Title – MY DARLING BROWN SHIRT

Author – Awal Gowal

Publisher – Latony ‘77

Pages – 84

Date of release – 28^th February, 2014.

In an era where reading culture is rapidly losing relevance in Africa, and much worse, the writing culture in Nigeria, Awal Gowal falls under the few who dare to revive the writing culture even in the most unpopular art of poetry which numerous Nigerians ignore; however, he emerges with a clear, lucid and simple language which appeals to all. Poetry and rap music are inextricably related, especially in their mode of delivery, whereas rap could only be sung and heard, poetry could be written, read, recited and listened to. It is safe to assume that poetry is the mother of rap and all other genres of music given its incalculable age of existence.

Title – MY DARLING BROWN SHIRT

Author – Awal Gowal

Publisher – Latony ‘77

Pages – 84

Date of release – 28^th February, 2014.

In an era where reading culture is rapidly losing relevance in Africa, and much worse, the writing culture in Nigeria, Awal Gowal falls under the few who dare to revive the writing culture even in the most unpopular art of poetry which numerous Nigerians ignore; however, he emerges with a clear, lucid and simple language which appeals to all. Poetry and rap music are inextricably related, especially in their mode of delivery, whereas rap could only be sung and heard, poetry could be written, read, recited and listened to. It is safe to assume that poetry is the mother of rap and all other genres of music given its incalculable age of existence. Over the years, poetry has continued to lose relevance because of its offshoots which have overtaken it. Why so? Why do we still relish the poetry of William Shakespeare, William Wordsworth, Rudyard Kipling, Emmerson and Milton against those of our modern day African poets like Wole Soyinka, Niyi Osundare and others? I think some of the factors that favoured the former poets include rhyme, rhythm and unsophistication, these very aspects of poetry were included in Awal Gowal’s collection of poems and it wasn’t surprising  when accolades came in torrents for the masterpiece which appealed to almost all classes of people, Awal has successfully been able to contribute his little quota towards the rejuvenation of poetry in Nigeria, and Africa at large regardless of his deeply rooted background in the sciences.

The style in the book of poems is plain and unconventional, Awal Gowal presents a collection of fifty (50) poems all titled in bold fonts and theirs bodies italicized, the poems  are not too lengthy  and devoid of stanzas, the lines are short and irregularly indented. It has a very attractive cover design and the fonts are reader friendly. The writer delivered strong messages making ample use of rhyme and simple diction. For example, in the poem ‘UNCLE DAVE’, the author wrote:

Those soothing words you have

   Will go with me to my grave

 I feel so brave

Thank You Uncle Dave

(Page 26, lines 13-16)

However, as stated earlier, most of the rhymes didn’t follow a regular pattern like that of Edgar A. Guest, which was contained in the preface of the anthology, Edgar’s untitled poem had a rhyming scheme of ABABCDCD and it added more quality to the poem. Awal, However, in many instances broke the flow of the rhymes unnecessarily, but unconsciously too, I believe. Consider lines 12-16 in ‘POETRY’ of Page 46:

For the world to know

Through you dear

I’ll let my emotions flow

If you stick to me

Together we will glow

Lines 13 and 15 do not rhyme with themselves nor conform to the lines they are sandwiched into; the same thing is repeated in lines 17-20 of the same poem. There are also rhymes that do not blend semantically; an example would include lines 13 and 14 of ‘SELF DISCOVERY’, Page 42:

Don’t swim in pride

Support goodness glide

Generally, the poems lacked regular beats and rhythm – a general feature of most modern African poems – and some words appear recurrently e.g ‘oblivious’, ‘legacy’, ‘humanity’, ‘defy’, ‘cope’ and ‘hope’, perhaps for the love of those words or for the lack of their alternatives. Very few typos were found preliminary pages like Page VIII where you find ‘i’ instead of ‘I’ on two occasions and Page X where ‘Onwelu’ was not pluralized in conformity with other concrete nouns found on the page. All readers must not be unmindful of the inevitability of typographical or any errors at all in any publication.

Themes of the collection touched on different aspects of transient life especially those ones which are experienced by the writer himself. He talked extensively on drug abuse, alcoholism and its resultant effects in the poems ‘THE GHETTO’, ‘ALCOHOL’, ‘DRUGS (PILLS)’, and also in Page 14, line 5 of ‘STORY OF GRACE’.

