Title: Flames of Memories (Poetry collection)
Author: Sumaila Isah Umaisha
Publishers: Masobe Books (2026)
Reviewer: Ezekiel Fajenyo
Sumaila Isah Umaisha has worked tirelessly as a deeply creative journalist, novelist, poet, short story writer, critic, literary interviewer, arts administrator over the years, with a body of works to show for it. Among the works are; a collection of short stories, Hoodlums (2011), a novel, Glasshouse (2022), a play, Iburama (2023), a young adult novel, Lost in the Wild (2024) and now, a collection of poems, Flames of Memories (2026). He has proved to be a growing seed quite capable of extending presence beyond a particularly fertilized farmland. The collection of poems, running into 153 pages, some of which were written over twenty years ago, and recently delivered by Masobe Books, simply tells of a heart full of unusual energy and adventurousness and breathing with much creative power, ability to spread words beyond their known meanings and pungent tendency to juxtapose situations and events from diverse backgrounds to yield shocking aesthetic effects.
The work, as stated in the “Author’s Note” is propelled by certain circumstances which tested his entire being and it is therefore a reflective “gathering of lived moments and missed ones; embers of what was, what never came to be, and what might have been. I’ve experienced heart-wrenching breakups leading to breakdowns that have left lasting emotional scars…. the loss of loved ones and other life-altering circumstances that trigger a state of mourning whenever they come to mind. I’m often lost in memories, replaying the scenarios.” (page 9).
He has pointed out “the loss of my elder sister, my closest companion, the death of my father in 1976…subsequent losses throughout my school days” and among such losses, but ironically, the losses also influenced his creative intuition and commitment in a positive direction, for his “happier pieces, where revisiting joyful moments puts me in the right mood”. He maintains that though the work is “rooted in personal experience”, it illustratively demonstrates that “the writer has no secret when he writes from the heart”.
It is therefore not unexpected to find an avalanche of themes centred on life as an accumulation of stress, compulsive separation, loss of memory, crushed marriages and death all soaked in images of loss, past, pain, anguish, emotional dislocation and uncertainty and fleshed out in a tone and mood of sadness, pain, disbelief, confusion and suppressed anger, especially in Chapter One titled, “Origins, Memory and Childhood,” containing nine poems. The poems are largely a body of deeply autobiographical excursion into the poet’s beginning, experiences, losses and pain.
“We Live on Water” depicts the eco-reality of Umaisha as a riverine community in Toto, Nasarawa State, Nigeria, and from where the poet’s name is originally derived. It is a settlement surrounded by a river which obeys nature’s traffic dictations – it serves as a boundary, source of life and movement, major natural companion and definer of the people’s history and socio-cultural existence: “We live on water,/drawing peace from/the blue calm of/rowing surf”, “fish and honey,/a bequest free” and “We live on water/deep as dawn-sleep,/fed by the river’s/open palms” emphasize the fact that this water is a provider and supplier of needs, a parent-presence for the people – as suggested in the bountiful images as continued in the second poem, “Do You Remember?” which equally celebrates the abundance of nature’s gifts, beauty, friendliness, generosity, openness, reliability. There are images of childhood memories, togetherness, spiritual solidarity and oneness. The persona’s association with his sister becomes a defining measure for what obtains in this society when the young interrelate: “sneak out/to the moonlit bay,/cooking in the sand,/laughter stifled/by warnings”. It is a peaceful, serene atmosphere where children grow with the love of nature: “the riverside/where canoes carried/memories downstream/to villages swallowed/by harmattan?…/the fries schooling/at the shallow edges?…/Pestle and mortar/called us back home/to dinner mats of/pounded yam”, “the sun, homebound,/rinsed the village in colours?”
