EASTER Copyrighted Wole Soyinka (1986) This slow day dies, a wordless wilt Shades of silence reaping Soft frangipanes Pollen's wings are thorned; bosoms Too welcoming fold later chills Take death to innocents Kinder these hard mangoes, greendrops At the car of god-apparent, coquettes To the future decadence. Do we not truly fear to bleed: We hunt Pale tissues of the palm, fingers groping Ever cautious on the crown. These pink frangipanes of Easter crop Eager to the wind; by repetition weak And rain's in-breeding, One bough to slake the millions: Decay Caulks earth's centre; spurned we pluck Bleached petals for the dreamer's lair. Borne passive on this gift, wound-plashes From wind scavenger, sap fragrance for A heady brew, I rode my winged as and raged — As children wove frond yellow from the palın Plucked at the core, within the spadix heart. Review 〰️〰️〰️ Even those of us raised on Soyinka’s writing find it dense sometimes. A way to understand his poetry is by asking questions. THE FIVE Ws The five Ws can help us begin to understand the poem. Consider: what is the poem about? 1. When is it set? The poem opens at the close of day. It’s symbolic- we are about to mourn the passing of things. Nature has become so cruel. The poet uses alliteration to describe the death of frangipanis/flowers. The opposite of resurrection is what is taking place. 2. Where is it set? Outdoors; a garden somewhere in Nigeria in the 1980s, perhaps? The poet’s observing and detailing a scene. We are told children wove yellow (decaying??) palm fronds. By the way, did you use to make palm crosses for Easter Sunday? I am Anglican and my dad Mr James, used to be a Lay Preacher. 😮 I remember staying up on Holy Saturday to make crosses. 🤭 But these crosses are damaged, plucked at the core from spadix (flowers) or a spiky heart. I can feel the kids’ fingers hurting. 😮 3. Why did the poet write it? It’s part of his Idanre and Other Poems collection. It a reflection on post colonial Nigeria and state decadence and corruption. 4. Who is speaking ('the perspective')/ who are they speaking to? Is Wole Soyinka addressing we, the readers, Nigerian society back then or himself? He’s probably aiming fire at us all. The plural subject pronoun: we, indicates Soyinka is probably addressing his countrymen/ a collective social group. 5. What is the poem about? This poem is about death, decadence and despair. I’m showing off now with my alliteration like the writer. Christianity offers nothing in this poem. Pollen has thorns, innocent children are visited by death. I’m reminded of a poem by Rasaq Malik called, ‘Bury Us.’ Jesus bled on the cross at Easter, but the subjects in being addressed in this poem are fearful of shedding bl0.0d. I see fingers groping, searching for answers or probably a way out of the figurative grave. ‼️THE TWO Ts-THEME / TONE‼️ I’ve already touched on part of this question. Themes: Passivity and indifference give way to fear. You can also think about the two Ts: theme of Easter and the poet’s dismal tone. What do you think are the poem's key themes (the central ideas? Surely, it’s not just the Christian calendar event — celebrating the resurrection of Jesus Christ? How would you characterise the tone? I’ve said dismal, but can you think of a better word? Before I ride my winged ass and rage too, what do you make of the poet’s lead-heavy language and literary devices?? How many assonances, alliterations and personified elements did you count? The poem is almost a tercet: each stanza consists of three lines except the last two unmetered couplet. Is there another name for this form please? Hmm. It makes me think of the Trinity first, then the Father and the Holy Ghost without a resurrected son. Reviewed by B. James (read more in edition 6 of Penned in Rage Journal, out in October). #Wordle1887

At ellaspoems.com we promote poetry in African languages. Here is Afolabi's Pidgin Poem. I used to write Krio poems back in the day. #Strictly