I had to adapt for my poetry to thrive – Bash

By Abubakar Adam Ibrahim  You just launched your second poetry collection with the rather fascinating title, There is a Lunatic in Every Town, do you mind telling us about it? It is a collection of poems that dig into our conscious and subconscious including our everyday absurdities.  It is a collection of 45 poems, which […]

By Abubakar Adam Ibrahim 

You just launched your second poetry collection with the rather fascinating title, There is a Lunatic in Every Town, do you mind telling us about it?

It is a collection of poems that dig into our conscious and subconscious including our everyday absurdities.  It is a collection of 45 poems, which are divided into three parts namely; Resonance, Intimacy and Human Condition. I tried to show the somewhat inconsistent social realities of life through the interplay of complex circumstances. I attempted to concern myself with the culture in which man interacts outside his natural conventions either for positive or negative reasons while also dealing with idealism. The lunatic that struck the most for me is that who builds hospitals and other facilities but doesn’t use them.

In There is a Lunatic in Every Town, I tried to remind us about the deviations, juxtapositions and the ridiculousness about the personhood; the “Lunatic”. Like in the poem: “A is for Apple”, I wrote about my childhood quest for knowledge only to be taught the opposite about the things around me. All around me was the rustic and raw life of Eko, its music, cuisine and city life.  I learnt “A” is for Apple at school. I do not know if it was a deliberate bid by reconstruction to seize my identity, when “A” should have just been for Africa.

I think my use of language in this collection is ‘simple complex’ as some of the poems are simple and direct and a few others can send a reader to close the book [laugh]. The book also captures our historical and contemporary issues

I have seen you perform the title poem and I must admit I really enjoyed it. It is a scathing social critique of the Nigerian psyche. Was there a particular incidence that inspired this poem?

Yes! In 2012 or 2013, I was travelling back to my university in Minna and we were passing through Lafia town in Nasarawa State. I noticed the very bold ‘do not urinate here’ inscription on a broken fence or wall and right there someone was almost tracing the letters of the warning line with his urine. It occurred to me that we are just a collection of crazies; from the people or person that painted the warning sign on a broken fence and the other guy bathing the fence in warm urine. There after, I wrote the poem ‘Lunatics on the Loose’. I eventually adjusted the title to ‘There is a lunatic in Every Town’.

I left the poem unfinished for many years. Then, in 2015 I decided to finish it properly and perform it as a spoken word piece. The first time I did, it was a massive hit with the audience. The phrase never left them. So, I thought it would be nice to adopt it as the title for my debut collection of page poems.

Your poetry in general tends to focus on social critique. How much of this new work would you say has this inclination?

Oh yes, a major portion of this work still dwells on these social issues. The chapters “Resonance” and “The Human Condition” contain poems that talk about these issues – some are wrought in sadness, some in regret, but most in hope. As a ratio to the total collection, these poems should be about 60 percent. We have to talk about these things until society improves for the better. As it stands, we need more commentary on social issues, with the hope that we would move from just commentary to real action someday…but the conversation must continue!

True indeed. And because many Nigerian poets insist on talking about these things they are often branded as “angry poets” Do you agree with this? Why do you think this perception persists?

Most Nigerians are angry [laughs], and not just the poets. We are products of the environment we find ourselves in and the fastest way to draw on your creative spring is to look around you. You can’t exactly write about moon landing when all you see around you is suffering, pain and a dysfunctional society. So, this narrative would continue to persist until a drastic change occurs in society, in governance and life style. Maybe then, we would start writing more about flowers in well-manicured gardens, sparkling in the vim of consistent electric power.

From anger, let’s talk about love poems. How often does Bash write them?

I have a lot of love poems and I write a lot of them. I personally have a thing for the concept of love and how it can transform an individual. If we lose ourselves in love, it can take us to a place where we would surely loose our minds. The chapter “Intimacy” is totally dedicated to some of my love poems, from the native guy professing his feelings to a village maid to affections shared behind concrete walls within the city heights, love can happen anywhere. Interestingly, I have had my love poem “This thing you do to me” that has been interpreted in dance so many times at different events and even at a wedding recently.

When writing your poems, how much influence does thoughts of performing them wield on the writing?

I was lucky to have started poetry as a page poet. I stumbled on performance poetry in 2012 in Jos, so it was easy for me to just work on the language of my poem and get them primed for performance when I decided to be a performance poet. In a way, it now rubs on my written poetry, but that is why I also have good editors who look at them and tell me if a poem is too potent for stage and should be reworked for page. I have understood that the major difference is in use of language and the sentence connectors. I have learnt to identify the need for employing brevity and strong language when working on a page poem. But for a performance piece, the language is less taut or intense. This is deliberate so the audience can connect with the performance poet at that instant.

Do you think being a performance poet has given you an edge among your peers? Do you think people find it easier to relate with poetry when delivered than when written?

I should say yes to your first question. It is a blessing to be able to act your script! And off course people connect easier and quicker with a piece of performance poetry than a page piece. It is due to a lot of things; the simplicity in language conveyed via raw emotions locked in the tone, the voice and gestures of the poet. It naturally brings to life what has been written. You can compare it to acting a script; saving people the “burden” of reading and understanding a page poem

I suppose the highlight of your performance poetry is being the Presidential Inauguration poet in 2015. It has been almost two years since that epic day. What has been the fallout?

Oh wow…so many beautiful things have happened after that. Performing at The Lagos International Poetry Festival last year is just one of them. This collection is a fall out of that too. I have journeyed further, met many poets, shared ideas and getting a good sense of validation. As a poet, you want to evolve. You want to grow and present your gifts in various forms. 

The trend now for performance poets is to launch their books along with CDs of their performances. Is this the new way to consume poetry, you think? Which one has been the most fulfilling for you?

