Fatal Desire: A Collection of Poems

By Sapphire Ash

The poems in this collection were written in order to indicate my disgust in the things that troubles my people, especially to let the world into the sufferings of HIV/AIDS victims, infidelity, the abuse of women, religious intolerance, the restriction of expression in Nigeria, corruption, neo-colonialism and the unjust exploitation of the poor through the process of brainwashing and the falsifying of religious teachings in order to instigate riots, destruction, and killings. These and other vices are presented in this collection.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Partridge Publishing Africa
• Release date: Dec 17, 2014
• ISBN: 9781482804546

Sapphire Ash

Multitalented Linda Jummai Mustafa is currently lecturing at the Ibrahim Badamasi Babangida University, Lapai, Niger state. She is the first female journalist from Borgu local government area of Niger state and the first to attain a master’s degree in literature. As one of the few women who have acquired postgraduate education, she has been able to give a voice to violated and widowed women in the hope that they pursue self-independency despite living in an oppressive patriarchal society.

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PROLOGUE

Writing has always been my passion, but putting down thoughts and ideas, was more like finding a needle in a haystack. Words to me were like a mass of rioting ants that would suddenly get disarrayed and diverted from their normal course leaving me stuck with so many ideas and no vision. Naturally, I am shy and evasive yet the things that I see happening every day were enough to spur me into the world of creativity.

The poems in this collection were written in order to indicate my disgust in the things that troubles my people; especially to let the world into the sufferings of HIV/AIDS victims; infidelity, the abuse of women, religious intolerance, the restriction of expression in Nigeria, corruption, neo-colonialism and the unjust exploitation of the poor through the process of ‘brain washing’ and the falsifying of religious teachings in order to instigate riots, destruction and killings. These and other vices are presented in this collection.

For nine years, I watched people die from HIV/AIDS, and the humiliation melted on women sufferers was just too agonising. The general notion is that women and men in Africa, specifically in Nigeria, die of poverty, starvation and occasionally, from sporadic gun shots. What the world is barely aware of is that there is a high increase on the raping and murdering of innocent women and children. Numerous rape cases are therefore not reported because of the stigmatization of the victims coupled with the fact that most victims are financially incapable of paying for legal assistance.

In this collection, I carefully picked words which explicitly depict sceneries of the sufferings of a dying race (women). Poems such as ‘Raped by a Friend’, ‘Fiery Fairy’, ‘Entrapment’, ‘The Aliens’ and others are metaphors describing the sordid experiences of abused women and men; the deceitful infection of an unsuspecting victim with the deadly AIDS virus and also the betrayal of Africans by greedy White men who pretend to be friends, make a case in this collection. Other poems such as ‘Fatal Desire’, ‘The Prostitute and the Priest’, ‘My Crush of Woes’, ‘Outrage’ etc, are lamentations of betrayal, crushed hopes and the irresponsiveness and insensitiveness of government administrators who are ‘suspiciously’ elected to serve the people, but instead claw their way to riches at the expense of loyal followers. Yet, other poems crystallize cultural lapses and financial slavery…I however avail readers the discretion to interpret poems as they will.

In acknowledging the few men who have helped women in one way or the other, I have written poems that encapsulates men’s acceptance of women as their equals - these men are the ones I call ‘real men’! These real men love without reserve and they help their women to develop and aspire greater things than being dedicated housewives; they don’t mind being called a ‘sissy’ or in the Nigerian way, ‘a man-woman’. These men also help with the struggle to liberate women…why won’t I love them? ‘Epilepsy’ and ‘My Hero’ are two poems that epitomize the valour of real men

That is why I am deeply grateful to Mr. Kofi Sapong, a cheerful poet highly respected in the Nigerian literary circle. I also thank Mr. Julius Ogar who acknowledged my writing skills as he treated me to the thrills and frills of