The poem aesthetically recaptures the playful moments, the freedom, which accompanied his and his sister’s growing-up years: “I remember us/husband and wife/with a wooden baby/cradled in pieces/from the tailor shed…./I see you rocking her/to sleep,/cooking bean soup/in broken pots”. The memory of this innocent past becomes the harbinger of pain when he loses his sister to death as “Now gone like fish/caught too early…./Do you remember/over there as we do here/with ceaseless tears/sucked by the hunger/for things forgotten?” The images, metaphors and rhetorical questions as used strengthen the memory theme as the reader is visually made to compare the past and the present situations, emphasizing the grievous pain of loss, not only of a person but the era of innocence. The generous use of water elements and images as “logs”, “bamboo poles”, “fishing nets”, “waves”, “canoes”, “riverside” depict the indigenous bearing of the community. The poet does not fail to depict some lines of paradox (“waking us/to sleep”), simile (“Now gone like fish…”) and personification (“Pestle and mortar/called us back…”)
Such depictions equally manifest in another poem, “Childhood Memory” which gives a true picture of a traditional society where morality, discipline, respect for others, count and sometimes enforced in the family. The images and metaphors reflect such orientation especially as seen when the persona, a stone thrower, carelessly hurled stone “at the hands that nursed me”. What followed was some acts of discipline: “I remember the headache,/mama’s bitter herbs,/the kicks from uncle,/empty knocks of aunties,/and the toothless laughter/of old witches…”. It is a superstitious society.
One impression the persona insists on is that the indigenous setting, the local environment has colour, life and remains unsoiled, uncontaminated in its raw essence, which is why he questions why people abandon it for urban environments where insanity, unease, tempest, immorality prevail: “idling in a fool’s mind/adrift on fancy” and “We build paradise,/incubating it for a/lifetime in mental wards…” And in “Remembrance”, he establishes the beauty, sumptuousness and productive features of his community in images and metaphors of steadiness, attractiveness, openness, abundance and cultural wealth as seen in “You stand steady,/the stark beauty/of a solitary sapling/on a cleared field”. He is pained that he has since left such a simple, serene and rich world for other places: “Alone, you stand,/a gazelle keeping/her own side,…./a stubborn neem/in the oasis drained…./Today reminds me/of what we left/behind those hills,/calling us at every step/away from each other”. He is understandably pained, distressed, unhappy and unfulfilled turning his back at such a village despite the losses and some hardships he experienced. The poem is rich in alliteration (“You stand steady…”) and end rhymes (steady/beauty; sapling/keeping).
“Ekaete” is also a celebration of natural beauty, as a love poem, though the persona sees her paradoxically as some burden who must still be sought for the quality of her elegance and blessing of natural gifts. But the poet, in “The Orphan” returns to a moment of gloom, beggarliness, hunger, isolation, starvation, suffering, neglect, pain and alienation – suffering as imaged in the title of the poem. The popular almajiri syndrome in our uncaring clime bears a true testimony to the life of an orphan, imaged as “down the gutter…/wayfarers lose their ways”. The lyrical energy of the poem, despite its saddening metaphors, is oiled with some end-rhymes: “borders/shoulders”, “streets/weeds”, “streams/streets”. The orphan is a wanderer who lives a life of uncertainty and never offered a semblance of assistance for personal survival in an insensitive society.
In “From A Distance”, the persona reveals, contrary to geographical definition of the earth as being spherical, that nature is flat, does not exaggerate, but can be quite deceptive from the level of different human perceptions; it is an equalizer of beings just as closeness to situations or objects breeds a new impression or perspective on what is sighted. The poet celebrates the power of multiplicity and mystery of the human space, as it is capable of diversifying people’s impressions, like a mirage. Umaisha’s use of personification as seen in, for instance, “rainbow smiles…lamps” is characteristics of his aesthetic juxtaposition of unusual words to produce diverse but bold meanings.
In the “Pyramids”, the persona sets out, with like-mind, to explore the background history of the Black race especially from what has been written on the Egyptian cultural history. The devoted group of researchers and scholars engage “searching the past”, cautiously touring the museum of history for details from “the shelves/of Alexandria and lost/crowns, scanning rust/for missing chapters,/gaps in time, and/truths bent askew”. They want to dig into the truth contrary to the often blasphemous, denial-edged tales heaped by foreign adventurers on the integrity of history. Metaphors and images used by the poet point to the desire to dig up the reality, using all available tools and cultural items to help the process and this is profoundly successful as “Speck by speck,/we pick the lies/left by passing dust”, provoking an intellectual atmosphere of sumptuous joy and satisfaction: “singing, dining with/dynasties from/legend scripts”, despite the fact that there are “bartered/ thrones…/empty palaces” reminding them of “masters turned slaves,/forgetting how to remember”. The happy-ending adventure is portrayed in the images of breakthrough, freedom, reaffirmation of integrity and acknowledgement of the power of self-discovery: “But now we know,/and someday we may…/locate our place/ in the book”. The mood and tone are understandably celebratory; the soul of Africa has been visited with liberation and all odious untruths about the race crushed forever!
