Literature and you: Silver platter, a poem by Sani Kashim

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Sani Kashim

Reviewer: Munyal Markus Manunyi

If all women glitter,
Mothers are golds
For us they gladden on a silver platter
Let’s give our love to mamas

Mothers are born with avian voices,
For they croon lots of lyrical lullabies
Like lovely lonesome canaries:
So sweet some silken songs

Women are combs,
Mothers are rare as pure honey

Mama is like the sky;
Every moon was once a crescent

Sani Kasim Ghabi is a young poet exhibiting the potential of taking the centre stage in the literary sphere. This is because his poetry writings point in that direction. The Lapai-born poet from Niger state, Nigeria, holds a Bachelor of Arts in English from Ibrahim Badamasi Babangida University, Lapai, Niger State. He is a co-author of an anthology titled ‘WORDICTO,’ with his poem ‘THE LYRICAL VOICE’. BOUNCING BALLADS, ROSY SKY, NASHWA, I WILL WEAVE MY MAGIC, and SILVER SIRIUS are some of his poems which have been published by Williwash (an international blogazine).

Ghabi’s poem – Silver Platter, is a poem that touched my heart to the core, sending some chilly emotional shivers down my spine, making goosebumps appear all over me. How else can I explain such beautifully arranged words that brings out the beauties inherent in mothers being a mother myself? The poem speaks about the value of mothers comparing them to golds, thus ‘women are gold’ in stanza one, line two. And when he further says ‘Mothers are born with Arian voices, for they croon lots of lyrical lullabies’ he further shows the importance of mothers in every child’s upbringing especially when singing some soothing ‘lyrical lullabies’ that send kids to sleep. Aside from that, mothers can be ‘like lovely lonesome canaries’. Yes, it’s true mothers can be lonely sometimes when singing for their kids (from their own confines), but this does not by any means mean that they do not enjoy doing so. Stanza three line two also tells, although there exist so many mothers out there, real and caring ‘mothers are as rare as pure honey’.

A lot of literary devices were used by Ghabi to decorate and beautify this alluring poem. I particularly like the use of alliteration in ‘So sweet some silken songs’ which makes the poem flow freely, making me sail on a boat of excitement. So also, stanza three, line two, exemplifies simile, as mother’s are seen to be compared to pure honey, as cherishable as honey can be for that matter! This connotes the poet’s true value for mothers.

In a nutshell, the theme of the poem is; praise for mothers. This is a kind of poem most people will love to dedicate to their mothers, especially in commemorating mother’s day celebrations.