Review: “Drift” by Leonell Echa
Drift, like most of Leon’s poems, is “Short and Straight to the Point.” It is rhymed richly with a particular rhythm that tempts the listener to attempt dancing to it.
The poem begins with chanting protesters and voices of people sharing their views on some of the issues the poem talks about.
The thought provoking poem is to enlighten the listeners to open their eyes to things– tribalism, religion, ethnicity, etc– that tend to cause division.
From the line “silence is the the only nation ruling when we chose to hide,” and the lines that surround it, the side effect of refusing to speak up against the vices that destroy humanity’s unity.
While the lines “our daughters are better mothers when not forcefully laid,” stands against rape and early marriages.
The line “division supercedes when we identify with tribe” can be related to the Nigerian scenario of tribalism.
Another social issue, drug abuse, was mentioned with its side effect too;
“Killing us we would,
Killing us we could,
These pills that we be popping will be doing us no good.”
“Being your brother’s keeper is the best way we stay alive,” ends the poem with the message of the the poem.
As short as the poem is, it touches very sensitive issues in simple language which could be understood by almost everyone.
Younglan Louis