In Part 2 of the anthology, “Love, Desire and Intimacy” is the general title, with the first poem being “Tonight”. It celebrates conquering through deep affection. The persona is captivated by gripping allure which unifies him with the woman, enveloping him with images of cheerfulness and tone of glamour. His conquest is total; he fears no more disconnect because the lady belongs to him and “Time is waiting/at the gate”; this love is no more about finding lips “in the dark” or “fingers/tracing waist beads” and no more “whispers’ because the love is all-defining and enervating “bond of boundless/rivers…”. The cheers-breeding unity is bound to exist forever, “of fate sought in depths…found at last/where deadlines meet”. Passion, hope, submissiveness, happiness, expectancy, fulfilment and nobly enriched souls are imaged in this powerful poem of love whose environment is colourfully shaped by lyrical sonority as equally found in another love poem of six stanzas, “My Love for You” in which the persona pledges a refined, endless unpretentious affection. His love is not the fleeting type empowered by sheer poet’s lyrical affectation nor “inspired memories/or losses remembered” and “not a tune borrowed/from old songs” but a fresh, creamy, heart-birthed “tendril wrapped in steel,/a skin the sun cannot bleach”; a product of “my flesh” which speaks only “in metal tongue/the eloquence of lighting/when doors are closed/against cold fingers,/dry knuckles knocking”. Having gone through some hindrance before winning her to himself, the persona maintains that his love for her “is endurance etched/in flesh and bone;/a life lived many folds/searching for you”. She is a clean product of his determination, zest for beauty and enduring spirit. The love ignited not by lust but strong, passionate desire. Lyrical cadence laudable personifications and end rhymes walk through the lines.
In “An Ode to My Love” the persona again maintains a unique relationship with this love, one of the qualities which draws him to her being her spirit of purity, service to God, a life of holiness, transparency and godliness. She is in her “Hijabed virtue” actually makes her a ready symbol of believability, truthfulness, spiritual perfection and unpretentiousness; it is “the look in your eyes” which sets “my watch” just as “your smile” is a “canoe wakes on/a calm river”. Through her, he attains semblance of calmness, humility, purity of soul and stability of mind, which is why” “I have nothing/that is not yours,/all my days naming/stars after you”. She is slim, fit “like/a sword”, “a queen hidden/from public claim”. He unquestioningly needs the lady to serve as his companion because he has experienced loneliness, unease, innate torture and pain by the loss of his loving and caring sister – the lady’s beauty he is associated with, as compensation, is not defined only physically but also spiritually. She is his life, his spiritual essence: “I lie helpless/before your henna feet,/my head on your lap…”. His confession attests to the mood of satisfaction and tone of total submissiveness.
In “The Love Birds”, the persona assumes, with his lady, a life of tenderness and radiant youthfulness as seen in their return to the age of innocence, chastity, untainted confidence. In that state, their innocence is proclaimed with all elements of its attractiveness, expectations and the “language of youth”. The visual purity, chastity, discipline and beauty are carefully laced out in the lyricality of the words. The images and metaphors of graceful submissiveness to the lures of passion and spirituality can be seen in, for instance, “my seeds in/the soil of your smile…/dreams”, “stolen moment/bring us down to earth/kids again in parks…/language of youth;/slangs, late nights,/fun caught by being funny”. Even when they temporarily part ways in school, they are always in one another’s desirous consciousness: “As we return…/assured./Two birds meet/at a crossroads,/part,/to meet again/after lessons”. The poet’s economy of words, personifications, symbolisms mark him out as a brilliant poet who knows his onions!
What he makes of this poem, as most others, is what the reader encounters again in “A Kind of Love” in which the cheerful persona celebrates individual parts of his woman – her enthralling lips, eyes, voice, legs and fingers in images of magnetic beauty and radiant attractiveness. To him, all her epitomized body parts work together to make her a total package in transcendental, exemplary and ethereal beauty, which equally defines her life of passionate commitment. Full of alliteration and images of beauty, the poet energises the work with unusual power of alluring lyricism. For instance, “those eyes,/those shifty flirts/of something else”, “your voice,/the call of a canary/on a bridal night”, “those legs,/the hot gait of grace/raised by nurture” and “the fingers,/slim, sneaking/down my back”. The descriptive energy fuels the poem’s power of aesthetic refinement.
