Comments on One Ghana, One Voice: The Still Small Voice - Dela Bobobee

APPRECIATION My special appreciation goes to LS Me...

2012-02-07T11:57:06.771Z

APPRECIATION
My special appreciation goes to LS Mensah, Snr. Poet Darko Antwi, Elorm Dogbo, and Prince K. Mensah, for such insightful comments on “The Still Small Voice”. Indeed, when all your perceptive remarks are joined together, it could make a very interesting replica of “How Poem Works”. They are all very academic, and highly enlightening.

LS, thanks again for the mention of William Tyndale, another “unsung hero”.

'The Still Small Voice', as a title, is an...

2012-01-26T22:34:19.459Z

'The Still Small Voice', as a title, is an effective use of Biblical allusion. Prophets and kings were usually in a state of doubt or at the cusp of a life-changing decision whenever they heard 'the still small voice'of God.

Dela Bobobee challenges his readers to listen, not to the noises and voices of politicians and pundits, but to the oft-forgotten, 'still small voice' of patriotism. A voice that is in itself

a voice of reason
a voice of unity
a voice of humanity
a voice of hope

This is a poem that transcends race, tribe and region. It is a poem that goes straight to the question of basic human dignity: Are we ready to lose our decency over trivialities or are we going to sustain it, based on what 'the still small voice' tells us?

Dela Bobobee speaks to the future as well, invoking a blessing that is in resonance with the tone of the voice

may our loins not amass greedy children
who would torch a barn to assuage hunger
and may we not abet hot-headed progeny
who would set a granary on fire to trap a squirrel

The poet speaks to preempt a repeat of generational mistakes that have been the bane of many countries in the struggle for social progress. The poet becomes prophet, priest and propagandist for 'the still small voice'. To balance idealism with realism, the poet challenges his readers with another weapon: the past-

if we have done it before
then we can still do it again

'The Still Small Voice' is a evocation of decency and patriotism, an appeal to our higher angels. It is neither an abstract or commanding voice. It is the voice whispering into our conscience every silent moment, the voice that is always drowned amidst other, albeit unimportant, voices.

If only our TV and radio stations would recognize the wealth that Ghana has in its poets and writers, we will become a formidable counter-balance to the chaos within our politics.

Well done, Dela. You have lit a fire within our hearts and minds.

Thanks Darko Antwi, for the picking. I agree with ...

2012-01-26T17:50:54.926Z

Thanks Darko Antwi, for the picking. I agree with you and Elorm Dogbo both, that the poem is didactic, but I guess that is the way with so much public art/poetry. How the individual poet then manages it is up to him.

By the time we hit the middle stretch, we'll be listening to radio phone-ins, reading reports etc about the shenanigans of the politicians, the poem will resonate even more.

Our continent has too many examples of the near failures and catastrophes, for one not to wag a finger. The Kenyan model is not a good one. Their govt has to spend too much money paying for an overbloated cabinet, and the parties go on playing footsie with each other.

When it breaks, it is even more difficult to mend. At the last Congolese elections the UN was reported to be transporting ballot boxes in helicopters, while plp were going to bed hungry. Their elections were declared mostly free and fair. Kabila Two is just as bad as Kabila One. Africa's navel is now a family fiefdom.

No wonder some poets and artists question this freedom and democracy thingammy. I wouldn't perch with them, but it is what we have.

Cheers

Didactic and very African. I really enjoy not only...

2012-01-26T10:29:44.134Z

Didactic and very African. I really enjoy not only reading your poems but also studying them thoroughly...

Pardon me For using "The Still Small Voice&q...

2012-01-25T19:09:49.958Z

Pardon me

For using "The Still Small Voice" interchangeably, I had to correct myself by re-posting.

LS, I have read your comments. I have picked something out of it.

With hopes of submitting a good poem to OGOV durin...

2012-01-25T19:02:55.979Z

With hopes of submitting a good poem to OGOV during the 3rd or last quarter of the year, I have been working on 4 minor titles of my latest poetry to amuse readers, if any of them could. They include: "My name is Theodora Jackson", "To Kofi Badu in Washington DC", "I swear by 1983" and "Quote of Arms".

I have also been on the expectation of reading some fine poems from other contributors, as the weeks go by. Behold, the Most Senior Poet, Dela Black Bobobee, has set the ball straight-rolling at the stroke of "The Still Small Voice".