Faith, Courage, determination and perseverance were the dominant themes in the poems ‘SEEKING’, ‘TRUSTING’, ‘FORGIVENESS’, ‘COURAGE’, and ‘SALVATION’. These poems express the poet’s firm believe in the Almighty because he cannot profess what he does not believe in. According to Thomas Elliot, ‘every writer is a product of his time, events, experiences and beliefs’, and I say Awal Gowal is not an exception. The poems ‘BREAKING FREE’, ‘BEAUTIFUL MIND’, ‘WILL’ and ‘SELF DISCOVERY’ bother on inward reflection and a firm resolve to push forward inspite of disappointments, while the poems ‘COURAGE’, ‘HEARTBREAK’, ‘BOLDNESS’ and ‘LOVE AND COURAGE’ dwell more on disappointments in relationships and the determination to move ahead.

‘BONVIVANT’, in my opinion, is perhaps one of the most interesting poems of the book and one can only read it to find out why. Like other Africans, the author wrote a tribute to Mandela titled, MANDELA (46664), although I can’t decipher the meaning of the digits in the title. Without doubt, one can safely assume that the poem ‘STEADFASTNESS’ was about the author’s mother as inferred from the preface. We can’t know people unless we are close to them, ‘MISCONCEPTION’ says it more explicitly. As much as the Author loved ‘UNCLE DAVE’, I found it rather awkward because, to me, it lacked deeper meaning, perhaps that was what he meant by “testing his poetic prowess” in the preface. ‘MR. PEN’ is also one of my favourites, it shares the same romantic mood with ‘UNCONDITIONAL LOVE’ – which I feel should not be ascribed to a human being – but ‘MR PEN has dual perspectives attached to its meaning just like that of ‘ENCUMBERANCE’. ‘IGNORANCE’ represents neocolonialism and influence of the bandwagon of evil over good, about 5 rhetorical questions were posed in the opening lines of the poem and the poet concluded by implying that if you have been swept by the bandwagon fallacy, then “you have been taken for a ride” (Page 79, line 13). The pain of death is also felt through the body of Awal in ‘PALANG MATAWAL’ and ‘MYOPIA’ talks about the shortsightedness of humans in the face of death.

The first four lines in ‘SELF DISCOVERY’ seem to correspond to the theme of ‘POLITICIANS’ and lines 14-25 of ‘POLITICIANS’ rhyme with the content of ‘REVOlUTION’ subtly announcing a distant call for a revolution, exactly what Nigeria needs.

‘CARING’ and ‘AIDING’ centre on man’s unquenchable desire to be loved and cared for. ’MY DARLING BROWN SHIRT’, incidentally, the eponymous poem of the anthology talks about good friendship and how we often neglect our friends when affluence steps in. Frankly, that poem as odd as it sounds, is the most appealing going by my own rating. ‘TEACHING’ in my opinion, should have been titled ‘two sides’ but hey! It is not my work. I also feel the poem ‘FEAR’ is rather inconclusive;

The only thing you should fear

Is that spirit

That makes you jittery

For you can conquer all

If you can first conquer her

(Page 82, lines 12-16)

If one is afraid of that spirit that makes him jittery, then he can never overcome his fears so continues the cycle of fear. Except if it was meant otherwise. The poems ‘DECEIT’, RAINY SEASON and PRETENCE in my view, should be lagging behind. ‘MY THOUGHT’ is rather eccentric and summarily touches on all aspects of life, especially that which was experienced by the poet which is not far from Faith, Friendship and influence of friends, greed of the haves, alcoholism and drug abuse, revolution, hope and perseverance.

On the whole, the book of poems proves to be an interesting read. A page turner which its readers will reluctantly drop without finishing, Awal’s words have definitely found a means of caressing the soul and bringing warmth to the hearts of the frustrated. He uses these figures of speech as if he had been acquainted to them from childhood, which is most uncommon with people of science orientation. He has maximized his poetic license to defy certain norms in poetry such as stanzas, rhythm and some few other traditions in poetry but it didn’t deter the meanings from being understood. His collection just has to be read to be understood. My most candid advice to anyone who would want to read the book is – GRAB YOUR COPY… NOW!

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Book Review: My darling brown shirt by Awal Gowal