Was he chased in the dream by the gods of poetry, screaming at him “where are our children?” that when AKIN woke up the first question he would ask was:

“Where are the Poets?”

Maybe not! Maybe his question was a form of lamentation on the apparent dearth of poets in Nigeria! A lamentation shared by many who consider poetry as a dying genre of literature and poets as endangered species.!  For poetry lovers, poetry is life and one can imagine their anguish that this life is gradually fading away into obscurity!

There is a new and emerging generation for whom poetry is Greek! A generation that considers reading more than 160 characters a chore! A selfie generation obsessed with images but not written imagery! A twitter generation who would rather retweet than compose their own tweets! How can poets survive among this generation?

One would think that the fate of poetry is sealed and it is destined to be condemned to the dumpsite of antiquity! But No! when my friend Akin asked the question: “Where are the POETS? This was my response: …

“Where are the poets?

Endangered species!

Rare and rarer still.

Expired muse!

Tired lines our eyes these days peruse;

No satire to our little minds confuse;

With metaphors we no longer use

Any sonnets to serenade our hearts with love-lines,

However false;

O’ ballad, where are you?

Your rhymes did create a sweet symphony;

Shall we sing an ode to rhymes

or a dirge for poets?

Whose art who can resurrect!

Bragi and Apollo, are your fountains of inspiration dry?

For how long shall Akin cry.

Where are the poets?”

                                                                               -Chuks Ojidoh 2016

A Rhetorical question it might seem but I will still answer the question: Where are the Poets?

They are inside of you, because there is a poet in every man/woman!

And is poetry truly dying? or we are failing to notice the evolving nature of this literary form?  Maybe the ancient gods of Poetry cannot recognise its modern form.

For me, poetry is thriving in Nigeria.

So where are the poets you might ask!?

Seek for poets where poems are and you would find them.

The evolving nature of poetry means that we no longer just read or recite poems, we simply dance to them! Poems have gone commercial and are now “Gbedu-favoured”.  In dance halls, in parties and on radio poetry is grooving.

What other poets are you looking for when Phyno is there with his “symphony of  Igbo and English rhymes? what about FLAVOUR and his love ballads! Need I mention ASA? Or can’t Adekunle Gold’s“ Orente” be titled ‘Ode to my Sweetheart’? Are most of the choruses of Nigerian hit songs not iambic pentameter? Or are social media posts not filled with Acoustic poems? riddles and political satires. Seek and you will find more examples!

But again, which category of poets do we seek? Career poets? Or conventional poets? Yes, even these ones are there. There is still a small but vibrant community of poets in Nigeria who I hear often converge in small rooms like worshippers of a forbidden religion to organise recitals and poetry reading sessions amongst themselves! Poets writing for poets and reading to poets! Little wonder this community is not growing or expanding significantly.

Must we write Shakespearean sonnets in order to be called poets? Can we not have a new form of poetry written in the language of this generation- computer language?

Imagine using only emojis to write a ballad,

or creating an epic poem with selfies and symbols?

If poetry like they say is life, then we should look for poems and poets in every area of life! A football commentator once described a move that resulted in a Manchester United goal a few years ago as “Pure Poetry in Motion! And I concurred.

So maybe, what my friend AKIN asked was, simply like I said, a rhetorical question! To remind us, to inspire us and to motivate us to seek out, to create and to appreciate poetry-which many consider as the purest form of literary expression!

Now that we have found the poets, let poetry flourish!!!