Engaging in a review of any artistic work is a sublime task, an existential responsibility. An art is complete in itself. However, sometimes, to make art relatable, an academic exercise is undertaken. But academic evaluation of any art is often biased, and as a result flawed. This current exercise is not an exemption. Perhaps, more clarity needs to be made regarding the foregone. A literary critique or review is an art based on an art; an imposed understanding and interpretation of the artist’s unique vision of his artistic space. It is an attempt by an informed critic to impose parameters on the boundaryless capacity of the artistic mind. As a result, the critic’s perception of art is limited, subjective and inconclusive. However, true art must subject itself to multiple explorations – that is what makes art a living legend, an organism that can permeate any space or expanse. This is what makes this current review of Scripture a solemn task.

Jide Badmus undertakes an existential and essentialist enterprise in sharing his eclectic understanding of the world in his collection. Central to this collection is an inquisition, an investigative curiosity into the unknown, known and the invented. There is no pretense that this book leans towards religion, even the title of the book suggests the poet is engaging his readers in the spiritual – and perhaps, the seemingly sacrilegious. But is that not what art should be – questioning everything that should? A poet explores the materials in his environment to create a new world – the world is not perfect, even in the beginning the world was “void and without form.” The solemn responsibility of the poet is to create a world where the reader can find his or her own space, a world where spirituality and sensuality cohabit, a world where humanity and divinity share a common understanding – the uniqueness of being and beingness.

Scripture explores these salient elements that make existence what it is. The collection opens with a declaration – the search for God. The search for something in the nothingness of the human limitation. Jide describes God as “Beyond imaginative capacity.” That description shows the poet believes in the existence of God – a concept that atheists find repulsive. It is his descriptiveness that makes the poet’s understanding of faith or spirituality outstanding – human limitedness and the inability to confine God into a nomenclature. Hence, the poet yearns:

 “I seek to explore the path to God
And find the key to self.
My quest is perfectly flawed.”

 

In seeking to explore the path to God assumes a knowledge of “the path”; however, the poet understands that, like the concept of God and many other spiritual inventions around the mystery of God, the quest is “perfectly flawed.” This sets the mood of the collection – this poet is not typical, and his exploration of values are going to be deconstructionist. It is not surprising to find the next poem celebrate the divinity of humanity. The poet claims that he shares the same creative propensity with God – “I breathe life into lines…” This is a subtle reference to the creation story in Genesis and the epiphany of the Word in John. Can we not argue, as the poet does, that the ability to create something out of nothing makes one a god? To explore this argument in the right context – does the Scripture not say that God made man in His own image? Should what is made be different from the source? How does one explain the likeness of God as devoid of God? What Badmus has done is to demonstrate the godhood in every human being – and this is tied to his understanding of God:

 “I look in the mirror to see
Your face!”

 

This poet has a bigger conceit in deconstructing the idea of theism and any form of worship. As a deliberate diversion from mainstream religion, the poet discusses sin as an act of worship, as a way of learning the path to God. “Confluence of fire” depicts, passionately, the heart of one who seeks the unity between spirituality and sensuality. To pick cue from popular religion, is man not carnally minded? And the things he does are they not meant to celebrate his humanity – flesh? The poet is asking why worshipping God should be strictly defined and devoid of human desires? Should spirituality not be found through a “carnal compass”? Hence the poet’s sacred prayer:

“I traverse parallel worlds.
I dream of a bridge between sensuality & spirituality.
My dream has a gigantic appetite!”

 

Perhaps, the logic behind this realization is stated in the following line:

“The lure of sin is a mystery
But on the other side of temptation,
Grace and forgiveness breathe”

 

It is important to foreground discourse around the theme of spirituality and sensuality. Through evocative imagery, the poet depicts the importance of exploring sensuality in appreciating spirituality. Chapters three and four explore this thematic conceit. While deliberately exploring sensuous and sexual connotations, the poet underscores how natural elements explore sensuality to complete their beingness. But the poem “Sanctified” takes lust to a new level – that of purity! Is it not often hypocritical to see religious folks act sanctimonious when they are performing their rites and rituals, while hiding the humanity in them? Is it not tragic that nudity – the original beauty state of man before the fall (if the Original Sin is to be taken into consideration) is discarded for textile covering? Should nudity not be celebrated? Should souls not be “sanctified on erotic altar”? “Temple” shows the sacred act of worship, the non-conflicting fusion of sensuality and spirituality:

