Poetic moments of life through Self-Discovery

Not until we are lost do we begin to understand ourselves, says ‘Henry David Thoureau’.

In this collection, entitled, Self-Discovery, written by Iheanacho A. Golden, the poet makes use of attitudes and behaviours, which are very common among humans to showcase the attitudes human beings must imbibe and the ones to do away with and also avoid to finish well in life and hereafter.

The poet successfully connected life, humanity and various attitudes of human that can make or mar them.

The 2021 publication of OAK Initiative, the publishing arm of OAK Charity Initiative, a not-for profit organisation that aimed at supporting indigent students, widows and the fatherless in Africa, offers the readers 50 poems that plumb the depths of human nature through its belief, attitudes and behaviours, courage and desires.

Through this collection, from ‘Love is freedom to Blaze of fire’, the poet presents his poetic voice to the themes of ‘Nature’, ‘love’, ‘Hatred’, ‘Death’, ‘Courage’ and ‘Self-Discovery’.

The 50 poems, which are extraordinary powerful and inspiring, are as follows, Love is freedom, Self-love, An ode to love, Love and fire, Love never, The zeal of hatred, Hate’s poison, Living together, World unity, The world we live in, Rich and poor, Envoys of corruption, Hole of hardship, Pretense, Maybe we must die, among others.

‘Self-discovery’, the title of the book, is not necessarily in the modern sense of the world, where it is often confused with narcissism or self-obsession, but rather in the sense of discovery through self-knowledge.

The poems are about coming to terms with who you are, accepting your faults and limitations, and seeking to stretch yourself to attain your maximum potential. The poem in this collection titled, Self-love, shows that the poet showcased that the first step to the road of self-discovery is that one needs to love him/herself, has 14 free verse lines which has the belief for the world to be a better place when all egos are shed in their place.

The poem, The thirteenth hour, is seen by the poet as another world where everyone will reach at an appointed time without being able to turn back the hands of time; When the clocks of the land/Strike the thirteenth hour/Then we know that we have/Struck gold in reverse/We have reached where no one/Has ever been, where no one/ Has ever seen.

The 50 beautiful poems in this collection are an invitation for all walks of life to read often in other to put one’s ways aright.

I am more than inspired and wowed by the powerful and strong voice of the poet. The collection will be a good recommended handbook for even children in schools to read, as such, good sets of people will be groomed right from young age in other to be a good set of examples to others.