The Masked Poet
Page 5
- Chei, Jesus,......nothing l no go see o. Please madam, did you follow the Fiesta of Poems?
- You mean if I watched it?
- Follow or watch: is there a difference?
- Hmmnnn........Sweetheart, these days, the refined meaning of the term 'follow,' is only applicable on social media.
- So, miss professor, did you watch it?
- Yes I did.
- So, who was your favourite? Or was it the eventual winner?
*biko(Igbo = please)
- Which winner? That proud and arrogant Masked Poet who unapologetically called women a fraud against men? I wonder how he eventually won the competition. For me, the philosophical Rosemary Bola should have won it.
- Ha ha ha ha ...... Really? From your tone, it appears this masked poet really got you annoyed?
- Do you know what it means for that guy to say all we do is defraud men? Such insolence!
- Well, in the post-victory interview, he clarified he didn't mean a
sweeping generalization. Rather, he was referring to speci.............
- Please, l heard women o; ignore that make up explanation.
- But come to think of it, he is actually not wrong after all.
- Yes yes yesssssss.......... Support him! Why won't you? Is he not an emotional and psychological soother as a poet? Deny your fellow women and support him! Masked Poet my foot!
- Ah! This girl, take it easy now. Must we quarrel over this too?
- Sorry jare. I just think women are worth more than being labelled as fraudsters.
- I agree with you but some of us sometimes need a scolding just as we've been scolding the men. Don't you think so?
- He shouldn't have generalized it. That's my own.
- Okay. But you judged him with just one poem. What do you think about his other poems including the spontaneously improvised ones?
- Please leave that Masked Poet. Ask me about Rosemary's poems. But wait o, what is it with you and this Masked Poet sef? I am tempted to start putting two and two together o.
- I don't understand.
- First, you complained about Victor's inability to meet your emotional and psychological needs, then you became the Masked Poet's advocate, and now, you are liking everything about him.
- What wrong have I done in all that?
- Will you be the one "psyche" him?
- Joanna!
- Yes na. Don't wait for him to come; go and toast him.
- Come, Joanna, you are totally running ahead of yourself. I only like his poems and not everything about him as you allege.
- Hmmmm.........Na so edey start.* My take is, make sure you don't leave Victor for a piece of wannabe who has nothing but the ability to run amok with words. No be words you go chop o.
- My God! Just what is wrong with this girl? Who said I'm loving the Masked Poet? For God's sake, l don't even know him from anywhere. How then can l possibly lov.......
- Ehhhhh....... Can l ask: at present, don't you know him on facebook and instagram?
- About that, anybody can follow anybody on social media.
- Oooooo........ Follow safely o.
- What? My God! I think l should just ignore you. By the way, he is setting up an Emotional House. Are you aware?
- Does it matter a thing?
- Of course it does. It will greatly help people who are emotionally and psychologically weighed down and need some encouragement.
- Always and ever, l will prefer psychologists.
- But psychologists are not poets. They advise and proffer solutions based on professional training. Although they communicate using the lingua franca, yet they don't understand the power of words and especially when artistically arranged in a poem, and of course, neither do they understand how such poetic words inspire pe...............
- I see, so you are making plans to visit his emotional shop right?
- Well, l intend to visit that House very often. As it appears, my fights with Victor may not cease anytime soon, so it is probable my intermittent acquisition of emotional cum inspirational releases will be perpetuated.
- Chei! This girl!........ You don los o*..............
*na so e dey start(pidgin = that's how issues begin) *you don los o(pidgin = you are lost!)
CHAPTER 3
'I declare the Emotional House now open and I pray it will be a source of succour, encouragement, remedy, and healing to all who come to it for help in relationships and all other emotional cum psychological issues for the benefit of society.'
It was the voice of the renowned international poet, Dr. Ibio Gekole. After being declared winner of the inaugural edition of the Fiesta of Poems, Dr. Gekole was one of the first persons to call and congratulate the Masked Poet on his achievement. Capitalizing on the opportunity, he pleaded for not just the doctor's presence on the day the Emotional House would be open, but to have the singular honour of being the special guest who will invariably declare it open. And here they are today. He was flagged by a large number of friends, well wishers, entrepreneurs, and lovers of words and poetry. As soon as Dr. Gekole ended his brief open declaration speech, he picked up the scissors which was presented to him on a cool coffee sprayed wooden platform wrapped with a pink cloth decorated on the sides with pale blue ribbons, and cut the larger ribbon just in front of him, which barricaded entrance through the main opening into the House's reception hall.
'Oooooohhh..........oooooo......ooooooh......prrrrrr.........yeahhhhhh.....
