Finally Over

He’s getting divorced,

Remotely,

Very 2022,

And doubting that,

They ever,

Had a chance,

At least,

He’s keeping,

The dog.

Never Finished

He’s had a good,

Morning of writing,

Several poems,

Hundreds of words,

He’s probably done,

For the day,

Even though the work,

Is never truly finished,

Because when you’re writing,

What needs to be written,

There’s always,

Another line,

Or lines,

Another poem,

Or poems,

More thoughts,

And feelings,

More joy,

More pain,

And the blood,

That has to be wiped from the page.

Taylor Dibbert is a widely published writer, journalist, and poet. He’s author of the Peace Corps memoir “Fiesta of Sunset,” and the forthcoming poetry collection “Home Again.”

BAGGY GENERATION

I need no canoe to sail back into

The past, the day my grandfather

Read his adage into every growing ear

Only a puzzle in my brain, & this all

Would re-appear in fresh flesh

We grew up with this adage becoming

The owner of our heart-

The okra herb never duels for height

With its cocky.

As my mother’s tongue has also attested,

My mother’s mother would sew her a cloth

Of pair-able size to her petite nature-

Cutting her cloth in accord with her cloth.

Err NO for this baggy generation

A man’s shoe size is a thousand and two times

Grey-haired than his leg

Every being opine to what isn’t yet

Visible in their weak muscles

A child wants to talk before birth

And run before he crawls

A boy with two teeth is wearing the

Words of fatherhood in his mouth

The beards like scattered mop strands

Beneath the bottom of a child’s mouth

Has been robbed of the esteem of his father.

The baggy generation of

Fat clothing in big thin bodies

makes them another phrase

For a swallowed pill.

Baggy heads yet thin of sense

Everything is baggy! eyes, mind, mouth & motive

On crossed legs, this generation wants

To reach the peak of an alp.

Calypso lives as a goddess of immortality and youth upon the Ogygian island and she entraps and encharms Odysseus until the divine cosmic intervention of Zeus averted her into succumbing this lusty temptation as embellished in these lines, “By then, good bye to him, since no God can evade or thwart the will of Zeus.”

When Odysseys felt homesick remembrances of Penelope haunted him, Calypso’s immortality makes her more superior in her form, stature and appearance compared to Penelope. Odysseus’ choice of being paramoured by this enticement seemed to be foreshadowing Penelope’s susceptibility to time and decay, as metonymic for the realistic human condition he prefers unlike ‘ageless youth’ of Calypso. In this behaviour Odysseus’ choice deprioritizes
idolized beauty.

“A cruel folk you are, unmatched to jealousy? You gods cannot bear to let a goddess sleep with a man, even if it is done without concealment or she has chosen him as her lawful consort.” Calypso become disillusioned by the boorish heraldry of Hermes, the giant slayer and Messenger of God; Zeus, the Lord of Hera and Thunderer doesn’t relish the fact of her conjugal union with Odysseus
and thereby she releases her captive.

Odysseus cannot but be suspicious of villainous trickery of Calypso, who in intercession, chants breathtaking rhetoric, pointing Odysseus’ crafty mind. “What a villain you are to think of such a thing! It shows the crafty way your own mind works.” This happens, however, that the nymph Calypso becomes intensely emotional and elevated with sensational feelings for the hero proclaims in ingenuity of her fairness of being tender hearted soul.

“For I, after all, have some sense of what is fair; and my heart is not a block of iron. I know what pity is!”

Describe the cosmic and divine interventions of the anthropomorphic Gods in Homer’s Odyssey.

Or
Justify Odysseyean narrative in perspectives of man’s responsibility rather than divine malevolence

Or
“The companions yielding to reckless folly invokes the wrath of the Gods. Explain in the light of the commentary.

Or
“That is the God’s work, spinning threads of death through the lives of mortal men…” Explain and justify the perspectives of Alcinous’ speech through the light of divine intervention and cosmic role of gods and goddesses.

Poseidon Lord of the Earthquake and Earth Girdler incites a thunderous rivalry with Odysseus for murdering Cyclops, the mountain giant. In vengeance and vengeful spirits, he shipwrecks Odysseus as manifested by these inferences to these dactylic hexameter, “So I had only to go to Ethiopia for the Gods to
change their minds about Odysseus. And there he is, close to the Phaeacian lands, where he is destined to bring his long ordeal to an end. Nevertheless I mean to let him have his plentiful of trouble yet.” In a nutshell, Poseidon is cast as the blocking force of obstacle or hindrance to Odysseus’ return and to Zeus’ will. Odysseus attributes both destructiveness and helpfulness to Zeus when he
describes the culminating disasters of his travels and the shipwreck off Thrinacia.

