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Wole Soyinka's Telephone Conversation

After a phone call,I just remembered this poem I read in secondary school for some reasons I can't readily relate to.Read and enjoy.

TELEPHONE CONVERSATION


Wole Soyinka



The price seemed reasonable, location

Indifferent. The landlady swore she lived

Off premises. Nothing remained

But self-confession. 'Madam,' I warned,

'I hate a wasted journey - I am African.'

Silence. Silenced transmission of

Pressurized good-breeding. Voice, when it came,

Lipstick coated, long gold-rolled

Cigarette-holder pipped. Caught I was, foully.

'HOW DARK?' . . . I had not misheard. . . . 'ARE YOU LIGHT

OR VERY DARK?' Button B. Button A. Stench

Of rancid breath of public hide-and-speak.

Red booth. Red pillar-box. Red double-tiered

Omnibus squelching tar. It was real! Shamed

By ill-mannered silence, surrender

Pushed dumbfounded to beg simplification.

Considerate she was, varying the emphasis -

'ARE YOU DARK? OR VERY LIGHT?' Revelation came. 'You mean - like plain or milk chocolate?'

Her assent was clinical, crushing in its light

Impersonality. Rapidly, wave-length adjusted,

I chose. 'West African sepia' - and as afterthought,

'Down in my passport.' Silence for spectroscopic

Flight of fancy, till truthfulness clanged her accent

Hard on the mouthpiece. 'WHAT'S THAT?' conceding

'DON'T KNOW WHAT THAT IS.' 'Like brunette.'

'THAT'S DARK, ISN'T IT?' 'Not altogether.

Facially, I am brunette, but madam, you should see

The rest of me. Palm of my hand, soles of my feet

Are a peroxide blonde. Friction, caused -

Foolishly madam - by sitting down, has turned

My bottom raven black - One moment madam!' - sensing

Her receiver rearing on the thunderclap

About my ears - 'Madam,' I pleaded, 'wouldn't you rather

See for yourself?'

Meawhile the writer of this poem,Wole Soyinka was just listed by Forbes magazine as the 6th most powerful celebrity in Africa.Others are Chinua Achebe who was listed as 1.Femi Kuti,Tuface,Don Jazzy,Dbanj.Psquare,Genevieve,Asa and Nneka are also among the top 40 on the list.

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