The monthly Creative
Writers’ Forum organized by the Kano state branch of the Association of
Nigerian Authors had its first forum for the New Year on 25th
January, 2014, held at the American Corner, Kano. Presentations of creative
works were conducted in three rounds with poetry dominating the whole session.
The first round had
four entries, starting with, “The Kings Heir” by Hussaini Musa. The story was
written by a twelve-year child that joined the forum. It was a story of a king
who was about to die without an heir. He then asked his senior counselor to
announce for a competition through which the next king will emerge. Children of
twelve to thirteen years will look for a missing goblet in the forest, and the
person that finds it will be crowned the king. At the end of the day, Muhammad,
the son of a shepherd found it against the stubborn son of the senior
counselor.
“Loving Mama” is a poem
presented by Badamasi Aliyu Abdullahi. The first four lines of his poem read
thus:
I
see the dazzling dress of my dearest damsel
I
see the breath-taking beauty of a beautiful baby
I
rang the wrangling bell of my romantic ring
I
got the glowing gaze of my gorgeous girl
The next poem entitled,
“You Are Too Precious” was presented by Ali Abdullahi Muhammad. In exultation,
Abdullahi wrote:
You
are a flower vase of beauty
I
smell you gently with amity
To
wrestle with you is futility
To
reverse you is my duty
The
last poem in the round was entitled: “To Sodoms and Gomorrans” presented by
Yaseer Kallah. The poem was a critique of same sex marriage as advocated by the
western world. The writer was emphatic and expressed his mind as follows in the
second stanza:
Let
a buck betroth a doe
And
beget a Rack
Let
a fox betroth a vixen
And
beget a cub
Let
a stag betroth a hind
And
beget a fawn
We
take great pride
In
our natality.
The
poet ended his poem by taking a definite stand on the issue. The last stanza read
as:
“To
hell with the sodamites
And
their vanity
To
hell with the lezzies
And
their rascality
Re-await
for that sulphur
And
its fatality.
The
second round began with a poem entitled, “For My Soul Owner” written by Tijjani
Muhammad Musa. The poem which was dedicated to Allah (S.W.T) dwelled on the mercies
of Allah to mankind. Tijjani opened his poem with praises to Allah (S.W.T) and resolve
to obey His commands. In the third stanza of the poem, the poet said:
Only
You secured the twain terrified spirits
Only
You saved him from her irresistible invite
Only
You deserves her devoted true worship
Only
You brought it this far thus far by far
By
this stanza the poet was referring to God’s power in saving and guiding his
creatures. For instance, by twain terrified spirits the writer meant Prophet
Muhammad and Caliphate Abubakar Sadiq who were secured from their haunters. So
also, it’s Allah with his divine intervention who saved Prophet Yusuf from a
lewd invitation that ordinarily cannot be turned down.
Isa
Muhammad Inuwa presented another poem entitled, “This Cold” which was written
to welcome the harmattan season. In the poem he described the bitter cold and
described it a nuisance which requires a bulky sweater to keep him warm. In the
six stanza poem, the writer tried to express the need to have all the kind of
cloths, ointment, foods and shelter to make him comfortable, which indeed show
his sensitivity to the weather. He concluded the poem with a stanza as below:
This
cold is a nuisance, windy
Coming
via the Sahara Desert,
Bringing
all the dust and fog
But
cold, stay soft and be friendly
When
your time is off, go away!
The
stanza vividly shows that the writer is living in a Savannah region brushed by
the north-east wind of the Sahara. The last two lines showed how the poet’s appeal
to the cold to be soft and friendly, so also to leave when it’s due.
The
third presentation is a short story entitled, “Revisiting the Footprints of
Yesteryears” by Sheldon Peterside, a pen name of Gwa Dominic Doohemba. The
story is about life in a rented house and how members welcome new comers. The
story narrated the culture of generating crowd in such houses whenever
something happened.
A
poem entitled, “Glittering Star” was presented by a young poet of the 21st
Century, Ahmad Salisu Ahmad. One part of
“Glittering Star” read:
the
elongated night the inevitable signifiers are exchanged
the
moon, the stars gradually vanish
and
the whole world turns doom hostile desert!
That
camels can’t resist! Survives it with all agonies!
To
cherish the return of the Glittering Star and the devoted umma
The
poem has emotional signals directed to someone special whom the poet believed
it’s time to react, simply because the world is habitable for them.
The
last round was concluded with two presentations from Tijjani Muhammad Musa and
Isa Muhammad Inuwa with poems entitled, “Yet, I Ain’t a Poet” and “Bege”
respectively. In Tijjani’s poem he was trying to protest against what makes one
a good poet. One can understood his feeling based on what is happening in the
literary world. No matter how good one’s works are, he may not be regarded as a
poet or his works will simply be ignored for critical appraisal. The poet
accepted that whatever he was regarded as, he has his opinions and believes on
his crafts. The first stanza of the poem “Yet, I Ain’t a Poet” read:
I
ain’t a poet
Nor
do I know the rules of poemry
All
I know is
Am
endowed with an ability to write
A
line or two that I desire read
Caring
less if
A
Recon praises it, a Decon “kills” me or
“Whatever!”
The
poem “Bege” by Isa is a eulogy to renowned Islamic poet and performer,
Abdulaziz Fadar Bege who passed away in Kano. The poet narrated how the sudden
death shocked and surprised people. He went on to say his wishes to him. The
first stanza of his poem said:
Bege,
your sneaky exit surprises us all…
How
soon you forsake us in this dicey life?
But
in death, we come to know you better-
Isa
Muhammad Inuwa went on to describe the large number of crowds in the state who attended
the funeral of late Abdulaziz. The stanza said:
Thousands
of mourners jostled for your corpse,
Elated
and matched to your resting place
For
you loved the Prophet and chanted his eulogy
It
was the poet prayer that Abdulaziz was welcomed by the virgin girls of Heaven and
saluted by angels of bliss, because he was a man who praised the Prophet with
heart and mind deep in ecstasy.
Before
the end of the programme, ANA Kano and the American Corner reiterated their
plan to collaborate to organize a workshop on techniques of good presentation
for emerging writers. Later, the programme was ended with a vote of thanks by
the branch Secretary, Zaharaddeen Ibrahim Kallah.
By
Zaharaddeen
Ibrahim Kallah
dinik2003@yahoo.co.uk
africanglobalpoet.blogspot.com
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