The idea is to put out the material through as many means as possible. This might be due to what we have identified as varying consumption points amongst people. Some people are in love with the page, they want to hold the book and read it. Some people just want to hear you and move on. Others would like to see videos and that serves them. So, it is wise to get your material out in various forms and formats, but while doing that, you must be sure your message is not lost. Being stuck to a particular form would be the poet doing a great dis-service to his craft. The world is moving fast and you have to tag along and don’t dare stand in its way. As a person in this age of civilization, you should learn how to dish yourself and your ideas in various forms for people to consume. It is imperative; else your craft and personality would disappear. The concept of branding actually has its foundation here…

Yet there are poets like Sage Hasson who insist that poetry is not meant to be written but to be rendered. Clearly your thoughts on this are different since you have published your second volume of poetry. To what extent do you disagree with Sage?

Poetry is not just an expression of self; it is a record of history per time, per experience. If these are not documented in some format, they would be lost forever.

As an architect, and a banker, what elements of these worlds have you incorporated into poetry writing and delivery?

As Architects, we believe “less is more”. So I think that has helped in my use of language, the structure of my poems and to a certain degree, my attention to details. It has helped my sense of memory and earthy connection to my core. I like to think it has helped in my design sense. I remember when we were brainstorming on the cover of the book; I contributed to the discussion and final layout. To a large extent, being a banker has helped the reach of my poetry. I come across a lot of people daily and through interactions they get to know I am a poet. Banking has helped my timing, keeping up with appointments when I am invited to perform, giving feedback in good time when I may not be available and my ability to multi task. These little things go a long way to garnishing the whole package and brand.

we find ourselves in and the fastest way to draw on your creative spring is to look around you. You can’t exactly write about moon landing when all you see around you is suffering, pain and a dysfunctional society. So, this narrative would continue to persist until a drastic change occurs in society, in governance and life style. Maybe then, we would start writing more about flowers in well-manicured gardens, sparkling in the vim of consistent electric power.

From anger, let’s talk about love poems. How often does Bash write them?

I have a lot of love poems and I write a lot of them. I personally have a thing for the concept of love and how it can transform an individual. If we lose ourselves in love, it can take us to a place where we would surely loose our minds. The chapter “Intimacy” is totally dedicated to some of my love poems, from the native guy professing his feelings to a village maid to affections shared behind concrete walls within the city heights, love can happen anywhere. Interestingly, I have had my love poem “This thing you do to me” that has been interpreted in dance so many times at different events and even at a wedding recently.

When writing your poems, how much influence does thoughts of performing them wield on the writing?

I was lucky to have started poetry as a page poet. I stumbled on performance poetry in 2012 in Jos, so it was easy for me to just work on the language of my poem and get them primed for performance when I decided to be a performance poet. In a way, it now rubs on my written poetry, but that is why I also have good editors who look at them and tell me if a poem is too potent for stage and should be reworked for page. I have understood that the major difference is in use of language and the sentence connectors. I have learnt to identify the need for employing brevity and strong language when working on a page poem. But for a performance piece, the language is less taut or intense. This is deliberate so the audience can connect with the performance poet at that instant.

Do you think being a performance poet has given you an edge among your peers? Do you think people find it easier to relate with poetry when delivered than when written?

I should say yes to your first question. It is a blessing to be able to act your script! And off course people connect easier and quicker with a piece of performance poetry than a page piece. It is due to a lot of things; the simplicity in language conveyed via raw emotions locked in the tone, the voice and gestures of the poet. It naturally brings to life what has been written. You can compare it to acting a script; saving people the “burden” of reading and understanding a page poem

I suppose the highlight of your performance poetry is being the Presidential Inauguration poet in 2015. It has been almost two years since that epic day. What has been the fallout?

Oh wow…so many beautiful things have happened after that. Performing at The Lagos International Poetry Festival last year is just one of them. This collection is a fall out of that too. I have journeyed further, met many poets, shared ideas and getting a good sense of validation. As a poet, you want to evolve. You want to grow and present your gifts in various forms. 

The trend now for performance poets is to launch their books along with CDs of their performances. Is this the new way to consume poetry, you think? Which one has been the most fulfilling for you?

The idea is to put out the material through as many means as possible. This might be due to what we have identified as varying consumption points amongst people. Some people are in love with the page, they want to hold the book and read it. Some people just want to hear you and move on. Others would like to see videos and that serves them. So, it is wise to get your material out in various forms and formats, but while doing that, you must be sure your message is not lost. Being stuck to a particular form would be the poet doing a great dis-service to his craft. The world is moving fast and you have to tag along and don’t dare stand in its way. As a person in this age of civilization, you should learn how to dish yourself and your ideas in various forms for people to consume. It is imperative; else your craft and personality would disappear. The concept of branding actually has its foundation here…

Yet there are poets like Sage Hasson who insist that poetry is not meant to be written but to be rendered. Clearly your thoughts on this are different since you have published your second volume of poetry. To what extent do you disagree with Sage?

Poetry is not just an expression of self; it is a record of history per time, per experience. If these are not documented in some format, they would be lost forever.

As an architect, and a banker, what elements of these worlds have you incorporated into poetry writing and delivery?

As Architects, we believe “less is more”. So I think that has helped in my use of language, the structure of my poems and to a certain degree, my attention to details. It has helped my sense of memory and earthy connection to my core. I like to think it has helped in my design sense. I remember when we were brainstorming on the cover of the book; I contributed to the discussion and final layout. To a large extent, being a banker has helped the reach of my poetry. I come across a lot of people daily and through interactions they get to know I am a poet. Banking has helped my timing, keeping up with appointments when I am invited to perform, giving feedback in good time when I may not be available and my ability to multi task. These little things go a long way to garnishing the whole package and brand.