Title: Letter to Lilly
Author: Funmi Coker
Publisher: The Roaring Lion Newcastle
Year of Publication: 2021
Number of Pages: 52
Category: Poetry
Choosing to dream big in a world that doesn’t provide the right condition for the girl child to thrive, takes courage. There are many issues faced by the girl child/women in Nigeria. As a result, more women are standing to fight for political, economic, and social equality. This is evident from the start of the poetry collection, Letter to Lilly.
Yes, upon a first reading of Funmi Coker’s Letter to Lilly, it feels like the author has taken the role of an activist. First, the author uses the opening poem, “Identity” to get readers interested in the book.
After the excitement of reading the first poem, the author dares to disturb. The author introduces us to one of the collection’s most pressing issues: “What were you told, woman? / What was the baseline of their/ shallow studies? To what extent did they/ relegate the manifestation of your potential/ and the upheaval of your uprising?” Through questions like these, we see that Coker is unapologetically blunt, however, a discerning reader may be worried of Coker’s poetic style.
The very next poem begins with force: “Burn, lady. Burn” and the poem ends with the lines “and you’re the right kind of fire”—which gives readers a real sense for where Coker intends to carry them.
Her use of only lower-case letters in ‘Becoming a Woman’ seem like the author is interpreting how society can view a woman’s worth.
Coker’s voice is empathic, cold, mostly angry. Poems like “A Pint of Madness,” “An Anatomy of Women in my City,” and “Treat her like a Woman” exemplify this. The male readers might sense hatred from the author and feel the book is one-sided.
A poet in Coker’s position perhaps cannot help but write passionately about what she believes in, however, keeps repeating herself on the effort to make each page and messages sink in. This happens over and again throughout the book, as Coker ‘s readers may find the repetition instructive, or annoying.
As the book progresses, Coker introduces different struggles women deal with at some point in their lives. However, some of these poems reflect on what we might need if we are overwhelmed by these issues. We see this at work in the poem of “An Epiphany from hunger”.
Some poems may simply be read and read again to gain a better understanding of its meaning, yet so difficult to feel.
While the collection dwells on femininity, abuse, suffering, oppression, heartbreak and grief, there is still hope to be found within its pages. The poem ‘her LIB Anthem’ turns away from the self-pitying poems, and instead she eloquently writes words that creates new feeling and brings change. The book moves from a journey of the ‘the hurting’ to ‘healing’.
What is the future of the girl child in Nigeria? The author doesn’t say but she’d just like to tell you that against all odds, you must dream big and achieve bigger.
Every woman will find poems to remember and adore in Funmi Coker’s Letter to Lilly.
About the reviewer
Titilade Oyemade is a business executive in a leading organisation and holds a degree in Russian Language. She’s the convener of the Hangoutwithtee Ladies Event and the publisher of Hangoutwithtee magazine. She spends her weekends attending women conferences, events and book readings. She loves to have fun and to help other women have the same in their lives. Email: [email protected] Social: @tiipree
