For Jeffrey Plumbline, emcee and one of the organisers of ‘Chill and Relax’, Sunday, January 10, was a day to ensure that upcoming poets and art lovers enjoy some good poetry. The event, held in the quiet ambience of Bambuddha Bar, Victoria Island, Lagos, was initially devoid of music as the organisers declared their intention to maintain ‘Chill and Relax’ as a pure poetry event.

Poetry and wine

Ola Opesan opened the night with an uncompleted poem titled ‘Struggle.’ “The full title is actually ‘Street Trader Struggle’, this is a part of it,” Opesan explained before he read the poem which celebrates the average Nigerian for whom every day is a day to ‘hustle, bustle and struggle.’

Spoken word performer, Olalekan Ajayi, rendered ‘Fame and Name,’ - querying what happened to the African belief that a good name is better than silver and gold. “Could it be the fame or the influence behind the name? When we tend to misbehave, act irrationally when we find ourselves in the midst of fame? What about name? What about fame?”

While Seun Oyeniyi seemed to be refining the word friendship with ‘I Need a Friend’, Rez revealed some sensual secrets with his spoken word performance, ‘The Night you Came.’ He was assisted by Seun who chanted a refrain that neither added nor subtracted from the performance.

‘Sow a Seed’ by Emmanuela Akamodu urged Christians in the audience to sow without considering the harvest which is bound to be bountiful. Dante Onyerekwe followed with ‘A Journey to Nowhere’ written at a point in his life when he wasn’t sure of the next step to take. He almost echoed Akamodu’s admonition about trusting in Christ in the last verse of his poem. Chinelo Onwubuya read a sensual poem during which her voice took different pitches to effectively convey her message.

Plumbline reminded the crowd that they were obliged to buy drinks in order to maintain a symbiotic relationship between themselves and the bar as the show progressed. Though some had their drinks already, more was ordered at Plumbline’s urging.

Some music

Though the organisers had earlier stated that ‘Chill and Relax’ was strictly poetry, music was eventually incorporated. Upcoming musician, Papa, masterfully strummed his guitar and sang ‘All the Way.’ “If music pays my bills, then it is music all the way,” sang Papa who believes the same should be the case with other artists. The ‘Lyrical Doctors’, Rodney Edemhanria and Darlington Orji waxed lyrical with a rap number titled ‘Higher.’ The students got the loudest applause of the day as for their sonorous voices and coordinated rhythms.

Oga Brown performed ‘Night Rain’ by J.P Clark because he wanted classical poems at the evening. Plumbline recited an untitled poem which the audience nevertheless paid attention to because it was ‘For Muttallab.’ He had earlier made the audience say ‘Dumbosiyesir’ (not unlike ‘Zombie’, Fela’s favourite word to describe Nigerians who keep silent in the face of oppression) to another of his poem.

As the event drew to a close, Mayowa Ogunnusi, Plumbline’s partner, made a late appearance and distributed catalogues of his recent photography exhibition. Ola Opesan rounded off the event with a poem titled ‘Did you know?’