Literature

Signs of the time (review)

The concept of time has been an interesting sub-ject of debate among intellectuals even before the invention of measuring instruments like hourglass, sundial and the modern clock. Some are of the view that time is an endless flow that has neither beginning nor end and could not be measured in terms of form and content. On the other hand, those who are more inclined to making sense of time insist that time is measurable and that the existence of seasons, day and night is a veritable testimony to the fact. The debate continues even in the face of modern science and its uncanny ability to demystify nature?s hidden secrets.

Said Shuaib?s Signature of Time is one of the latest poetic perspectives on the debate. While he is not taking sides, he deploys the 104-page collection of poems towards redirecting the debate in a manner that it would serve as food for thought for the creative mind. For a better understanding of the subject, he does not narrow his views to time alone, but critically examines some of the central elements in existence in terms of the place of man in time and space.

Such elements include reality, love, sadness, joy and hope. All these are colourfully highlighted in the 91 poems in the collection with an intellectual depth and artistry that underscore their symbiotic relationship with time and importance to human survival, materially and spiritually.

The poet begins by stating his personal view on the subject of time. In the title poem, ?Signature of Time?, he admits that certain things in life could not be subjected to clean-cut definitions or explanations and that time is one of such phenomena. According to him, all that one could do, especially as regards time, is:

To savour an understanding of life
Perhaps in the signature of time. (P.1)

Observing the world around him, he makes out these lines from his interpretation of time?s complex signature in a poem, ?Time?.

Time has no interval?
Nature is splendid and most peaceful
And throughout our life time its luster
Shall forever remain pure. (P. 14).

Like every other human, the poet is overwhelmed by the mysteries of time. Hence, despite his knowledge, experience and understanding, he finds himself asking the question everyone has been asking:

It seems that I have lived for far more
Than my age
Hearing that tomorrow
Is no more than a blink of an eye away
If so why do I keep finding myself
At the dawn of where it all started
Struggling to survive? (P. 23).

And in the subsequent lines, he gives what appears to be a tentative answer to the big question:

Surely I know that tomorrow is only a myth,
A tale told by comforters to those in need of comfort.
If tomorrow were as certain as today
Without any doubt I would feel
A gesture of ease at every beginning:
Never hoping for tomorrow to come just
Waiting to embrace whatever it brings.

Still in the context of relativity of time, the poet makes a point about the place of man, stressing that man is, spiritually speaking, a constant being. He says in a poem titled ?The Color of Time?:

I guess you can
Live through all of time and you will always
Remain beautiful; nothing can ever
Change this; not even time because
You are the permanent color of time. (P. 6).

Love is one of Shuaib?s major thematic pre-occupations. Over forty per cent of the poems in the collection are on love as it relates to the notion of time. Like most love poems, they all speak of a loved one albeit in a variety of circumstances as dictated by time. The moods and tones of the poems are determined by the happiness or sadness of the moment. The poem, ?Maybe?, on page 24 is a glaring example of a perfect love:

Maybe this is the way things ought to be?
I in love with you; you in love with me.
No one could be luckier than me?

In another happy poem, ?A Lovely Lady?, the poet explores the complementary role of beauty and love:

Your fairness anticipates no limits.
My imagination can think of no word
To express your beauty.
Your smile is as pleasant as waking up
Into a morning full of the possibilty
Of a dream coming true. (P.35).

Love is not all about beauty and happiness, there is also a flip side to it. In fact, as the poet points out in several of the poems, love is always a mixture of sadness and joy. There are magic moments when nothing else seems to matter and there are moments when the heart goes through hell. ?Hanging in the Cold? clearly depicts this reality:

My heart is
Unable to sustain
This emptiness that has broken me...
When the season of the rain has ended
When the cold settles in, when
You are safe and warm in his arms
Always know that you
Have left someone hanging
Hanging terribly in the cold. (P. 26).

Indeed, time changes things; a love that is full of happiness today could be sorrowful the next day. So it is with every form of reality. Due to the erratic nature of time, things that were once held dear and which give joy and comfort could wear out and leave one with a burning desire for another experience. In the following lines from ?A Field of Rain?, the poet yearns:

There is an overwhelming need to depart
From this present circumstance;
To a place where I can build a new meaning;
Where I can harvest a new understanding.
To make this place my home,
My solution. (P. 33).

However, the poet realizes that past experiences remain a strong factor that could determine one?s perception of the new experiences. Hence, he declares in the next two lines:

And as I move on I will
Take with me the times I have spent?

One of the most important messages in this philosophical collection is hope. Viewed collectively, one would see the deliberate effort by the poet to convey the fact that in spite of the changing times and all the resultant ups and downs, there is hope at the end of the journey for all mankind. In a poem, ?A Sheppard of Peace?, he describes death as the last bus stop for the earthly existence of man and time, after which love, happiness, peace and harmony would flow endlessly:

Finally I hear the tides calling me;
And yes here I come sailing on blue water.
Air entering to refine my lungs;
There can be no going back on thought to retreat.
All I can be,
All I want to be is
A butterfly in the wind,
A swan in the lake,
A sheppard of peace. (P. 3).

He, however, stresses that the sweet ending depends on one?s deeds during his life on earth and warns in ?Our Role?:

Now is about the only chance
We will get...
Time has played its role; its end beckons it.
We must now play ours; today not tomorrow. (P. 28).

The strength of this work lies mainly in the poet?s exceptional linguistic and creative ability to use poetic devices such as metaphor, simile and rhythm to magnify and amplify his messages in a way that would enhance the understanding of the very nature of the subject and circumstances he is trying to convey to his readers. His generous use of rhymes and rhythms are particularly effective in creating the right tones for the poems. The poems, ?Imagine? and ?Looking for Bread?, on pages 10 and 101, respectively, are quite reflective of the poet?s flair for lyrics. In fact, the collection, which is entirely in free verse, could be said to have fully satisfied all the literary requirements as propounded by one of the famous 19th Century American poets, Edgar Allan Poe. According to Poe, for a piece of work to be considered as poetry it must have reason (message) and rhythm (musical quality). From all indications, Shuaib has good reasons behind each and every one of the poems in this collection. He has also crafted the poems in beats befitting the reasons.

But like every literary work, this one could not be said to be perfect as a few typographical errors could be found in some pages. For instance, ?lose? is wrongly spelt as ?loose? on page 8: Everything will loose this touch. And on page 28, ?or? is used in place of ?a?: We shall be left without or choice.

Having said that, one cannot but acknowledge the fact that Signature of Time is a book that could easily attract readers in a crowded bookshelf due to its eye-catching cover design, excellent print and the almost flawless editorial content. The collection, which will be launched on 26th January, 2008, at Bolingo Hotel, Abuja, under the auspices of the hotel, will certainly go places; students of literature and the reading public will find it a most interesting intellectual citation on the concept of time as well as a vivid interpretation of the signs of the time.

(c) Sumaila Umaisha.

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