Where Are The Poets?

...And so i stumbled on a photo on the internet, it was on Twitter, i mean without mincing words; my favourite social media platform of all time.

The original post accompanying the photo read thus; 

"Where Are The Poets? Can Anyone Write Something About This Photo?"

Quite typical of me when i surf the internet, my first goal is to find something that would inspire me to give back to where it came from, and not just take away. I ran through the attached comments (like a typical user would, in fact most times on social media platforms, you just rush to the comments section first to see reactions) with a zest to meet a few poets, and also to see what a few people have made out of the post. I was not surprised to find "The Good, The Bad and The Stupid"😊😊

It was beautiful to have found a couple of awesome literary works that i savoured. I never knew there were so many like me who cared about such things until i had had a personal interaction with the original post author who told me the tweet in question had risen to become her most engaged tweet of all time.

Fast-forward to my state of mind (always wanting to give back content to wherever i take same from), i soon realized i also needed to try my hands on something. Followers of my literary works , posts and/or blog would know giving back in this case would be a walk-in-the-park for me.

I moved (Like the historical/biblical Samson) to slay with my keyboard, but my-my;

I REALIZED I WAS RUSTY😓.

You never truly know how it feels until you have felt it -TW

A little quote from the Bible;

"When she cried out, "The Philistines are attacking you, Samson!" he woke from his sleep and told himself, "I'll go out like I did at other times like this and shake myself free." But he didn't know that the LORD had abandoned him." -Judges 16:20

Hold up guys, unlike Samson, the Lord had not left me, only "my lines" had!😄

(A good call to constantly examine your spirit-man, isn;t it?)

Like the Lamarckian Theory of "Use and Dis-use", every cell, tissue and body parts get better and in fact bigger with frequent use. May i bring this to you in the most conventional way in Nigerian parlance as i can?

"Alae, mo gbe body mi ti!"😩
(I couldn't display)

but then... "kole tan lara omo oba, ko ma ku dansaki!" (Please use a translator)

I looked inwards (like the aspire-to-inspire folks would tell you daily) and voila, the word-bank was never depleted, i only let the padlock rust out of non-use.

Away from me and to how things went after i took the challenge and i must say executed it well (judging by feedback). I in-turn shared the fun and challenge, asking the same question; 

"Where Are The Poets? Can Anyone Write Something About This Photo?"

I sought for poets afar off, but never knew i was surrounded by both craftsmen, apprentices and lords! I was impressed by their interest to write, and most entertained by the beauty of their various pieces. To further raise the tempo of the challenge, i decided to take upon myself the burden of inscribing the texts of their poems on the photo. This proved to be a game-changer as even more friends, colleagues and associates threw in their daggers.

Time, Space and Medium will not permit me to put up for view and review, their various star-jobs, but a visit to my Instagram, and Twitter timelines will clear your doubts.

Samples bellow;

Photo Analysis

What exactly are the talking points?

-A dismembered foot ringed by chains

-Splattered blood from the severed foot

-Cracked floors, depicting drought/dryness

-A wandering man whose only support is his pen

-A pen bigger than a man

-A sac on a man's back (burdens)

-Trailing blood stains along the path he tread (he's fast losing blood)

-The uncertain cloud/skyline

-A skyline as close as touching the limping man

-A golden-orange heatmap ahead (depicting challenges ahead)

What Else Do You See?

Many who wrote pieces about the photo i'm sure would have done even more had the above analysis been spelt out and/or visualized properly.

Pictures they say are worth a thousand words, but i'll love to insert the word "unspeakable" as a substitute to the numerable thousand in the popular phrase.

PS: "Where Are The Poets? Can You Write Something About This Photo?

(Tag me on Instagram or Twitter with your piece @olalekanakogun)

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