I’ve been staring hard at the poetry scene from the outside for a while now. It is teeming tadpoles with staggering talent. There are divers hangouts in the City of Accra which are nothing loath (or even hankering) to have the studded poet-dom hold the limelight for fifteen sonorous, syllabic minutes apiece, binding listeners with lyrical spells. There is also a couple of artsy, foppish meets in private homes where attendees bring their own (or bare-face adopted) poetry.
But the live performers who are oozing with charisma! They memorise and let spray ten minutes of alpha beta magic. I just wonder why they have the street-rap swagger, self-praise themes and opposite-person bashing. And the words fall out ferocious and convulsive like they are slashing a villain standing unseen with menace before the poet.
Direct criticism unlike you, Nana.
ReplyDeleteYes, Anon, but I was also being candid.
ReplyDeletethis is another one from you that is so true...
ReplyDeletei share in both sides of the story as presented...
but being candid too, i don't think we have enough of the poetry around to even have a scene created...
so for though i see a lot of 'hip-hoping' guised as poetry...i think we should put in more effort at developing the 'scene' and natural sifting would occur...
point is i've been to 'poetry' programes that have turned out to be nothing but rap renditions and hoping and hipping...
(my personal basic inclination is that poetry is the bedrock or the rap and music...art in the word form- and it must be preserved as such...rap and music have their own places)
but we will get there! sure!
Behold a REAL poet who feels my angst! Thanks, Novisi.
ReplyDelete