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Transcription: [00:06:50]
and understand what I'm saying about Okigbo personalness and-and spirituality in his poetry as you'll hear prelude to the Limit.
[00:06:59]
{SPEAKER name="Kuojo Yelekepala"}
An image insists
from the flag pole of my heart,
The image distracts
with the cruelty of the rose …
[00:07:09]
My lioness
Wound me with your sea-weed face,
blinded like a strong-room.
[00:07:16]
Distances of your
armpit-fragrance
Turn chloroform,
enough for my patience –
[00:07:22]
When you have finished,
and done up my stitches,
Wake me near the altar,
& this poem will be finished.
[00:07:32]
{SPEAKER name="Brooks B. Robinson"}
Note the closeness of Okigbo's poetry, how he begins with the word image.
[00:07:37]
See the image closely as he says it 'the image insists from the flagpole of my heart' very close, very personal poetry.
[00:07:46]
And notice the reference to the alter, he says 'wake me near the alter'. The preoccupation almost with religion. Wake me at the alter after the struggle to get there after you have 'done up my stiches' he says and the 'poem will be finished'.
[00:08:03]
Okigbo very, very personal and outstanding example of the personalness, the-the process of dealing with the individual with African-English poet a primary example Christopher Okigbo, one of West Africa's major poets.
[00:08:18]
East Africa, the home some scientists say of civilization itself, is noted for it's oral poetry, but among African-English poets it ranks fairly high as well.
[00:08:31]
Persons like John Mbiti, Shaaban Robert, and [[Shelley Kibana?]]. These are very important East African or Eastern African poets.
[00:08:43]
Because East African English poets were developing in the midst of change, the move out of the colonialist, getting rid of them as they began to write, because of this

Transcription Notes:
Unknown name, shelley kibana? poet reader name from outro