Abimbola O Alaka

The Things Father Did Not Teach Us Abimbola O Alaka

The Things Father Did Not Teach Us is a collection of poems that explore the nuances of youth. The poems explore the themes of self-confidence, self-love and self-acceptance. The reason for these thematic concerns is glaring. With the intrusion of social media in our personal and inner worlds, the kinds of battles we fight are now taking different shapes- those of anxiety and peer pressure because of what we see online, and self-doubt and the loss of confidence because of the pictures of seemingly-perfect people on Instagram. And who are mostly the victims of this, if not teenagers?




The aim of this collection is to tell younger people out there that they don't have to succumb to the pressures of the outside world- to remind teenagers dealing with one or more societal and mental pressures that they're not alone.




The beauty of this collection is that it has been able to use language to achieve its goals. The poet is reaching out with an elegant use of words, conjuring poems that are both brave and didactic, instructive, and challenging.




This collection is a "must read" for every young person, for the poems within it hold transformative powers. They have the ability to reach deep into the mind of the reader to rebirth someone new.