Nile River Woman: The Very First Poems by Kola Boof [ペーパーバック]

There are 52 spare but vibrant poems that make up Book I, Every Little Bit Hurts and Book II, I love My Man, in Kola Boof's tome Nile River Woman. If you like journeying to the core of your essential nature, being swept into the hidden places in the heart, mind and body then take off your clothes, sit in the dirt, recite and be reborn with Kola Boof!

Kola Boof was born Naima Bint Harith in Omdurman, Sudan, Africa. She was orphaned at the age of eight when her parents were murdered in front of her for speaking out on slavery in the Sudan. Kola was adopted by an African-American family and raised in the United States. Her bi-cultural and bi-continental upbringing make her words a bridge African-Americans can tread, from the fairyland of our Africaness as experienced in America to the core of our African soul in it's raw majesty in Africa. Kola Boof's poetry contains no politically correct jargon, it allows the lowest of the low to have a voice, or as she says two voices. These voices speak from the sacred space of the womb. These, here-to-fore, silenced voices illuminate and elevate all who will hear its message. These voices speak of self-love, the duty of righteous leadership, sacred motherhood and the mother's power to heal.

Kola Boof's purity of heart and earth-based vision deflect the attempts of others to defame her. She becomes the voice of innocence, an eternal virgin/woman/mother, a vessel filled with memories that pave the way to forgiveness of self and others. She speaks the words we say to ourselves, alone, at night. Kola's poetry raises the bar for 21st Century womanist thought; redeeming our hair, our breasts, our vaginas, and our bodies through her imagery. Kola's truth is spoken though men and institutions attempt to stifle and kill her. Perhaps the knowledge that, `you can not kill what gave birth to you', spurs her on, under girded by love of Africa and the African. These revelations strip her bare line by line and we rejoice with her. My favorite poem is `I Am My Own Daughter.' Please, step up and dive with Kola Boof into the Nile!

Review by Iya Abiye

NILE RIVER WOMAN contains 52 emotionally charged poems, which tackle issues such as religion, slavery, racism, and feminism. Although at times the poetry is graphic and explicit, it conveys just how much the author has had to endure. While I may not agree with Boof's political ideologies, the intensity of her writings and the knowledge of all that she has endured made this one of the best books of poetry that I have read in a while.

Reviewed by Latoya Carter-Qawiyy
of The RAWSISTAZ Reviewers