A Shadow Of Iba Poem by Chibueze Oscar Osuji
A Shadow Of Iba
Silence comes and the leaflets drop
Imagery blurs of serpentine smoke
Epiphanies of the eye, pop
On the forthcoming of you, bloke:
Iba.
Your name the mouth will never tell
Neither will limbs uphold you t'night;
Nor nostrils welcome your crude smell
From your vulturine armpits' plight.
Iba.
Men, dilate foodpipes o' hungry graves
Women, tear-logg'd than water pots
Children cry in crest, trough of waves,
All had done all and cast their lots
Iba.
And I am still here, mild as breeze
Waiting for you to passaway,
With your weariness, flu and sneeze
You enthrust upon me today.
Iba.
The poem 'A Shadow Of Iba' is a poem using the settings of an African society before the colonial era. The word 'Iba' is taken from 'Things Fall Apart' the 1958 novel of my fellow Nigerian late author Chinua Achebe. Iba is describe as a flu-like sickness, synonymous with fever and malaria.
Here, in my poem the attributes of Iba are modified and hyperbolic to suit the ideology of my poem. I also employed the use of personification, and a few characteristics of some other figures of speech such as metaphors, simile etc.
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4/27/2024 12:36:41 AM # 1.0.0.1119
Thank you for the explanation. It helps to understand the importance of the word flow.