By Mama A. Touray
The Scorpion, an anthology of 30 poems book written by Momodou Sey was Saturday launched at the Regional Directorate of Education, Brikama in West Coast Region.
The book as reviewed by Kalipha Jabbi is an anthology book that contains 30 poems and is a testament to an unwavering commitment to lyrical romanticist craft, with a breadth of topics that can explore societal ills.
As per the book, the 30 poems take on a journey of love, politics, nature, society, religion, and much more.
Reviewing the book, Kalipha Jabbi said the book, The Scorpion, seeks to repel the minnow stance of the country’s authorship role in the global arena of literature.
He added that the anthology is an embodiment of a symbolic configuration of the Gambia’s sociocultural descriptive to sting a repose identity. And as a social commentator, he said, Modou uses poetry to dwell on cross-cutting national issues, social, political, religious, love, and other thematic areas.
“The book’s title emanates from one of the author’s most iconic poems, the scorpion which is also the first poem of 8 stanzas. The scorpion as a metaphor is a nationalistic symbol which in its diminutive nature represents The Gambia in many of its characters. Courage, bravery, and industrious character. The scorpion according to Sey is an embodiment of a typical Gambian, small in stature but strong, fearless, and accommodative as in the opening lines” He explained.
Kalipha continued that despite being so much in the positive appraisal of the industrious works and bravery of his people, the poet is critical about the recent ethical issues, dejected civil services, and hopelessness that threatened the continuous development of the country.
He said the poem represents two sides of a Gambian, one that’s fearless, resilient, and has a promised future. And a Gambian, that’s corrupt, hopeless, and broken.
Dwelling more on the contents of the book, he stated that poem chapter 19, the cultural clash is truly a representation of the dilemma the young generation faces at the threshold of modern culture and traditional culture and that with a stylistic use of literature, the young poet uses piano, calabash, and Kora to represent modern culture and traditional culture respectively.
“Another aspect of cultural clash is poem chapter 22 when he laments on how the modern culture is gradually contributing to the inappropriate dress code as in quote Thorne civilized dresses and women nakedly parade. This cultural clash transcends to other societal vices including smoking among the teens which renders the old generation to have the nostalgia of the yesteryears and ridicule the new generation as The Generational Mockery hence the title of the poem” he highlighted.
He added that in the thematic analysis of the book, the Poet summed up the beauty of poetry as a genre of literature, serenade some renowned poets and with confidence, call himself the heir apparent to the poetic throne while also celebrating the beauty and natural endowments of his rural village.
However, Mr Jabbi, advised the author to adjust a few of the noticeable flaws in the book while looking forward to his revised edition.
Meanwhile, the Deputy Police Public Relations Officer, Muhammed Y Darboe who doubles as the Executive Director of the Writer’s Clinic said The Gambia has the most talented young persons in this continent.
He, however, applauded them for their good work and advised them to keep up the momentum.