“I am awed by your nakedness,
Your Holiness!
I lift you high on this altar”

While it is easy for a critic whose religious inclination is revolted by such sacrilege to ask for an inquisition into this blasphemy, the poet delves into conjugal sensual bliss, intentionally juxtaposing contextual concupiscence. The poem, “Cross”, brings a conflict between what is sinful and acceptable. The questions are: Is marital sex not as lustful as non-marital sex? Does one need to dignify an act of eros in one context and condemn it in another? While this poem talks about a spiritual experience of death for the redemption of the world, Golgotha is not just a place for a spiritual rebirth, it is synonymous, as used in this poem, with a place of rebirth from a certain death – the very experience of being buried in the womb! To enjoy the profound experience of sex and its ability to create life, it is expedient to engage the poem as a whole:

“I’ll carry you my cross, across this field of passion.
This bed will be our Golgotha, our place of redemption.
Bury me in your tomb
Till I spill and plant my seed in your womb.
I’ll leave your smell to linger on my skin –
I won’t wash away our sins!
I’ll carry you my cross, across this field of passion.
This bed will be our Golgotha, our place of redemption.”

 

The search for meaning does not begin or end with the reality of the existence of the Supreme Being. While the poet claims he believes in One and shares sameness with Him, the very nature of being human is insatiate. The poem, “I Long for Deep Nothings” provides a psychological insight into the human nature – a cyclone of needs, wants and emptiness. This constant conflict is beautifully captured in these lines:

“I long to hold in my hands, influence –
Not of a storm but of a whisper.
Let me stand on the edge yet be the centre
I will wage no war but conquer my emotions.”

 

Reading this poem, the reader is given a gift – that of self-realization. The poet understands the confusion that humanity faces. However, it is this existential conflict that gives each being the capacity to rise above darkness and create light. The poet declares with dare:

“Yes, I will launch my dreams like a rocket
And incarcerate them for treason –
Fear, procrastination, hesitation, competition!
I will strip success naked, and lay with her in my bed”

 

However, there are times that we struggle with the reality of life, the treasonable felons that threaten our existence. Chapter five of the collection explores sociopsychological realities. From feeling desolate to seeking panacea in drugs and addiction, wounds and memories of loss give the collection a more human feel. Beyond the mysticism of religion or spirituality, and the burning lust of sensuality, daily experiences of lack, promiscuity, jaded dreams, hopelessness, insecurities and rejection can overwhelm faith and love, drive one into shadows and the need to seek validation. These are reasons while there is a search for meaning in a world devoid of one. But as the last chapter of the collection levitates the reader into a bright future, it is important for one to pick one’s fragments and return to glory:

“Exhume the dreams
Buried in cracks of the night
&teach weary wings to flap again.”

 

The call for rebirth is not without its challenges. But the reader is asked to travel with a map:

“This is how to find that city you crave:
Follow the map of your mind.
Arm your tongue with songs of war &love.
Travel light, follow the path of light”

 

A great work is not limited to its content alone. More often, it is about the how of the content. The issues explored in Scripture are not new; however, it is the mastery with which Jide Badmus has recreated them that stands this collection out. Great poetry is essentially the utilization of language to create something distinct and living. The poet has done so. His command of expression, his artistic conjuring of imagery, his use of language both denotatively and connotatively enrich the work without undue overburden. His treatment of familiar themes, as sensitive as they are, points out to the depth of his understanding of the human nature and the world around him. Though the poet has successfully argued his point in showing the relationship between divine and human, the spiritual and sensual, the profoundness of his logic lies more in how he shows this distinct commonness. This collection is engaging and explores what makes us human: spirituality, sensuality, needs, emptiness, fears, disappointment and the need to strive for a better tomorrow.

Perhaps, the greatest gift in this book is the opportunity for the reader to find a map through the conflicts created by social structures and seek his own path to self-fulfillment and spiritual enlightenment – find God in you and what you do, understand your humanity, and live your dreams. This is a book for those who value what is really important in life: You!

 

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Funso Oris is a Poet, Anthologist, Literary Critic & Scholar and Co-Author, State of the state: Sordid Beatification. To order Scripture, contact sevhage@gmail.com or jidebadmus@gmail.com