Seized tears

These blizzards wreak the songs of togetherness
through the night all sounds are unheard
but the songs of the razing fire thatch I felt
the noise of the striking axes passing through deathless
spirits, bumping flies that missed their path
I can hear the songs of agony,
render by their sleeping spirit
beclouding the lids of my eyes, my hands
shivers as a stroke of canvass spited on my heart,
an unbearable cloud passing its enchanting chasm
so much pain, seized tears paints the picture of my frame.
(c) 2020 Martin Ijir

Review of Eeries of Silence: Stylistic Expressionism in Martin’s Poetry

Expressionism in art in its clearest sense is a unique stylistic feature and distinctive color. Stylistic expression is the mother of all contemporary artistic trends. In revolutionary visions, issues, and objections, this is the moral expression. Although expressiveness exists in art, the dominance of moral expression and its manifestation is clear, and although stylistic expression is found in literature, the dominant aspect is the emergence of its moral dimension.

Martin Ijir is a Nigerian poet with extensive literary experience, through which he was able to combine originality and innovation in style in his writings, which is very difficult, and he brought us objectionary, revolutionary, and unique literature on the level of meaning and issue and on the level of style and form, especially in his collection ” Eeries of Silence ” which is a collection of horizontal narrative prose poems, and these recent practices and experiences signify unquestionably aspects of stylistic expression.

Creativity in Martin’s poems depends on achieving his goals with a profound impact on the recipient and on achieving the tremor within him through the pursuit of salvation and revolution on reality and distinct vision, and this is also achieved through stylistic expression; according to a distinct method and a message that cares about the reader. The poems would not have achieved what it had accomplished without shocking method, along with the question of searching for salvation and revolution on the ground. Martin’s poems have taught us that achieving a real and non-repeatable literary personality is that the text is expressed in two expressions, moral and stylistic, and what we see prevalent in most poets is meaningful expression, but they do not approach stylistic expression but rather write according to what the audience wants without attention to the truth that this cannot be real, and even welcomed by official cultural institutions. Rather, there must be two forms of expressionism, moral and stylistic, and this is what was actually provided in Martin’s poetry, which adopted the narrative horizontal prose poems in a distinctive style.

Literary analysis has moved from the middle of the last century to a greater accuracy in terms and concepts, and it is no longer acceptable to speak in broad terms, and stylistic criticism has succeeded, to a large extent, in crossing criticism towards scientific approach, and it became true that we describe the era of literature at the end of the century as the era of scientific literature. Stylistics has made great progress in this regard by presenting objective models and tangible material formulas for literary idea and analytical concepts, and here we will try to shed light on stylistic aspects of expressionism in poetic texts of Nigerian poet Martin Ijir.

In the poem “DUST” Martin says:

(My body dies, my spirit becomes dust then my soul transcends unto pillaging bed of refurbishment. The bequeathed sky above, whistles the work of my hands, bands of life and its enchanting buoying songs I refute to singing; will I recite on the day of my recurrence. I am single out like a simpleton upon a water floating in the sea of silence. My silver cloud turns into melee ice as I melt as dew encountering my first sun.)

We do not need much talk to refer to the expressive moral in the text as he asked for salvation and revolutionary in the title of the text and in each of its sections and the text is charged with the message of alienation and sadness and the request for change.

The poet here relied on stylistic expressions and formulas, including (narrative), as the text was based on the narrative style, and this is a distinction and contrasting to the prevailing poetic writing based on fragmentation even in prose poetry in the free poem. Also, the narrative here was not a storytelling narrative, but rather an expressive narrative with the intent of living and symbolizing and maximizing the energies of language. There is no doubt that (prose poetry), and with this force in which prose manifests itself with its techniques, is a style different from the music and formal harmony in which the prevailing poem is concerned.

In the poem ” ALONE ” he said: ( I traveled through the galaxy, in a chimera wagon, a steamy light appears like the steeds of fogs, poised in a disheveling position, my clogs pores on the shore of hydroponic merriment, this must be home, I longed long for, this must be home, no this is not a home, a voice contradicts my thoughts, I grunt upon him or is it her as they confused my intuition. The path to home is narrowed I learned. Now I am about to finish my learning and long suffering.)

We find another stylistic expressive side, which is (freshness) accompanying a sweet symbolic text and high poetic art, and this also distinguishes and contrasts with the prevalence of the modernist symbolism, which is usually characterized by estrangement, and transcendence. Also, the poet adopted the special vision of things and assets in (expressive and apocalyptic), which is a different method and distinct from the deliberative on which the written rule depends.

In ” Distance Sky ” Martin said: (I saw her stretch wings, with leathery feathers bearing my flavor of silver, so close your distancing appears. As my wings fluttered upon the musk of air, a fingertip that pierces the altar of iceberg tears our conversation. Inside me I reach what’s hidden and awaken the dust that hinders my transcending. I closed my eyes and watched the melting sun decays as dew flowing from tendrils of exaltation, a harmonious power that controls earth, elements and shell of my body.)

The poet intends to a narrative passage that is purely expressive in message and it is a model for literary expression. Such a reduced text filled with questions, appeals, descriptions, alienation and delusions, which ends with an expressive combination of certainty and legend achieves remarkable expressive distinction.

Dr. Anwer Ghani

Nelson Mandela: An ill Hero

Nelson Mandela has indeed liberated South Africans from apartheid regime but has not liberated them from the shackles of capitalism. South African working class and peasants are suffering immensely because he sold them to capitalistic approach of the view of the economy. He has imbibe hardship to them as of then till now, and which they will continue to experience until true revolution occurs. He has all the tools to liberate them from economic tussling posed by the few as when he was the president of south African but I wonder why he did not do so according to the blueprint maybe he is suffering from myopia attitude of what his goals are, seen it from rearview. Maybe, the corporations that control the economy of South African back then threaten to imposed financial sanctions through their agents by cutting trade relationship with others foreign countries mostly caucasian who are pulling out back then and deceiving him with financial grants and loans to service the economy. He erred, he could have nationalised all of the company in order to reminisce what they did in the past. Apartheid lesions are so deep, sharpeville wounds are never will never be forgetten then why should he deviate from the masses. He let his emotions to outrun the masses will. If truly, he was a liberator, then the spirit of revolution suppose not to be quench like that of Mao. I wonder why should he be tag a hero when he did not safe the masses from suffering modern day enslavement called capitalism which till now is more of apartheid. A true hero supposed not to bring freedom to the people but to find it among them which is to free them from all ramfication of life; he did the part and left the other to who why? The work of any revolutionary is to execute the revolution. Though he has liberated them but he is an ill hero.