Throughout the narratorial omniscience poaching of animals renders
impending doom and life threatening stance. Zeus’ animosity of lightning thunder to strike Odysseus’ ships reflect the divine justice of his companions’ doom and furthermore, Zeus’ prevents Scylla’s reappearance. Both Teiresias’ and Circe’s re echoing of stock advisory imperatives entails foreboding apprehensions with incurring the wrath of Poseidon or Helios’ against killing their sacred cattle:

“And if you yourself contrive to escape, you will come home
late, in evil plight, with all your comrades lost.” Athena aids in the favour of betterment for the future of the Ithacan kingdom and she exclaims, “I knew in my heart”.. “That you would return after the loss of all your companions, but I did not want to fight with Poseidon, the brother of my father, who has put anger in his heart in wrath because you blinded his own son.”

Athena’s magical divinity and wondrous marvels have been a boon for Odysseus’ and Telemachus’ accomplishments. Nestor exclaims after the disappearance of Mentes, that, she [goddess Athena] For never in my life have I seen the Goddesses display such open emotion as Pallas Athena had shown for the championship of Odysseus. For instance, Odysseus was blessed by a divine
showering of radiance by Goddess Athena upon his brine crusted ascension to shores of Scheria from Ogygiaian isles. Arrogant and hubristic beasts such as Cyclops Polyphemus have been bestowed by Zeus’ showerings of torrential downpours for the fertility and productivity of grapes and grains in mountainous caverns, which Odysseus feels loathsome. Nevertheless, Zeus’ retributive justice
to invoke wrathful vengeance in collaboration with Artemis to disenfranchise maidservant for entrapment of Eumaeus is vindictive justification.

Evaluate Nausicaa’s character as a feminist threat of the Homeric epic Odyssey.

Or Explain the significance of Nausicaa’s feminist character in Homer’s Odyssey.

Or
Describe Odyssus’ journey from Ogygia to the island of Scheria and
eventually acquaintanceship with Phaecan princess Nausciaa. Illustrate your answer with references to family, marriage and conjugality.

Or
“Good luck, my friend, and when you are in your own country, you will remember at times, since it is to me, before all others, you owe your life.” Explain the incidents of the episodes at Scherian island with Nausicaa.

Or
Odysseus’ and Nausicaa’s can be considered as unrequited love in
canonical literature. Explain with textual evidences.

Seafaring wanderer Odysseus acquainted himself with Phaeacian princess Nausicaa. If Homer hadn’t intended Odysseus’ eventual homecoming then this folk tale romance would evolved as a ‘tragic artistic blunder’ linking conjugality of Odysseus with the Phaeacian princess Nausicaa in the isles of Scheria. The princess attends neither courtly royal affairs, Phaeacian palace games nor
Odysseus’ eventual departure. Their solitudinous solace of final meeting renders romantic anticipation. Odysseus’ impetus of Phaeacian episode falsehood rechoes to safeguard the image and reputation of the princess in King Alcinous presence. “My lord”, replied the resourceful Odysseus, “your daughter [Phaeacian princess Nausicaa] is not to blame for that [ushering Odysseus
along with her attending maidens’ accompaniment], and I beg you not to take her to task. She did tell me to follow along with the servants. But in my modesty I shrank from doing so, thinking it possible that you might be annoyed at the sight.” [VII 303-307].

Nausicaa’s tactfulness and vigilance in espousal of shipwrecked foreigner Odysseus infers the imminent danger of tarnishing
reputation amidst Phaeacian sailors and noble suitors Princess Nausicaa’s demeanor possesses a considerable appeal to influence Odysseus’ future prospects through the cherishing of a royal wedding and sovereignty of a dukedom.

Nausicaa is a divine deity as envisioned by Odysseus’ in spellbinding
admiration of her grace, beauty and statute. “If you are one of the Gods, it is of Artemis, the daughter of Almighty Zeus, that your beauty, grace and stature most remind me.” [VI 49-52]. Odysseus’ pitiful appeal for a rag to shroud and wrap his nakedness and storytelling of the winds and tempestuous waves of
island of Ogygia ensues within this phenomenal meeting. Even Nausicaa’s is hailed to be a female of wonder and veneration for a seafaring voyager like Odysseus. Furthermore, Odysseus’ prayers for Nausicaa’s future blissful conjugality assures something charismatic. Since home, husband and family will be confounding their enemies and delighting their friends. In the end, Nausicaa’s feminine persuasion, graceful eloquence, charming beauty, youthful
intelligence exalts Homeric artistic triumph and Odyssean resolution.

