How Adesokun captured memories in The Taxi Driver

• Book: The taxi driver and other poems
• Author: Muyiwa Adesokun
• Pages: 78
• Publisher: Strange Ideas UK
• Reviewer: Adebisi Adeyemi

It is not a voluminous book but somehow, I knew I could not read it like any other book. I love to read poems, know the author’s thoughts and understand his reasoning. So, I was waiting for the right day and time to relish this book, and I had no regrets. I must also say that I have read it over again.

That Saturday morning, I decided to grab it from my bedside table where it had been sitting since the day it was gifted as my birthday present. As I turned the pages, I knew breakfast was going to become brunch; there was no dropping this book until the last poem.

The taxi driver and other poems by Muyiwa Adesokun is a semi-fictional book with a blend of all the memories you had, you missed, and those you wished you had. It carefully captured the Naija (especially Lagos) lifestyle, and is in every sense relatable. There are over 50 poems in this book but I have selected five of them to give you a sneak peek.

I enjoyed Not for Sale, the story of a shameless man who, thankfully, understood the importance of letting his children ‘grow’. A lesson that should be taught to men who still believe in child marriage.

While I understood the daydreams of Toni on page four, I almost rolled off the bed after reading Jonah on page 33. The part where he covered his property with “the blood” had me in stitches. He was such a pathological sleeper who took it to another level. I’m in love with a market woman is a poem that spurred my rating of this book. I gave it another star after reading that poem. In it, I saw creativity. If you are a lover of poems, you would understand that the play of words therein was brilliant. I also enjoyed the hilarious Your lies have set you free. And yes, the unforgiving classmate savouring the sweet taste of revenge on page 44 would make you wonder if karma was waiting, should you ever have been a class captain in secondary school. That revenge was cruel! The sin of the father eventually was visited on the entire family.

More interesting is the simplicity of this poetry book; it is easy to understand, simple and fun. Poems have usually been regarded to have lots of twists and complicated diction, however, Muyiwa made this piece of work an easy one. No unnecessary thinking to understand the author. Indeed, very simple. Even a non-Nigerian would have something to learn about Nigeria after reading this book.

Each of the poems is beautiful. If you never loved poetry, the taxi driver and other poems would make you change your mind, if you love poems, it would meet your expectation and also assure you that life does not always have to be hard – poems can actually be simple. And if you are indifferent, this would move you to the ‘love for poetry’ side.

This book is simple and fun. The stanzas are in sync, and it is well edited and arranged. I enjoyed every part of it. I look forward to presenting copies of this book as gifts as well. Both young and old would enjoy it.

This review was first used on www.bellanaija.com