<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, 35 Second </div>

 </div><p></p>
<blockquote><p>Poetry is a slice of life. If poetry is a slice of life? Whose life?</p></blockquote>
<p>I have noticed of recent that my poem are increasingly being mistaken as autobiographical. People have so much fused me and my poems that a sad poem means I am depressed and a love poem means there’s some damsel in my life. Minutes after I expose these poems to the public, I am bombarded by inquisitive and concerned friends with messages.</p>
<p>At first I used to get angry and even lash out at people. But I have learnt to view these comparisons in a different manner.</p>
<blockquote>
<p style="text-align: right;">First of all, is the purpose of poetry not to present a mirror of life, whether real or imagined? I daresay it is. If that is true, then a poet whose poetry is being mistaken for representations of (his/her) reality should be glad, because that is a validation of his condensation of some form of reality in permanent verses.</p>
</blockquote>
<p>Secondly a poem that doesn’t make you feel (hear, taste, understand, small, touch etc.) the poet’s emotions has not done well. The poem should make your skin feel the cold, heat, love, hate, anger, fear…that the poet is talking about. When it does that, you’ve just lived a slice of life – real or imagined.</p>
<p>That said, I would like to share a little about my poetry. Sometimes, they are cryptic condensation of my life. Sometimes they are open pages from my life. More often than not however, they are fictional, imaginative. My fictional poetry often comes with layering of my own life – like the thing coat of butter in-between two slices of bread that make a poetic sandwich.</p>
<blockquote>
<p style="text-align: center;">Even when a poem has nothing to do with me, it sounds very personal because each poem is internalized and experienced after I observe. I like to become the personal before writing so it comes out like a confession, an autobiographical poem. It often is not.</p>
<p><a href="https://www.wrr.ng/wp-content/uploads/2018/01/POETRY-BY-KUKOGHO.jpg"><img class="aligncenter wp-image-34318 size-full" src="https://www.wrr.ng/wp-content/uploads/2018/01/POETRY-BY-KUKOGHO.jpg" alt="" width="1080" height="1080" loading="lazy"></a></p></blockquote>
<p>If am to define the average poem I write, I would call them extended reality – past brought forward or future preempted. Now, these pasts and futures may be experienced/anticipated by myself or on behalf of other personas represented by my pen at the instance of any poetic urging.</p>
<p>Sometimes I write a poem about experiences that I feel I should have had, with references to certain happenings in the past. In such poems I am trying to relive the past, about emotions I (or someone close) felt several years ago. It may be entirely or partly true or entirely fiction. Other times I write about what I suppose I would do in certain situations which I anticipate I would find myself in soon, or which I believe the current train of event in my life are leading to.</p>
<p>It remains true however, that no matter what inspires my writings I leave droppings of myself in the verses and paragraphs. Some of these droppings are unrecognizable.</p>
<blockquote>
<p style="text-align: center;">So poetry is indeed a slice (or slices) of life – the life of the poet and those around him or her.</p>
<p><a href="https://www.wrr.ng/wp-content/uploads/2017/08/Kukogho-and-WCWD.jpg"><img class="aligncenter wp-image-31827 size-full" src="https://www.wrr.ng/wp-content/uploads/2017/08/Kukogho-and-WCWD.jpg" alt="" width="946" height="1000" loading="lazy"></a></p></blockquote>
<p></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/b75f88cadfa530f44c52ed1f8256fe25878ecc134172c196f36c53adfc34533d?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/kukogho/" class="booster-url-link">
 Kukogho Iruesiri Samson </a>
 </h4>
 <div class="be-author-meta be-author-description">KIS, author of two poetry collections, ‘WHAT CAN WORDS DO?’ and ‘I SAID THESE WORDS’, is an award-winning Nigerian writer, photographer, and media professional with experience in journalism, PR, publishing and media management. In 2016, he was listed in Nigerian Writers Awards' list of 100 MOST INFLUENTIAL NIGERIAN WRITERS UNDER 40. The same year 2016, he won the Nigerian Writer’s Award for ‘Best Poet In Nigeria 2015.’ he had also won the Orange Crush 1st Prize for Poetry in 2012. 