1. Nausicaa: A Feminist Threat, Authors: Nicolas P. Gross and Nicholas P.
Gross, Source: The Classical World, February 1976, Vol. 69, No. 5, February
1976, pages: 311-317
2. Poor Polyphemus: Emotional Ambivalence In “Odyssey” 9 and 17 , Author:
Rick M. Newton, Source: The Classical World, January-February 1983, Vol. 76,
No. 3, pages: 137-142.
3. The Role of Telemachus In The Odyssey, Author: M.J. Alden, Belfast,
Northern Ireland, Source: Hermes, 2nd Qtr, 1987, pages: 129-137
4. Narrative and Rhetoric To The Odysseus’ Tales To The Phaeacians, Author:
Marianne Hopman, Source: The American Journal of Philology, Spring 2012,
Vol. 133, No. 1, pages: 1-30
5. The Reunion of Penelope and Odyssey, Author: Chris Emlyn Jones, Source:
Greece and Rome, April 1983, Vol. 31, No. 1 , Pages 1-18, Cambridge
University Press On Behalf of The Classical Association

Thy Sorrows

I cannot comprehend such grief thou holdst

Thy mourning that torments thy soul so

My eyes have not perceived horrors; thou hast

Carried a burden so strong in thy blood

In thy heart of hearts of hearts that doth sing

Oh, sweet summer sun sing to me tonight

Sing thy sorrowful heart into the wind

Lull me asleep with thy tears: wearied eyes

Allow me to share thy troubles with thee

Taketh my silken hands that tremble so

The stars doth sing back to thee in the night

Hast thou heard their voices? They sing for thee

My voice shall join thy prayer to the stars

Thy sorrows I have not, wherefore hast thou

Song Title: Made in heaven
Genre: R N B

Verse 1
On a Friday night,
as I got the club,
I met this damsel
She was too real to be true
She was so fresh n green
That I couldn’t help grin
Her sexy face
Made me to dance
As I looked through her body,
I knew she was worthy
As I danced towards her,
I saaaaaaawwwww….that she was:

Chorus
Made in heaven
Made in Heaven (yea)
Made in Heaven

Verse 2
I told her ‘’you’re my meat that I want to eat’’
She smiled and said, ‘’You’re got some wits’’
‘’Alright’’ as I smiled passionately
I also said to her, ‘’though I’m meeting first time, you make comfortable’’
‘’Are you sure? How could this be possible?’’
I went on to say ‘’I simply want to know you better. My name is Peter.’’
‘’hmmm Peter!’’ She exclaimed, giving me a warm shoulder
‘’I’m for real…’’ those were assuring words
‘’I see your will’’ her words replied me with
I heralded, ‘’You were…

Chorus
Made in heaven
Made in Heaven (yea)
Made in Heaven’’

Verse 3

I asked her, ‘’what’s your name, damsel?’’
‘’Cristabel’’ she replied, looking seductively
Right there at the club,
I got a drink for both of us
We drank to the point we couldn’t drink no more
We got so high
We started talking dirty
And the rest became history
One thing led to the other
We were unclothed, holding each other
The morning bright
I looked at the body I admired
And I said to myself: ‘’This is…
Chorus
Made in heaven
Made in Heaven (yea)
Made in Heaven’’

Reflections

What makes us mournful at funerals?
Is it the memories we’ve made with the deceased
Or the memories we failed to create with them?
What moves us to tears at funerals?

Is it the things we said to the one lying lifeless in the casket,
Or the things we failed to say to them?

What makes us cry at funerals?
Is it the good times we shared with the one about to be lowered into the Cold bosom of the earth,
Or the good times we failed to share with them?

Tales of a traveller

tė Uzo chekwa ghu nwa m, 

said my grandma to me 

as I set forth on my journey. & her words, when loosely translated mean, 

“may the road be your guide, my child.” 

so here I am on the road, travelling with no distinct destination in mind, 

i, a born voyager, 

descendant of men 

who commune with the road. who call a place far from home, home. 

so I, before I drew my first breath had fellowship with the road. 

little wonder why I feel safest 

on the go. why my mind 

only finds peace in places 

far from my abode. Little wonder why only the road feels like home.

Obirija Somtochukwu is a freshman student of pharmacy at the University of Ibadan. An essayist and poet, he writes on social issues, his tribal identity and personal conflicts. 

In addition to writing, he plays football, table tennis and chess.