Why do men cheat? The answers range from the absurd to the ridiculous. Eric Anderson, an American sociologist at England's University of Winchester and author of the provocative new book,The Monogamy Gap: Men, Love, and the Reality of Cheating (Oxford University Press) opines that Monogamy is a "socially compelled sexual incarceration" that can lead to a life of anger and contempt. An article by AskMen proffers reasons such as men cheat because it is challenging and exciting; their partners are boring in bed; it’s an ego boost; they can get away with it (the dude below though seems to be having a hard time getting away with it) etc.
Whatever the reason may be, there is no denying that cheating can be a very painful experience. Little wonder it has been the subject of songs.
Here is Taylor Swift telling a cheating boo you “Should’ve said No.”
So seeing the hazards in cheating why can’t the cheat follow Swift’s advice in most cases? Today’s poem is a take on that.
The persona in the poem is battling a moral and some would argue a spiritual dilemma. He is waging a battle with his amorous desires which have held him captive. Caught between fidelity to his wife and the dictates of his flesh, his internal ruminations is as comical as it is pathetic.
One is left to wonder whether he lost the battle and the effect it has on his marriage as the last lines ring ominously:
A Nightingale (Anglo saxon for night songstress) is a beautiful bird that is renowned for it's ability to dish out tunes which are loud, with an impressive range of whistles, trills and gurgles at night and during the day. Let's take a look at one below.
You must admit it's a rather cute bird. What does this beautiful bird have in common with politicians as to inspire a poem about politicians titled 'Nightingale'?
For starters it has impressive vocal abilities very much like some Politicians. Unpaired Nightingale males sing regularly at night, and this nocturnal song is believed to serve the function of attracting a mate. Politicians are nocturnal beings as well, the world over, emitting nocturnal signals that attract sponsors and all sorts.
When a Nightingale sings at dawn, during the hour before sunrise, it is assumed to be important in defending the bird's territory. Same for politicians, political debates, campaign ad smears etc. Nightingales sing even more loudly in urban or near-urban environments, in order to overcome the background noise. Politicians sing and chirp the loudest in our urban centers that constitute the bulk of informed opinions or background noise if you like.
I'm sure by this time you get my drift. Not surprisingly the Nightingale has inspired poets and poetry through the ages. Aristophanes' Birds and Callimachus both evoke the bird's song as a form of poetry. Virgil compares a mourning Orpheus to the “lament of the nightingale”. John Milton in the 17th century in "L'Allegro" characterizes Shakespeare as a nightingale warbling “his native woodnotes wilde” (line 136). Andrew Marvell in his "On Paradise Lost" subsequently described Milton's Paradise Lost in similar terms. In Sonnet 102 Shakespeare compares his love poetry to the song of the nightingale (Philomel). Coleridge and Wordsworth saw the nightingale more as an instance of natural poetic creation: the nightingale became a voice of nature. John Keats' "Ode to a Nightingale" pictures the nightingale as an idealized poet who has achieved the poetry that Keats longs to write and so on and so forth.
Most of the portrayal of the Nightingale in poetry has been positive and rightly so if you ask me.
In today's poetry the persona takes a different approach. An approach informed by the metaphor of the singing Nightingale. The persona admonishes his people to disregard the song of the Nightingale. Here the Nightingale refers to the political class or politicians whose inspiration to serve the people emanates not from any genuine sense of service but rather has an origin in personal aggrandizement.
The persona assumes the aura of a sage who is not hard at sight and sees what the rest of society neglects or fails to see. He like a prophet, sees the insincerity inherent in the political shrills and predicts that the Nightingale on assuming power would exploit and ignore the very people that danced to his tunes and elevated him into the nest of power.
How do I know all these?
I know because I wrote the poem. The date was March 30th, 2002. The setting that inspired by the Nigerian political climate at the beginning of the eve of the 2003 General elections. With events of the past few years vindicating the persona's negative perception of the Nightingale's song in that milieu and indeed to varying degrees globally, I can be forgiven can't I for going against the grain?
Yet I must admit that the comparison to a Nightingale flatters some politicians. Some don't even win on the strength of their own songs. They just assume wings on the basis of primordial sentiments which has no connection to the real living issues of the day and somehow fly into our political nest high up the tree from where they look at the rest of us mere mortals with disdain.
Well I have ranted long enough. If you are curious about the range of sounds a Nightingale makes (chances are that you would have heard one sing in your lifetime!) you can take a look at the video below but first here is the poem beneath. Enjoy!
These photo-shopped picture may seem hyperbolic as Mosquitoes don't carry oxygen tanks and are certainly not that big.
But the tiny creatures are only tiny in size. They are colossal in harm, make no mistake about that.
Malaria spread by mosquitoes killed an estimated 655,000 people globally in 2010. Even with a declining death rate, Malaria is still among the world's top killer diseases. In 2008 it killed an estimated One Million people.
Today we feature a guest poet-Priscilla C. Okorie. She wrote this poem titled Mosquitoes in August, 2010 while unmarried and known by her maiden name Miss Chinenye Elekwachi.
