Review of Zainab Hussaini’s 50 Shades of Black and White
Book Title: 50 Shades Of Black and White
Pub Date: October 2021
ISBN: 978-978-918-712-6
Publisher: Kraftgriots
Reviewer: Ibraheem Uthman
To compare poetry to painting is perhaps the best way to understand the former. When we look at a work of art (a piece of painting), the first thing we notice is that it is a representation of a person, a place, an animal, an event, a thing, and sometimes, an ideology.
We’ll notice that the texture, the choice of colours, and maybe how the light glints from an opening, reveal the true beauty of the painting. All these are just the peripheral side of the artwork.
But when we take a deeper look at some of the admirable nibs or extremities, we start to ask how the painter achieves the silvery effect of white paint against the blue drapery? Oh, how did the artist capture the look on the maiden’s eyes that appear so genuine that we could feel the eyes on us no matter the angle at which we look at the artwork? What do we observe in these works of art? Are the strange forms and pictures recognizable? Do they elicit a certain reaction from us? Perhaps we don't see that as much more than we feel when we look at visual expressionism.
To most people, poetry can be compared to abstract art. Some individuals believe that poetry is too idiosyncratic to the author to be fully understood by the readers.
What do we do with words that don’t necessarily convey a story? We must first respect our senses before we can appreciate form and texture to experience creativity. When we’re reading poetry, we begin by appreciating and trusting our sentiments, and then we explore our enjoyment of words and the beauty they create when absorbed.
In this collection of 50 poems titled 50 Shades of Black and White, by a teenage poet from the heart of the literary capital of Nigeria, Zainab Hussain, is a new voice in the limelight, with a pleasuring poetic maturity only achieved by formidable poets, who have given their whole to the art. The collection is mostly centred on themes of childhood, growing up, and the challenges in-between. Love, motivation, courage, and the will to change are as well the main building blocks of the poetry collection.
50 Shades of White and Black is a substantial strive by Zainab Hussain to eternalize childhood memories and adolescent brawls, with her remarkable propensity in using imagery.
In My Prancing, the poet encourages readers to be themselves and pursue whatever makes them happy, without allowing social conditioning or other detrimental communal forces to affect them.
“I Can’t
Dance to the song of others
In a bid of impression
That simply is killing myself in my prancing”
Words of a Child serves as an inspiration or/and instruction to the readers, not only to the teenager in this case but to everyone in general, to live life to the most of their abilities and to leave an imprint on the world that will be remembered long after they are gone, because "Que Sera Sera";
“Look and you shall find
That looks dell deeper than the earth’s
Opening, that the world
Would buzz even if you turn to dust”
The poet continued by reminding the audience that:
“Rivers would flow for rotations
Till you’re just a fading ink.”
As one flicks through the pages of this book of poems, it becomes clear that while the poet is a youngster, her poetry is in no way representative of her age group. The use of symbolism in poems such as Frailties, Sway, The Bad and the Bad, Through the Wall, and many more has the type of depth that all poetry should have. Zainab linked the poet persona to the colour "grey," the "dawn," and the serenity found between "moss and dust" in one of her poems (Sway). Here’s how the poet expressed it:
“And if Anything
Today leaned, that black and white
Have grey as their child-birthing
Like day and night
Has dawn— its offspring
And as such
Perchance like the earth
Whirly revolving, I’d find
A firm stand between
Moss and dust.”
Although the poet had created the primary colours white and black (which might be a visual depiction of good and nad) separate entities in this poem, the reason she had represented the day and night as one, which may be embodied by the psychological concept of life and death, is only known to the poet. Perhaps this is the idiosyncratic nature of poetry we discussed earlier.
In Toddle, the poet’s character lays forth her love and dedication to a lover, assuring them of her love and commitment:
“Even in my silk dresses
Just like in my rags
I’d still skip through clouds
And fly through denseness
For as long as I can
Just to meet you. ”
This chanting continues in Memoirs of Fourteen a few pages later when the poet cries:
“I want my heart
To chant your name
Even
In the depth of its
Darkest days”
Read also: What The Day Said: A Review of Adamu Usman Garko’s “When Day Breaks”
The author’s choice of language in this collection of poems is unique, yet powerful. Deluge by Leila Chatti has an example of this diction. Unlike the Tunisian-American poet, who is a virtuoso of poetry forms, techniques, and art in general, Zainab still has a long way to go in terms of refining her he(art) and soul to improve her creativity.
Occasionally, the poet had employed the use of many words to describe a thing or an event in some poems, some phrases are sufficiently descriptive, yet they are overused to the point of boredom. While it would be awkward to avoid these phrases at all times, you should make an effort to replace them with more engaging words whenever possible. Above all, 50 Shades Of Black and White is a must-read!
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Ibraheem Uthman is a poet and the author of the book, Mind Of a Bard. He is a member of the Hill-Top Creative Art Foundation and he is writing from Minna, Niger State, Nigeria.
