| Taking Life By The Throat by Emman Shehu
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Toyin Adewale (who recently added Gabriel to her surname) also holds a Master’s degree in Literature and is a fellow of the Academic Schloss Solitude in Stuttgart. Her poems have appeared in various anthologies, journals and newspapers. Naked Testimonies was first published in 1995 and has just been reprinted. The collection is divided into sections namely “Train”, “Vistas”, “Expressions”, “Second Look” and “Affirmation”. In all there are 47 poems. Three things instantly strike one about her poetry. First, most of the poems are generally short. Then there is an intense pre-occupation with metaphors. It is not surprising therefore that some previous reviews have used phrases like “astonishing metaphors” and “experimenting with the intensely imagistic tradition”. The third aspect is the turbulent and frenetic tenor of her poetry. This, unlike Nwosu who takes a calm approach, Adewale takes life by the throat with such forcefulness. A good example is this six-line poem on page 13:
Dashing antelope
turbulence of warring waters
bottled together
Ocean wave, ever ocean wave
whirlwind,
now off! (Odia)
Equally striking is the note of foreboding on which the collection starts in one of the few long pieces titled “For T.J”. The following lines are instructive: “a night which I will not attain/the joy after which I grope.” The collection thus becomes a steady descent into despair disappointment and grief. This is most obvious in the five-part sequence that provides the collection with its title. The tone is evoked straightaway from the first part of the sequence.
I tell a tale of sour tangerines
and shrivelled penises
in the furnace of testicle crushers
diamonds are mere stones
in the trauma of dry sentences
Tornadoes chase poetry
And wedding rings and half circles
Where is the voice of my teacher?
The struggle to come to terms with this despair leads to the quest for God, as we have earlier seen in Nwosu’s Waking Dreams. The religious interface in “Naked Testimonies” starts from the dedication: “On this morning of rejoicing I exalt the Word who became flesh for the world”. It is echoed in “Saluting Leonie McSweeny”, “Impact”), “Untitled” and “Ruth”. Indeed “Ruth” is for me the most accomplished poem in the collection. For all those who have a fair knowledge of the Bible, the story of Ruth is very touching. It is a tale of despair that ends and on a note of hope. In retelling this familiar story, Adewale breathes life into it in a compelling way that captures the essence of the narrative. And one cannot but feel the poet’s persona identifying with Ruth’s resilience.
Resilience, as we have already seen in Nwosu’s Waking Dreams is an important virtue for survival. Here in Naked Testimonies resilience makes it possible to have moments of joy, however fleeting they may be as in: “The Last Teen”, “Soul-Kin”, “A Rejoicing” and “An Eye is Talking”:
At the junction
On jack-roads
We invoked the green banners of the earth
The potential of doves
We excavated dreams
Oceans became true Jacuzzis
We toasted a gallery of kisses
With the flaring citation of fireworks.
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