LOVE AND NJAKIRI

The poems in Heart Songs are personal, yet they take a look at issues that are general - whether social, political, economic, existential, contemporary or traditional.

Adimora-Ezeigbo experiments with pidgin in ‘Njakiri: Songs in Pidgin'. Since Pidgin English already has a musical rhythm, the beauty of these poems is hidden in performance. The poet however tries rather hard to be poetic and musical, as evident in some poems, notably ‘Sex Machine.' She also takes a look at the subject of love in the ‘Love Songs' section: sexual love (‘Coupling', ‘Passion'), romantic love (‘Under the Oilbean Tree'), mother-child love (‘Baby Mine'), absence and longing (‘A Lover Waiting') are examples of this. 

The beauty of poetry is hidden in the concentration of words which is transferred to the reader through the creative use of language. This collection brings Akachi  out of her cave of fiction; they also show that her poetry needs more work to captivate the reader.

Read more here.