The crowd did the characteristic cheer as they also clapped to the formal opening of the House. Subsequently, the crowd moved into the beautifully decorated main hall of the Emotional House. Immediately, the musicians, already set before hand, started singing as the witnessing audience located their seats. As the audience settled down, the Masked Poet joined the entertaining singer on stage, dancing seamlessly to the beats of the songs to the audience's excitement as he made efforts to welcome them. Thereafter, the chair person of the Literary Society of Nigeria, Professor Tracey Ojano, took to the stage to acquaint all with the purpose for the setting up of the Emotional House, praising the initiator for his foresight, and boasting of how happy she was that he is a talent discovered by the Literary Society's hunting scheme for the next generation of literary giants. Amidst some light refreshments afterwards, the audience were thrillingly entertained to series of poetic renditions from both renowned and upcoming poets, interspersed with lots of soul and local pop songs. Then, the last item on the order of the programme that afternoon was an address by the initiator, founder, and entrepreneur of the day, the Masked Poet. He had changed from his initial casual dress of a red T-shirt on a pair of white jeans which sent an indisputable message, to a corporate one of an indigo themed suit with a pale blue shirt and a white tie with black stripes. He was applauded heartily by the audience as he began his address by thanking everyone who made time out of their busy schedules to give him a pat on the back. He then informed them the House has been partitioned into three rooms for a start. These are: the general room; romance; and specific. In the general room, which is the largest, all sorts of poems will be rendered round the House's working clock starting from 10am to 9pm daily with exception to Sundays which runs from 4pm in the evening to 12am, that's midnight. So, people with no specific emotional or psychological need, and, or may have one which they don't want to share, who love listening to sound cum inspirational poems, or feel the general poems can wash their pains away silently without telling a soul, can simply walk into the general room and listen to their soul's uplifting. The romantic room needs no explanation, or much of it. Just like the general room, romantic poems are rendered round the clock from visual clips through the large screen in that room, of poems so written by the Masked Poet. Thus, clients in need of romantic uplifting would directly access that room. Lastly, he informed of the specific room which involves booking a session on an earlier date with the proprietor, stating your specific emotional problem which will indicate your need, and on the scheduled
day, such a client would be allowed audience with the Masked Poet for poems of emotional uplifting. Furthermore, and of course inevitably, he informed of the cost of acquiring services from the Emotional House. If one registered as a member of the House's club, then such is obligated to a monthly renewal subscription of N10,000 or N100,000 for a year. Students will be obliged to half that amount. There is yet no place for children. Otherwise, the daily fee for non-registered clients is N1,000 daily. The specific room just to add, he also briefed, has an added dimension of services outside of the House to celebratory or commiserative occasions as the case may be - but not individual invitations to homes - and that is highly negotiable. As an icing on the cake, he informed the gathering as part of the inaugural formalities, he would be entertaining them to three poetic renditions.............. for free. To which they all laughed and applauded.
The first, he titled: 'WHAT WITH THE MASKED POET?'
What with poems?
who needs poems?
is it food on tables?
or can solve any need?
What with the Masked Poet?
who needs the Masked Poet?
is he some panacea?
or life's aficionado?
in eras so distressing,
can he change a thing?
But poems see words
words you never see
but need so so badly
for that forward leap!
The Masked Poet sees words
and then, draws them out
from oblivious intangibility
to appreciable tangibility.
So, words see priority
when you need priority
unseen, right in your face
unseen, try as you may,
amidst flanking confusion:
till a poem shades it
till the Masked Poet shades it.
Words see a break
cos you need a break
unseen, there before you
unseen, try as you may,
amidst frustrating floods:
till a poem shades it
till the Masked Poet shades it.
Words see innovation
When you need innovation
unseen, begging for notice
unseen, try as you may,
from besieging boredom:
till a poem shades it
till the Masked Poet shades it.
Words see hope
as you so need hope
unseen, staring at you
unseen, try as you may,
when despair threatens:
till a poem shades it
till the Masked Poet shades it.
Words unveil joy
when you need joy
unseen, veiled from you
unseen, try as you may,
from sorrow's harrows:
till a poem shades it
till the Masked Poet shades it.
Words see solutions
when you need solutions
unseen, to the naked eye
unseen, try as you may,
from imposing mountains:
till a poem shades it
till the Masked Poet shades it.
Words see deeper
when you need depth
unseen, hidden from sight
unseen, try as you may,
veiled from understanding:
till a poem shades it
till the Masked Poet shades it.
So, what with poems?
who needs the Masked Poet?
But breakthrough with poems!
breakthrough with the Masked Poet!
as everyone, needs the Masked Poet!