In 'The Still Small Voice', MSP Bobobee presents an astute electoral hymn where 'a voice of reason'...'of unity'...'of humanity' and...'of hope' seems to discern or predict a 'herald to the other side of the coin'. As dictatorial as the voice is, it couldn't be judged as entirely bias as it has a neutral discernment that penetrates and wards off the evils of the present citizenry, extending into the physics of future generations:

may our loins not amass greedy children
who would torch a barn to assuage hunger
and may we not abet hot-headed progeny
who would set a granary on fire to trap a squirrel

'The Still Small Voice' is made even more shrewd and clever a poem, by virtue of the characteristics the law graduate accords 'the new still small voice' whose prompts 'our blunted ears may' / should be whetted to hear. In the forth stanza the poet underlines the character of unity, in spite of the differences that abound:

if what binds us together as one voice
is truly greater than what divides us
then may our minds now be as one
to turn our diverse lyrics into harmony

If we know nothing at all, the last stanza emphasizes the spirit of hope which the same 'still small voice' reels into our ears:

if we have done it before
then we can still do it again
if only we rise above greed, hatred
and just listen to the still small voice.

MSP Dela Bobobee, welldone. This poem is powerful. Only a brilliant mind can express himself like you've done.

Thanks Dela, for hurling me into The Milky Way, ...

2012-01-25T14:51:15.914Z

Thanks Dela,

for hurling me into The Milky Way, and thanks for your poem. We have William Tyndale to thank for the phrase The Still Small Voice, and when the Deuteronomistic writers made Elijah hear it, he was on the run, pondering whether it was all worth it. Was it all worth it, what with Jezebel's wrath hanging round his neck. He of course managed to do the right thing.

I suppose you are following the Troika's call to give poetry a public voice. Democracy, like all of Civilization, is always a work in progress, and at times like these, the old questions come up, don't they? We all start to question whether the bargain we made in order to become a nation state was worth it. For some people, the answer may be no, for others a probable yes, but with some misgivings.

Let me give you some examples: as a Ga, I ask whether it was worth it making my city the capital, if for no reason other than the extreme pressures that puts on the people of Accra. Let's face it, the only things suited to flourish in Accra are anthills, long grasses, cloudless skies and the occasional lone acacias. As an Ewe, I'm sure Keta comes up again and again, and you wonder whether the government has done its duty. Some, probably all Akans, begin to question whether any revenue from primary products, cocoa, timber etc. should be spent on non-Akan areas. Those from Northern Ghana may point to the problem of neglect.

Again, as a Ga my wish is for the regions to have more autonomy, probably some kind of federalism. Even if I were to have this granted, there would still be the annual floods, corruption, overcrowding, the AMA would insist on its right to be incompetent, and the mosquito population of our arrogantly smelly lagoons would continue to increase faster than the rate of inflation.

A federal arrangement might even take us towards what the Nigerians face today. You see how my wishes might throw a spanner into the works that is the Republic of Ghana. That's just me, I have not consulted other Gas, nor Dangmes. Now bring in what other ethnicities cry for, and we have supreme chaos. That is why it is so easy for politicians, even some chiefs and local leaders to exploit genuine needs/desires/grievances. They come from our own communities remember, and they tap into these old problems. The blade of grass that says it will dance in the dry season, leaves itself vulnerable to fire, - whether by lightning, a cigarrete end carelessly thrown away, or the match that is deliberately lit.

This is where the public function of poetry, and I suppose all art, comes into its own. I myself have some profound disagreements with the Troika. For example, I do not believe Soyinka's "Idanre" is the failure they proclaimed, and I think they lost their way with Okigbo. Still, I would stand by and look on while they hammer Sunday Anozie for his structuralist reading of Okigbo. At a time when most readers found Okigbo unreachable, Anozie squandered the chance to bring him closer. From here on, too many, poets, critics, readers, all concluded that Okigbo was too alienated. It is exactly his poetics of alienation that makes him interesting. He speaks for millions of Africans who wake up everyday and ask, "who am I, and what is my place on this vast continent?"

Notwithstanding the above, the Magi are on top form when they exhort us, and remind us of poetry's public role. The poet has to remind his readers not to allow themselves be exploited, while still reminding the political class that real grievances need to be addressed. When you look at the states that ended up in conflict or as utter failed entities, none got there in one leap. It really does take some effort if we are to see the bigger picture.

Cheers

2012-01-25T13:26:35.250Z

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