He is the CEO of Words Rhymes &; Rhythm LTD.</div>
 <div class="be-author-meta be-author-email">
 <a href="mailto:%20kukogho.samson@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>kukogho.samson@gmail.com </a>
 </div>
 <div class="be-author-meta be-author-url">
 <a href="http://brainypoet.blogspot.com.ng/" target="_blank" class="booster-url-link">
 <span class="booster-svg-icon booster-svg-sphere"><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="M 11.25 1.5 C 5.035156 1.5 0 6.535156 0 12.75 C 0 18.964844 5.035156 24 11.25 24 C 17.464844 24 22.5 18.964844 22.5 12.75 C 22.5 6.535156 17.464844 1.5 11.25 1.5 Z M 17.617188 16.5 C 17.816406 15.550781 17.941406 14.546875 17.984375 13.5 L 20.972656 13.5 C 20.894531 14.535156 20.652344 15.542969 20.253906 16.5 Z M 4.882812 9 C 4.683594 9.949219 4.558594 10.953125 4.515625 12 L 1.527344 12 C 1.605469 10.964844 1.847656 9.957031 2.246094 9 Z M 16.078125 9 C 16.304688 9.960938 16.441406 10.964844 16.484375 12 L 12 12 L 12 9 Z M 12 7.5 L 12 3.109375 C 12.34375 3.210938 12.679688 3.375 13.011719 3.609375 C 13.636719 4.050781 14.230469 4.726562 14.738281 5.566406 C 15.085938 6.148438 15.386719 6.796875 15.640625 7.5 Z M 7.761719 5.566406 C 8.269531 4.726562 8.863281 4.050781 9.488281 3.609375 C 9.820312 3.375 10.15625 3.207031 10.5 3.109375 L 10.5 7.5 L 6.859375 7.5 C 7.113281 6.792969 7.414062 6.148438 7.761719 5.566406 Z M 10.5 9 L 10.5 12 L 6.015625 12 C 6.058594 10.964844 6.195312 9.960938 6.421875 9 Z M 2.246094 16.5 C 1.847656 15.542969 1.605469 14.535156 1.527344 13.5 L 4.515625 13.5 C 4.558594 14.546875 4.683594 15.550781 4.882812 16.5 Z M 6.015625 13.5 L 10.5 13.5 L 10.5 16.5 L 6.421875 16.5 C 6.195312 15.539062 6.058594 14.535156 6.015625 13.5 Z M 10.5 18 L 10.5 22.390625 C 10.15625 22.289062 9.820312 22.125 9.488281 21.890625 C 8.863281 21.449219 8.269531 20.773438 7.761719 19.933594 C 7.414062 19.351562 7.113281 18.703125 6.859375 18 Z M 14.738281 19.933594 C 14.230469 20.773438 13.636719 21.449219 13.011719 21.890625 C 12.679688 22.125 12.34375 22.292969 12 22.390625 L 12 18 L 15.640625 18 C 15.386719 18.707031 15.085938 19.351562 14.738281 19.933594 Z M 12 16.5 L 12 13.5 L 16.484375 13.5 C 16.441406 14.535156 16.304688 15.539062 16.078125 16.5 Z M 17.984375 12 C 17.945312 10.953125 17.816406 9.949219 17.617188 9 L 20.253906 9 C 20.652344 9.957031 20.894531 10.964844 20.972656 12 Z M 19.46875 7.5 L 17.222656 7.5 C 16.785156 6.121094 16.179688 4.914062 15.457031 3.949219 C 16.453125 4.429688 17.355469 5.066406 18.144531 5.855469 C 18.648438 6.359375 19.089844 6.910156 19.46875 7.5 Z M 4.355469 5.855469 C 5.144531 5.066406 6.046875 4.429688 7.042969 3.949219 C 6.320312 4.914062 5.714844 6.121094 5.277344 7.5 L 3.03125 7.5 C 3.410156 6.910156 3.851562 6.359375 4.355469 5.855469 Z M 3.03125 18 L 5.277344 18 C 5.714844 19.378906 6.320312 20.585938 7.042969 21.550781 C 6.046875 21.070312 5.144531 20.433594 4.355469 19.644531 C 3.851562 19.140625 3.410156 18.589844 3.03125 18 Z M 18.144531 19.644531 C 17.355469 20.433594 16.453125 21.070312 15.457031 21.550781 C 16.179688 20.585938 16.785156 19.378906 17.222656 18 L 19.46875 18 C 19.089844 18.589844 18.648438 19.140625 18.144531 19.644531 Z M 18.144531 19.644531 "></path></svg></span>http://brainypoet.blogspot.com.ng/ </a>
 </div>
 </div>
 <div class="be-author-profiles">
 </div>
 </div>
 </div>
 </div>
 </div>
 </div>
 </body>
THE POET AND HIS POEM: POETRY AS A SLICE OF LIFE
