OLUMIDE Sowunmi is fast creating a poetic style for himself, as he focuses on individuals in his works. Some years back, he published a triology celebrating former United States of America president, Barack Obama.
He also has a poetry collection celebrating his mother upon her demise, and the latest is From Nothingness To A Star: Poetic-biography in celebration of Gani Kolawole Ayinla.
In this collection, the poet focuses on the life of the subject, Ayinla, and how he rose to the peak of his chosen path.
The poem opens with, ‘Birth of A Genius,’ where the ancestral background of the subject is brought to the fore.
‘In Ilorin,’ the poet celebrates the town of the subject, saying ‘Like Afonja, the great, His place was never on the floor.’ Here, he links the subject’s hard work and commitment to the traits of people from his hometown in Ilorin.
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‘A Humble Start’ reveals how the subject began his business in Mokola, Ibadan in Oyo State, saying:
‘By a road side on Mokola,
There you built your shed
And there you were
While the Angels
Brought you blessings.’
Tribute is also paid to ‘Iya Meta,’ the subject’s mother, as well as well as his wedding day.
Highlighting the subject as a top printer is the focus of ‘Send In Top Star,’ while ‘Our Home’ looks at the subject’s immediate family, while explaining that the home front has a lot to do with a man’s success or failure.
The other poems in the collection focus on the business acumen of the subject, and how he has been able to create a niche for himself in his business.
The poetry collection gives the ready the hope that with diligence and patience, one can achieve success, and that is what the author is aiming at achieving.
and then