Poets Koleka Putuma, Efe Paul Azino, and Titilope Sonuga have cashed in on their poetry talents with bank communication appearances.
We are always happen when we hear that artists are banking on their talents especially poets who are vital in the literary scene. So it’s always nice to see poets making a splash where the money is hosted. Its Africa month and South African poet Koleka Putuma showed her chops with this wonderful poem entitled Love Letter to Africa for the Standard Bank (in some markets they are called Stanbic Bank). Putuma for the uninformed is the South African poet who brought us Collective Amnesia which basically rewrote the rule book on selling poetry. Her love letter/ poem goes thus in part;
Dear Africa
Your stories are found around fires
Over meals and handshakes
In street corners and corner shops
In buses and backyards
In living room and classrooms
Handshakes has been bolded for my Kenyan readers. *wink wink*
Check out her performance in full here.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IXiuCPvJvMc&t=6s
Then there is Efe Paul Azino the poet who wrote For Broken Men who Cross Often (2015) and is universally known for This Is Not A Political Poem which has been performed on stages like at the Ake Festival. His poetry has featured by Nigeria’s Heritage Bank speaks about the people of the territory called Nigeria that had a glorious past. Here is a sample of the poem;
I know a people
an ancient collection of tribes
histories stretching from parchments in Timbuktu
to groundnut pyramids and Nok art
A civilization that spawned magic from bronze
we were kings and queens once
Before Lugard or Mungo Park
Hold your history books to the light
check the facts
Check out the whole poem below.
Also making the banking cut is Titilope Sonuga the spoken word poet who has been making waves in Nigeria and further afield. Her performance for Heritage Bank speaking about an amazing people of her land is poised and mistressful as she states (in part);
I am overflowing tales by moonlight
trickling off the tip of my grandmother’s tongue
You’ll find my mother’s tongue here
A fast & fluent Yoruba Crisscrossed in English
Hidden messages in prose & proverbs Call it
YORUBANGLISH
Check out the whole performance below;
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