<body><div class="booster-block booster-read-block">
 <div class="twp-read-time">
 	<i class="booster-icon twp-clock"></i> <span>Read Time:</span>2 Minute, 9 Second </div>

 </div>
<pre class="wp-block-verse">TITLE: <em><strong>BROKEN STRINGS</strong></em>
 AUTHOR: <strong>TAI OMOAKIN</strong>
 GENRE: <strong>POETRY</strong>
 NO. OF PAGES:<strong> 58</strong>
 YEAR OF PUBLICATION:<strong> 2020</strong>
 ISBN: <strong><em>978-978-984-519-4</em></strong>
 PUBLISHER: <strong>AUTHORPEDIA PUBLISHERS</strong>
 REVIEWER: <strong>EUGENE YAKUBU </strong></pre>



<hr class="wp-block-separator is-style-dots">



<p>OmoAkin invites us into the world of her poetry with simple and casually-written verses inspired by themes of longing, desire, memory and dashed hopes. It is always not hard to see what she tries to achieve on first glance at her poems, usually arriving to the end of her verse with little or no more signification achieved. And that’s the beauty of her poems, its unitary subject matter, its simplistic diction and relatable voice. </p>



<p>She pours out her heart into her poems, making the collection a whining, desperate attempt to engage with her feelings, emotions and relationships. An abiding theme in her poetry is the place of longing and how dashed hopes empties the heart and leaves space for memories to take over. </p>



<p>In the poems, the poet personae filled up her mind and heart with memories of the object of her love that she fears losing it. She says in the poem <em>Beautiful Surprise </em>“Life, painted on the canvas of love, is surreal” and she wouldn’t want moments “devoid” of her lover’s love. The poet persona dotes on the object of her love wishing it to complete her.</p>



<div class="wp-block-image is-style-default"><figure class="aligncenter size-large"><img src="https://www.wrr.ng/wp-content/uploads/2021/01/BROKEN-STRINGS-by-Tai-OmoAkin.jpg" alt="" class="wp-image-39643" loading="lazy"></figure></div>



<p>Even though at best the poems aren’t artistically-charged, the voice is natural and honest, laden with emotions and longing that it is hard not to feel and melancholy for lost memories and past relationships. </p>



<p>There’s something infantilized about the poet’s longing, some sort of <em>first-love</em> memories and affection that haunts the verses to the end. And she might have poured her heart into her poems, which of course is a virtue of good poetry, but her treatment of the subject matter is surreal and petty and readers aren’t allowed to see how the poet engages with these issues in a way that wouldn’t turn out clichéd as this collection has done.</p>



<blockquote class="wp-block-quote is-style-large is-layout-flow wp-block-quote-is-layout-flow"><p>Nonetheless, OmoAkin shows commendable adeptness with structure and tone, her rhythm is near perfect and the atmosphere and mood of her poems couldn’t have been better. <em>Broken Strings</em> isn’t clouded with irrelevant allusions and over-flowery diction. </p></blockquote>



<p>OmoAkin translates her soul just as she has been inspired and was more interested in communicating than trying to impress readers. It is a commendable effort and in no distance time, if the poet hangs around a little longer to discover her voice, she’d be an artist to contend with.</p>
 
 <div class="booster-block booster-author-block">
 <div class="be-author-details layout-square align-left">
 <div class="be-author-wrapper">
 <div class="booster-row">
 <div class="booster-column booster-column-two booster-column-mobile">
 <div class="be-author-image">
 <img alt="" src="https://secure.gravatar.com/avatar/b14a71cef6bb9fae6826785715e23466f23c43267f9c0dc6b52b6944367bb3df?s=400&;d=mm&;r=g" class="avatar avatar-400 photo avatar-img" height="400" width="400" loading="lazy"> </div>
 </div>
 <div class="booster-column booster-column-eight booster-column-mobile">
 <div class="author-details">
 <header class="twp-plugin-title twp-author-title">
 <h2>About Post Author</h2>
 </header>
 <h4 class="be-author-meta be-author-name">
 <a href="https://www.wrr.ng/author/yeugene/" class="booster-url-link">
 Eugene Yakubu </a>
 </h4>
 <div class="be-author-meta be-author-description">Eugene Yakubu is a book critic, reviewer and storyteller. He loves art and nature; and spends his time reading beautiful novels and writing stories. He reviews Nigerian books for Authorpedia.</div>
 <div class="be-author-meta be-author-email">
 <a href="mailto:%20yeugene78@gmail.com" class="booster-url-link">
 <span class="booster-svg-icon booster-svg-envelope"><svg class="booster-svg" aria-hidden="true" role="img" focusable="false" viewbox="0 0 24 24" xmlns="http://www.w3.org/2000/svg" width="24" height="24"><path fill="currentColor" d="M0 3v18h24v-18h-24zm6.623 7.929l-4.623 5.712v-9.458l4.623 3.746zm-4.141-5.929h19.035l-9.517 7.713-9.518-7.713zm5.694 7.188l3.824 3.099 3.83-3.104 5.612 6.817h-18.779l5.513-6.812zm9.208-1.264l4.616-3.741v9.348l-4.616-5.607z"></path></svg></span>yeugene78@gmail.com </a>
 </div>
 </div>
 <div class="be-author-profiles">
 </div>
 </div>
 </div>
 </div>
 </div>
 </div>
 </body>
REVIEW: TAI OMOAKIN’S ‘BROKEN STRINGS’ IS NOT CLOUDED WITH IRRELEVANT ALLUSIONS AND OVER-FLOWERY DICTION