The poem written in free style and set in a developing economy somewhere in Africa, sees the Persona in a touching monologue about Mosquito and the effect it has on her existence.
It is a beautiful poem that addresses in a subdued but highly critical way the societal dynamics that foster Mosquitoes and Malaria in developing countries especially in the rural areas or urban slums. On the metaphorical level this blood sucking mosquitoes could even stand for a corrupt political class intent on bleeding a nation to death and the fervent prayer of the hapless majority who yearn for a better tomorrow if not in their lifetimes then in their offspring's own.
It's a classic. Enjoy.
MOSQUITO by Priscilla Okorie nee Elekwachi
Fie thou treacherous enemy!
Murderous enchanted scavenger.
Blood is thine nectar;
and death thine gift to the world.
I know thy footsteps.
For night after night, I awake to thy call.
Does thou not sleep? Does thou not break?
No family gathering? No community emergencies?
I know thou can be conquered.
For I have learnt that in the far lands,
thou dread to show this menacing face.
Alas! I can fight.
But wait!
With this leaking roof?
Mountain of rubbish?
Drainage needing draining?
Broken pots and plastics?
and feeble hands slaving for food?
I nurse thee instead, as my Neighbor.
I long for that morning turned noon,
when I shall be rid of thee forever!
and save my unborn child,
the agony of hearing thy voice after birth!
With over Eleven Million Hits and still counting, this dude's spoken poem nails it. The poem has gone viral on you tube and justifiably so too!
If you have ever secretly felt at odds with the apparent contradictions thrown up by your religion, Jefferson Bethke eloquently captures such feelings this week.
I sure know that this poem resonated with me.
First watch him perform this beautiful poem. Then read the poem (Yeah I got a written version of it here as well) and watch the poem again.
Doesn't he make so much sense? I am sure you agree he does.
Amazing stuff innit?
Very poignantly done. Now to appreciate this take a look at the lyrics and remember to listen again.
Jefferson Bethke – Why I Hate Religion, But Love Jesus
What if I told you Jesus came to abolish religion
What if I told you voting republican really wasn't his mission
What if I told you republican doesn't automatically mean Christian
And just because you call some people blind doesn't automatically give you vision.
I mean if religion is so great, why has it started so many wars?
Why does it build huge churches, but fails to feed the poor?
Tells single moms God doesn't love them if they've ever had a divorce?
But in the old testament God actually calls religious people whores.
Religion might preach grace, but another thing they practice,
Tend to ridicule God's people, they did it to John The Baptist.
They can't fix their problems, and so they just mask it
Not realizing religions like spraying perfume on a casket.
See the problem with religion, is it never gets to the core,
It's just behavior modification, like a long list of chores.
Like lets dress up the outside make look nice and neat
But it's funny that's what they use to do to mummies while the corpse rots underneath.
Now I ain't judging, I'm just saying quit putting on a fake look.
Cause there's a problem if people only know you're a Christian by your Facebook.
I mean in every other aspect of life, you know that logic's unworthy
It's like saying you play for the Lakers just because you bought a jersey.
You see this was me too, but no one seemed to be on to me,
Acting like a church kid, while addicted to pornography.
See on Sunday I'd go to church, but Saturday getting faded
Acting if I was simply created just to have sex and get wasted.
See I spent my whole life building this facade of neatness
But now that I know Jesus, I boast in my weakness.
Because if grace is water, then the church should be an ocean,
It's not a museum for good people, it's a hospital for the broken.
Which means I don't have to hide my failure, I don't have to hide my sin
Because it doesn't depend on me it depends on him.
See because when I was God's enemy and certainly not a fan
He looked down and said I want, that, man
Which is why Jesus hated religion, and for it he called them fools.
Don't you see so much better than just following some rules?
Now let me clarify, I love the church, I love the bible, and yes I believe in sin
But if Jesus came to your church would they actually let him in?
See remember he was called a glutton, and a drunkard by religious men
But the son of God never supports self righteousness not now, not then.
Now back to the point, one thing is vital to mention
How Jesus and religion are on opposite spectrums.
See one's the work of God, but one's a man made invention;
See one is the cure, but the other's the infection;
See because religion says do, Jesus says done;
Religion says slave, Jesus says son;
Religion puts you in bondage, while Jesus sets you free;
Religion makes you blind, but Jesus makes you see;
And that's why religion and Jesus are two different clans.
Religion is man searching for God, Christianity is God searching for man.
Which is why salvation is freely mine, and forgiveness is my own.
Not based on my merits but Jesus's obedience alone.
Because he took the crown of thorns, and the blood dripped down his face,
He took what we all deserved, I guess that's why you call it grace
And while being murdered he yelled
"Father forgive them they know not what they do."
Because when he was dangling on that cross, he was thinking of you
And he absorbed all of your sin, and buried it in the tomb.
Which is why I'm kneeling at the cross, saying come on there's room
So for religion, no I hate it, in fact I literally resent it.
Because when Jesus said it is finished, I believe he meant it.
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