Review of An Incredible Journey

A Review of Nii Parkes New Collection featured in Sable Literary Magazine

I first had the pleasure of hearing Nii Parkes read at an open mic in January of this year. His work was lyrical and his presence on stage filled the room. No one there that evening could fail to notice him. Upon discovering the release of his CD, Incredible Journey, I jumped at the chance to hear a more extensive collection of his work.

Parkes originally hails from Ghana and this spiritual and physical home threads its influence throughout his work. His poems often read as lyrics and on his CD some border on songs-his voice playing with the accompanying music which ranges from the soulful hymn to jittery jazz. Even when he speaks unaccompanied, his voice is so melodic that he creates symphonies with his words.

Listening to the CD, I found that the music on some tracks reminded me of bad 80’s R&B, which almost persuaded me to flip to the next track. This does not mean that all the music behind the poetry was bad. Though it does bring to the forefront the idea that whatever is used in relation to a body of work will affect it. For example, “A2CraZ”, is a fine piece of work but the music put me right off. If I wouldn’t have listened to it because of the music choices, I would have missed the fabulous line ‘I am mesmerized by your voice, a mixture of honey and cinnamon and bass clef.’ On the other hand, ‘Learning to Resonate’, benefited from its background of walking bass and the fits and starts of a solo saxophone, especially under the section:

'Daddy said work hard so I spent days polishing my words with lyrical wax but they sounded like squeaks on a saxophone.'

What strikes me most about Parkes work, is the feeling of familiarity juxtaposed with vibrant images of injustice, as in the piece ‘D.A.I.L.L.O.’:

'Love thy neighbour as thyself. Well it seems you didn't read that page 'cos I live next door to you in Notting Hill and you smeared shit on my door.'

This brings a reference to the bible into the brutality of reality and questions our belief systems. He continues to question his audience throughout his work by creating vibrant pictures of lives that people believe to be less ordinary but which are, more often than not, commonplace. In his own words, Parkes explains what he strives to do in his writing: ‘I make calls for justice in my poetry performances around the world and I hope my message gets across. It is my belief that if we are not silent, we will find ears to hear, hands to help and minds to seed, and solutions will be found. I always cite the example of domestic violence. Too many people have kept mute about it for too long, and many have died in silent pain having lived their entire lives riddled with fear.’ (Excerpt from www.niiparkes.com)

Overall, I was pleased with the quality of this collection. It brought the essence of the writer to the listener with such accuracy that the only shame comes from him not being in the room. For a man who poses the question ‘You can raise an enemy’s child, because a child is a child,’ I can only hope that his writing will carry on in this vein and continue to flourish.