 
is drying quick again. 

Gloss on 
lips I see again
Socks and 
gloves on men again. 

Lotions 
–no effect again
Sweaters 
come in vogue again. 

Leaves litter 
the yard again
Students 
pick and pick again. 

A.C is free 
for all again
The rich won't 
boast to us again. 

The haze is here, 
it is harmattan again
Let's play safe 
perhaps, to witness another one again!

THE COIN OF LIFE

Sweet and sour
Hard and soft
On and off
Tender and tough

Head and tail
Pass and fail
Short and long
Weak and strong

Life tosses on like a tiny coin
Like a stream –in twos, all around it runs
It comes and goes like the daily sun
It smiles –it cheers, it also mourns.

Island and lake
Break and make
Up and down
Smile and frown

Left and right
Dull and bright
Front and back
Light and dark

Life tosses on like a tiny coin
Like a stream –in twos, all around it runs
It comes and goes like the daily sun
It smiles –it cheers, it also mourns.

Come and go
High and low
Give and take
Real and fake

Fast and sluggish
Kind and fiendish
Nut and bolt
Sink and float

Life tosses on like a tiny coin
Like a stream –in twos, all around it runs
It comes and goes like the daily sun
It smiles –it cheers, it also mourns.

Sleep and wake
Still and shake
Sun and moon
Ago and soon

Nasty and holy
Many and only
Home and away
Will and may

Life tosses on like a tiny coin
Like a stream –in twos, all around it runs
It comes and goes like the daily sun
It smiles –it cheers, it also mourns.

Love and hatred
Rich and wretched
Poem and prose
Friends and foes

Stretching and bending
Rising and falling
Grave and cradle
Busy and idle

And on and on
Life tosses on!

---------

For your musical accompaniment, let's start with Stan Getz and Chet Baker's live performance of Sonny Rollins' "Airegin" from 1983:

I also have the Miles Davis Quintet's version from 1954:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aQxJCrGSLqE


To go with "The Coin of Life," I am adding Dorothy Ashby's "Life Has Its Trials" from her phenomenal Afro-Harping: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ar5y0QVEHrY

If you would like to listen to jazz from Nigeria itself, here is the singer Somi's performance in Lagos: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8W2o5yXPXXg

Another Nigerian jazz artist who has won international acclaim is the trumpeter Jumbo Aniebiet:

Some of you may remember High Life, so here is the Ubo Jazz Band of Africa:  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JON3JZ-oles


Enjoy!


8 comments:

  1. Thank you, Joan. :) I will pass your praise on to Adelaja.

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  2. Beautiful word power ~ thanks for the pleasure Marianne ~

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  3. Thank you so much, John. I've passed your praise onto Adelaja. :)

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  4. My Harmattan Song and The Coin of Life both have GREAT rhyme schemes

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  5. "Ago and soon..." (Coins of Life).
    Oh! what a poet can do with the smallest words. Thanks, Marianne. I love!

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