A Poetic Book Review
By Nkam Giftus
You dig deep into the crevices of time,
Excavating long-lost tales of our land –
Your pen knows neither rest nor relief,
For each tale you seek to richly retell;
Our sordid past, the turbulent present,
Lullabic reminiscences of time gone by;
Memoirs of our childish past, not last:
Years of tears, spent on boring books;
Fine follies and fumbles and fun foibles,
That you explore: the sordid, the sore:
The fine, the fair, the foul; unkind kings
Causing moaning masses go bananas.
Your rich rendition of the ordinary tales
Of life, of the great things, of pettiness;
Of the ludicrous, and the incongruous –
All find expression in your Radio Tales;
Variegated voices recorded, re-crafted:
From America and from Ndu, Nkambe:
Whose muddied waters you draw from;
Of puppets: madmen turned specialists.
Constantly fast flowing as the audacious
Amazon, never stopping, or the Sanaga;
Ever giving thirsting literary souls drink,
Refreshing those near or far via artistry.
Yours, a very writerly life, fully engaged –
Your nights and days are for cogitations;
What fitting words label your gurgitation,
Your flow and very glow? Can mine do?
Here’s my tribute to what you contribute:
Here’s my prayer for your pen and art –
That your rivers endless flow for a start:
Christ to you His good art grace imparts