The reader finds these qualities also in “I Wanted You”, another poem of passion. The persona wants a dedicated companion to replace who he lost in the past – a companion truly loving, caring, understanding and beautiful. The lady is expected to be in his “story long enough/to prove me wrong,/to ride waves/to the sea, dancing,/sails blowing,/mornings bright/evenings a breath/of delight”. The images and metaphors here remind the reader of his water-rounded past in his rural community whose memory gives him some pain and teary moments, especially the loss of a very loving sister! He needs that graceful touch of nature and sees the lady as “the missing part/recovered,/bridge to my youth/at this age”. He wants her to steady his wandering spirit and make his existence colourful, fulfilling and not only about remembering a missing part. But he is not so lucky: “But I see logs every way,/a curse on each luck,/no room for my story”. His wish is never achieved; there is a “receding/voice heavy with/unspoken farewell…/The last curtain/drawn…”. Images of shock, confusion, frustration, crisis reveal his inability to attain his desired goal. But he longs for the best life for himself as seen in words of brightness, sweetness, happiness and fulfilment which are employed. But those elements never drop on his feet. Some end rhymes like “bright/delight” and “dancing/blowing” give radiance to the poem.
In “Waiting for Your Touch”, the persona is determined to undergo whatever pain it takes for him to have this lady companion. He is still on a journey to win over a companion, moving to unusual places like “below,/rivulets flowing/through limbo…” with “a choked sigh” and “Beneath the sun’s whip/where burdens fold time…”. His destiny remains unaccomplished without her in his heart; she symbolizes life’s torture and helplessness as “Under the night’s gaze,/blinded by groping fingers,/I stand still like embers in/an abandoned fireplace…”. She is the only promised succour, bearer of his peace, “to/unbutton my heart/and torture me to death”. The reader also encounters well-placed similes, metaphors, personifications and gracefully juxtaposed words.
Such aesthetic elements equally dominate “Comfort Zone”, a poem eulogizing the multidinous relevance of nature as seen particularly in the symbol of the rain. The persona still wonders, in a moment of isolation and thoughtfulness, what life is really all about. He could only listen to the drums/of rain outside,/the whistling wind, carrying the scent/of wet banana leaves”, “rustling palm fronds”, “cupped against the chill,/dreams whisper promises/beyond the tattered fence”. The persona becomes a spectator, watching what nature does to, and around him; waiting for a time in which blessing would be heralded like the “wet banana leaves” and “rustling palm fronds”. He is alone even when it should be “a game for two,/bedfellows whiling away”. Life may be harsh, lonely, inscrutable, uncomfortable – the paradox here is associated with the title! There are end rhymes here: “comfort/fronds”, “presence/scent/fence” “silhouettes/scent” and “stilled/chilled”. There are brilliantly used metaphors like “naked comfort/of your breath,/I listen to the drums/of rain outside”, personifications: “dreams whisper promises” and a sexual imagery: “bedfellows whiling away”. While nature is full of power, blessing, movement and companionship, the persona’s life is an example of seedy contradictions, pitiable loneliness, isolation, hunger, uncertainty and discomfort.
A lady of perfect and elegant beauty is again celebrated in “The Burden of Beauty” as seen in images of sweetness, fragrance and physical attractiveness; she is a walking glamour, “cute as a cube/in a teacup, splendour/in the ides of man, perfect/perfume from Persia” with her “hips cutting/the air like daggers…”. The persona is enchanted, waiting to be a partner of this walking spectacle of beauty but she disappoints by falling in love with men of material means, people of wealth. Deflated and shocked, he feels the weight of disappointment as the lady “dissolved down bidders’ throats on/monopoly street, leaving/dregs for me to drain”. The metaphors and images of frustration, wasteful emotional feeling, poverty, isolation and abandonment are further reflected: “I am the drainage for their/sins and ours, tossed about by tattered winds”.
Indeed, the poet extends the theme of this poem to what bad leadership by political rascals and rapscallions has caused the society – social and sexual immodesty, denial, exploitation, pride, shamelessness, poverty and desecration of the beautiful land. The leaders, who are naturally m