Kpakpakpaaaaaaa......................kpakpakpaaaaaaa........ ......prrrrrrrrrrrr...............ooops!.................yeahhhhh.......
The guests clapped and cheered in response to their appreciation of the poem. He cut the applause short as he announced the second poem titled: 'WAR IS NOT BATTLE, BATTLE IS NOT WAR.'
War is not battle
battle is not war
one is in the other,
the other contains one.
A war is long
a battle is short
but both involve fights
both involve struggles.
War is the future
and can rarely end
battle is the now
and can quickly expire.
War is ultimate
that grand maximum
battle is immediate
the proximate minimum.
War produces warriors
lasting a life time
battle births heroes
can fizzle with time.
War scarcely recuperates
always on its toes
battle catches a breath
at times, quiet relaxed.
War is life's totality
a series of battles
battle is life's moments
the parts of war
War is universal
battle, a subset
one is in the other
the other contains one.
Triumphing daily battles
of the war called life
sums your need to
the Masked Poet's calling.
The guests clapped gleefully to the poem and the Masked Poet once again. Appreciating the guests with a bow and with the words:
'Thank you. Thank you very much.'
Afterwards, he gave the guests a little surprise with his next series of statements:
'Now, l will flabbergast you all. Probably, we have known each other for not quite long now and you may not know that I am a very very bad singer!'
The guests laughed reciprocally.
'Yes, l am serious.' He continued. 'And l must warn you, when it comes to singing, l have a very bad voice and rough music skills. But then, it does not mean I am on ground zero when it comes to singing. Thus, my last poem this afternoon would be accompanied by flakes of singing. It is not a lyric but is lyrical, rather, it can be lyrical. The beauty of this poem is in the few lines of near similar theme and progression l will sing occasionally as the poem unfolds. Hence it is not a classical lyric, l would say, the title of this of this poem-song is: 'ONE DAY IN LIFE.'
One day in life
emotions are reborn
negative emotions are reborn
sadness births the cheer
sorrows births the joy
but who will 'reborn' my emotions today?
who will reborn my negative emotions?
One day in life
psyches are changed
pessimist psyches are changed
failure changed to success
fear changed to belief
but who will change my psyche today?
who will change my pessimist psyche?
(Singing)
Wish oh wish!
Seek oh seek!
for a day with the Masked Poet
then your emotions shall be reborn
and your psyche shall change.
One day in life
feelings are reversed
gloomy feelings are reversed
unease reversed to ease
loneness reversed to companionship
but who will reverse my feelings today?
who will reverse my gloomy feelings?
One day in life
sentiments are nerfed
excessive sentiments are nerfed
infatuation nerfed to agape
thanatos nerfed to eros
but who will nerf my emotions today?
Who will nerf my excessive sentiments?
(Signing)
Pray oh pray!
Search oh search!
for a day with the Masked Poet
then your feelings shall reverse
and your sentiments shall nerf.
One day in life
that day in life
today in life
a very speci
al day
a very pivotal day
a day of need
(Singing)
Wish oh wish!
seek oh seek!
pray oh pray!
search oh search!
For a day with the Masked Poet
then your emotions shall be reborn
and your psyche shall change
then your feelings shall reverse
and your sentiments shall nerf.........
CHAPTER 4
'No, you are not going for that pageant. I simply reject the idea.' Victor was vehement as he relayed his thoughts to Delight.
'What? You have no such right to stop me from pursuing my dreams and I am going for that contest irrespective of whatever opposition you show to it. 'She fired back.
- I have every right to stop you. I am your boyfriend and..................
- Yes, and that's all. You are my boyfriend period, and not my husband. Because of this singular reason, you can't stop me. I mean, even if you were my husband, you still would not stop me from maximizing this big opening in my career and life.
- But it's not necessary and you no longer need it.
- What's that? Why is it no longer necessary?
- You are now a big girl, popular, and reasonably rich; what more do you want?
- I can't believe you just spued those from your mouth. Is it a crime to aspire to the fame and materiality of Oprah Winfrey?
- Can't you see she is out of control and cannot submit to a man? Her kind of solitary and large lifestyle is not obtainable in our clime.
- Well, in as much as I don't want to cut a lonely lifestyle like hers, in this same clime of ours, l still will never, l mean ever, take a forfeiture of a once in a life time opportunity as this to mean submitting to a man. If that is what is means, then let me make it clear and untainted here and now, l will rather choose to be independent like she is.
- Stop talking rubbish. Don't say things you know you can't do. You can't even stand the pressure from your family to lead that kind of life. For now, l insist you won't go for the Miss Nigeria beauty pageant. You are already, Miss Southern Nigeria, you are beautiful, you are famous; that's enough for me.