Zakiyyah Dzukogi: What is the process of writing a poem like for you? Is it a lot of hard work or easy?
Shehu Mubarak Sulaiman: Generally, creating art, especially a good one, does not come easy for many people. As for me, it rests on a lot of factors. Many poets require time, in order to think, and put the words where they belong. Notwithstanding, there are times an artist just has everything in place. There are moments when all the resources an artist needs, like the right muse, and the right diction, are at his fingertips. During these special moments, all the artist needs is to put the words to paper— and go ahead to create something beautiful. It is commonplace that some artists believe in the existence of ‘Writers Block’. I also do but to a degree. Although, it does not matter if I do or otherwise, I think there are periods when creating art becomes cumbersome, times when the artist needs to go through rounds of deep thinking, doubt, and recurring dissatisfaction before a poem is born. Notwithstanding, I think the easiness or difficulty of creating art—poetry—depends heavily on what poem is being written, and the availability of resources for creating it. I think it depends on the quality and clarity of the thought that is about to be put on stage—the canvas. This can largely depend on the poet’s familiarity with the theme, and the richness of their word bank pertaining to it. I can boldly say that some of my poems were written in a space of minutes, let’s say five to ten minutes. I have entered and gotten shortlisted for impromptu poetry contests where a limited amount of time was given for poets to come up with something presentable. I have also written poems in a space of days, or even a week. I feel that writing a poem requires time and thorough thinking. The poet requires time to put the words exactly where they belong, to marry words together— to create metaphors that are sure to stand the test of time.
Zakiyyah Dzukogi: Please describe your sense of identity in this or any possible world in imagery or metaphor.
Shehu Mubarak Sulaiman: I think I am a seed that is being watered daily, one that is blooming, despite unfavorable circumstances abound. I think I am a special metal in the blacksmith’s furnace, waiting to become something the world has never seen. I think I am the ripe fruit on the tree of literature, yet to be plucked. I see myself as a bird, flying freely in the sky, headed for somewhere beautiful. If you ask me to describe myself, I will say that I am a traveler, sojourning some of the scariest and dangerous routes, which are most destined to lead to somewhere fascinating. I am a servant of The Supreme. I am a body. I think I am flesh, bones, scars, pain, joy, regrets, ecstasy, and mistakes, but not an iota of perfection.
- I am a calculated breather, in a carved body
- a piece of flawed human
- an itinerant between birth and death
- a well-lit star on some of the darkest nights you have seen
- a black soul.
Zakiyyah Dzukogi: If any of your poems could literarily save a person’s life, which poem would it be and can you describe the person whose life you think it would have saved?
Shehu Mubarak Sulaiman: I have gotten random messages from random people, both physically and on the internet, telling me they have read some of my poems, and really love them. However, I have never gotten a feedback for my poems or any piece of writing, with the sender telling me how any of my works have saved their lives. This is because I spend time writing epic poems, and less dark poems or poems that will serve as motivation for people. Despite the aforementioned facts, I think a poem of mine can save a person with suicidal tendencies. It harbours the power to show them that they are not alone and that there is someone out there with the same ordeal as them. The title of the poem is “I am Just Like You” and it goes thus:
I am just like you
I live my life in silence
I lament my life in hiding
I shed my tears in torrents
I seek my solace in sonnets
I hoard regrets in my pockets
Of childhood and adolescence
Of great chances not taken
Of irrevocable mistakes
And preposterous choices
I am just like you
Like you in every way
I may smile through the day
Only to cry when the world is silent
I loved the wrong people
I chose the wrong habits
I treaded the wrong path
When I got to the crossroads
Trapped between tears
But then I feign laughter
My eyes yelling “I am fine”
Only for me to wail after
I am just like you
I may be crying, but no one sees
I may be dying but no one hears
For even if someone does
Not a thing could be changed.
Zakiyyah Dzukogi: What does Africa mean to you, as potential or reality?
Shehu Mubarak Sulaiman: I see Africa as a potential. I mean, there was a time when every continent of the world was moving at the same pace, as another. There was a time when every continent exploited its natural environment to propagate its development. But with the advent of slavery in the 1500s, this growth, of Africa was thwarted. Our labour force was sabotaged, and our growth and development were directed to another continent—The Americas. So, I see Africa as a potential, as a continent trying to catch up with the rest of the world. I believe we should have grown beyond our present state, if not for the corruption, and nepotism that has eaten into the fabric of our leadership.
Africa is potential, we are moving at a fast pace, and we are harnessing our resources despite the crop of leaders we have. We are moving to catch up with the rest of the world. Young Africans are making the continent proud in the realms of literature, automobile, music, sports and the like. The future is African.
Zakiyyah Dzukogi: Could you share with us one poem you’ve been most impressed or fascinated by? Tell us why and share your favourite lines from it.
Shehu Mubarak Sulaiman: Well, this is a tough one, and that is because I have a lot of favourite poems. Nevertheless, I would pick “So You Want to Be a Writer” by Charles Bukowski. This is because the poem made writing to be so delicate, and special. It made writing dangle between ease, and difficulty. The poem is like a wake-up call to all writers and aspiring writers alike— a resounding clarion call. My favourite lines from the poem, are:
if you’re doing it because you want
women in your bed,
don’t do it.
if you have to sit there and
rewrite it again and again,
don’t do it.
if it’s hard work just thinking about doing it,
don’t do it.
if you’re trying to write like somebody
else,
forget about it.
if you have to wait for it to roar out of
you,
then wait patiently.
if it never does roar out of you,
do something else.
if you first have to read it to your wife
or your girlfriend or your boyfriend
or your parents or to anybody at all,
you’re not ready.
don’t be like so many writers,
don’t be like so many thousands of
people who call themselves writers,
don’t be dull and boring and
pretentious, don’t be consumed with self-
love.
the libraries of the world have
yawned themselves to
sleep
over your kind.
don’t add to that.
don’t do it.
unless it comes out of
your soul like a rocket,
unless being still would
drive you to madness or
suicide or murder,
don’t do it.
unless the sun inside you is
burning your gut,
don’t do it.
when it is truly time,
and if you have been chosen,
it will do it by
itself and it will keep on doing it
until you die or it dies in you.
there is no other way.
and there never was.
Shehu Mubarak Sulaiman is a Nigerian nurse, poet, freelance writer, and storyteller. He graduated from the prestigious Ahmadu Bello University where he studied Nursing Science. His poem, I AM NORTH, was shown at the 2020 Nigerian Students Poetry Prize edition. He won the Instafood Poetry contest organized by Poets in Nigeria and the best review in the Spirit Of Danfo Book Review contest. He also won the June Edition of the Abubakar Gimba Prize for short fiction. His works ranging from poems, stories, and reviews have appeared or are forthcoming on DailyTrust Newspapers, The Nation, Vanguard, Konyashamsrumi, Poetic Wednesdays Contest anthology, PIN Food Poetry anthology 2020, Literandra, Anthology of Stories from Northern Nigeria, African Writer Magazine, Sebuleni Africa, The Arts-Muse Fair, YELF official website, and elsewhere. He has performed his spoken word poems at Hausa International Book and Arts Festival and other festivals across Nigeria. He writes from the ancient city of Kano.
- Poet’s Talk: 5 Questions with Nasiba Babale - September 5, 2023
- Poet’s Talk: 5 Questions with Ibraheem Uthman - August 29, 2023
- Poet’s Talk: 5 Questions with Zakiyyah Dzukogi - August 19, 2023
