“Arrows of Words” is a poetry/essay anthology published in honour of Prof. Chinua Achebe, by an association of young writers, known as the Society of Young Nigerian Writers (Anambra State Chapter).
It was edited by Izunna Okafor and unveiled during the 2019 edition of the Chinua Achebe Literary Festival, which is the association’s annual literary event held in honour of the foremost Nigerian writer and critic – Achebe.
Published in 2019, the anthology contains works and essays written and submitted by writers from different countries of the world, in response to the association’s ‘Call for Submissions’ prior to the 2016, 2017 and 2018 editions of the event respectively. These works previously published respectively as separate collections, each in its year’s edition of the event.
However, in 2019, there was no fresh ‘Call for Submission’, rather, the three previous separate collections were collated and published as a single anthology; and that gave birth to this masterpiece, entitled “Arrows of Words”.
From the book:
Chinua Achebe
By Kayode Awojobi
Here is a man of the people,
Who knows the differences,
Between home and exile,
Even when he knew,
The trouble with Nigeria,
With an image of Africa,
Lingering in his heart,
But there was a country,
That may fall apart,
And when things fall apart,
Centre holds no more.
A man of the people,
Chinua Achebe.
Who shall rescue us?
When the drum,
Refuses to make sounds,
And Chike and the river,
Are no longer friendly,
Even when things were no longer at ease,
Neither does he threatens,
With the arrow of God in his custody,
For a man of the people,
Is truly God's sent.
Chinua Achebe!
Just as the gods speaketh,
He speaks as well,
Yet, he adore God's arrow,
Morning yet on creation day,
As Moses held his rod,
He holds on to his faith,
A man of the people,
A titan, a don,
Chinua Achebe!
When things fall apart,
Centre holds no more,
And things may no longer be at ease,
But God's own people, will always be at peace,
Rest in peace,
Chinua Achebe,
May things never fall apart again!