Review: “ArMiNNa” By Decipher J. Liman

The poem has an accent that pronounces “The” as “za” which is a representation of the Hausa tribe, “Here is za aza form, Arminna and the aza forms”. Arminna seems to be the mother of his friend whose accent he imitates “with an accent of my friend, her son”. He tries to describe him in “That boy with the quiet eye across the room, that loner in a quiet room”.

The theme of this poem is quite confusing, I can’t tell if Arminna is someone’s mother, his mother or he himself. But I can tell that Arminna is someone he wants to be with which is clearly stated in “With you I want to be a father, and you a pretty mother, April, poetry rain and sun we will name our daughter” which means Arminna can either be male or female. “What poetry collects together, let no man Judas”, to some extent expresses that his relationship with Arminna was strengthened by poetry and they intend to let it guide them on “poetry will lead us to Nirvanna, Budha”.

He concludes saying “That boy with the quiet eye was me” which means he had been making a description of himself to Arminna all along. The pleasant mix of Hausa at some point makes it rare and beautiful, “Lafiya, ga ke fara kama lady farara with the golden tooth”. The poem is uneasy to understand as one would have to hear the poets own idea behind it.

LARDO