KUKOGHO’S ‘I SAID THESE WORDS’ IS PROVOCATIVE, ENTERTAINING, AND ENCHANTING – a review by Joseph Omotayo
Joseph Omotayo
Read Time:4 Minute, 45 Second
TITLE:I SAID THESE WORDS AUTHOR: KUKOGHO IRUESIRI SAMSON GENRE: Poetry NUMBER OF PAGES: 88 PUBLISHER: WORDS RHYMES & RHYTHM PUBLISHERS DATE OF PUBLICATION: 2015 ISBN: 978-948 -406-2 REVIEWER: JOSEPH OMOTAYO
“I say these words…
for those who feign deafness
in a noisy world…”
All at once, this collection is provocative, entertaining, and enchanting. This poetry collection shimmers. This is the kind of book you hold on a Leventis-CMS BRT bus from Ikorodu and miss your bus stop at Leventis, not realising your loss until you are at CMS, the last bus stop. Kukogho Iruesiri Samson’s poetry simply captivates. He displays rhyme with insightful punch lines.
I SAID THESE WORDS by Kukogho Iruesiri Samson
This is one of those rare poetry collections that I have read in a while, and was never bored.
It is normal when a book bores you a bit here and there. It is just the way of intellection. I Said These Words soothes, pinches, soothes and pinches again – exactly the same way a rat bites: soothes, bites and soothes. Kukogho Iruesiri Samson thoroughly influences with poetry.
Kukogho Iruesiri Samson also uses poetry to blur the lines between poetry, drama and prose. There is an infusion of all those in the intensity of issues this collection treats.
I Said These Words is both confiding and public thoughts of the poet given freely. This collection prefigures unknown but certain depths that equally stir up memories and strike you with déjà vu. I could stop here and the review would be done. But I would continue. There are just so many things to say about this collection.
This collection is incisive.
This book touches on almost all gamut of existence. It is almost exhaustive, If not entirely. Life is deep. And the book goes all the way. This collection drags you along many things it dwells on. Almost hurriedly, it leaves you totally unguided to act on your own.
As you sink deep into introspection, thinking of this and that; it jabs you again, pulls you up and takes you to other arrays of issues. It is in this way the collection entrusts a lot on the reader. Your reflection is never thorough before another demanding situation calls your attention.
Kukogho Iruesiri Samson, author of I SAID THESE WORDS
This is the kind of book that leaves a lot in its wake for the reader to sort out. But this sorting will be easy. Mind you, this isn’t hastiness. It only means the poet has a lot to pour out. This book wouldn’t curl the same reactions from its readers. Mine was different. Yours will be too. One thing is sure though: all readers will achieve a level of depth only possible with this book.
Kukogho Iruesiri Samson’s choice of words is careful and deliberative. When he masterly play on 9/11 with this: “He killed 9 thousand elevens…”, you know the poet is striking at something. Every word is neatly purposeful:
“Osama had a thought:
For it he died – he fought;
He killed nine thousand elevens
Passing a message from heaven…”
There are so many stories in these poems. And one wonders how poetry in its exactitude can tell so much. “Why Does Love Steal Our Tongues” and “The Gazer and the Spark-eyed One” are some of such poems that are the zeitgeist of their time. Those poems are marvels.
“he was a little boy reaching for manhood,
she, little girl arching for womanhood
his was mixed tale of tears and hope
hers, a life upwards Life’s slope…
two stories crossed: same scene, same act
a bejewelled queen, fine man with tact
he an oak – deep rooted. she wanted
but silver ring on a finger taunted!…”
“The Gazer and the Spark-eyed One” is deep. As in DE–E—P. This poem will move you close to tears. The love in this poem is realised on twisted thorns. This poem depicts love’s fragile delftware. That ware is the unpredictability called life.
“One time I knew a crystal gazer
Who had a sight as sharp as laser;
One look into his crystal ball,
And sure he’ll say what will befall
The one that put him to task…
This gazer’s heart was sorrow’s prey
And sadness grew in him each day;
For though the earth’s nooks he had trod
No woman’s love had heat his blood.
And when for love he tried to gaze
He saw naught but a misty haze…”
I SAID THESE WORDS by Kukogho Iruesiri Samson
“Valentine Blues” tells us what to expect during valentine. This is not unexpected though, as such day is known for nursed rampaging lusts. In this poem, the poet calls the reader into a reflective observation. However, at the end of the poem, the poet raises a question. He asks:
“Will I see…
Orphan clutching gift
Couple mending rift
Rigid heart shift
Kindness soaring swift
..this valentine
Poems like “I Will Report You to the Future” and “Where Went Our (Widowed) Ma?” come hard on the Jonathans and justifiably so. With the current recession, I wonder what the poet will write about the Buharis and change.
I Said These Words is definitive. Nothing escapes this collection. This book is a symphony of meanings.
