Telephone Conversation

“Still I Rise” by Maya Angelou (1978)

One of Soyinka’s contemporaries writing in the United States, Angelou penned “Still I Rise” as a mantra for living during times of hate with a history of slavery. The repetition of “I rise” throughout the poem, especially at the end, reinforces the speaker’s call to action. Literally, the speaker in Soyinka’s poem calls to take an action on an apartment that he wants, trying to explain his color using playful semantics regarding chocolate, sepia, and raven black. The landlady is not having the speaker’s sarcasm, similar to Angelou’s speaker asking those around her: “Does my sassiness upset you?” (Line 5).

“War Widow” by Chris Abani (2006)

Born a generation after Soyinka in Nigeria, Abani similarly faced imprisonment and solitary confinement because of his writing and outspoken political views against the government. His poetry reflects his life experiences, and in “War Widow,” he starts with the symbol of a telephone with its lack of communication because those on the other end are “long dead” (Line 4). Communication via telephone does take place during Soyinka’s poem, but miscommunication is the more accurate term. Loneliness pervades both poems, the loneliness that comes from “staring off into a distance” (Line 7) in Abani’s poem and the loneliness that comes from being cramped in a phone booth and not being heard or respected in Soyinka’s piece.

“The Hill We Climb” by Amanda Gorman (2021)

In this poem, Gorman discusses the metaphor of an uphill battle Black people continue to climb to reach success and the battle the United States as a whole faces to unite its diverse people. She recited this poem at the 2021 inauguration of President Joe Biden, the start of a new chapter for the country. Both Gorman’s and Soyinka’s poems show the global issue of racism from different angles. Soyinka’s poem shows the divide between people based on race while Gorman’s acknowledges that divide and encourages continued work toward the future. She writes, “We are striving to forge a union with purpose” (Line 20). In a way, Soyinka provides a small, albeit cheeky, precursor to Gorman’s visions when the speaker of “Telephone Conversation” offers to meet the landlady in person at the end of the poem.