Publisher's Synopsis
Former US President Barack Obama has penned a popular book, aptly titled, Dreams from My Father. But what does his father, or to be precise, his fatherland dream about him? The question becomes even more prompt as Obama's visits to Africa (five as of July 2018) become significant homecoming events. Here, for the first time in an epic poetical way, is a brilliant exploration of what Africa thinks of Obama, their dreams, illusions and disillusionment about him. The Rainbow Prince is history and biography that quickly alternates between myth and love story, politics and satire, North-South dialogue and monologues, a jest and a cry. As an epic, the poem traces the beginnings of the heroic career in a rescue out of an apocalyptic volcanic explosion from where a baby and mother are rescued, "because of love" (Because of love, /I've dived into volcanoes"). The epic then goes into the history of the continent, slavery, imperialism, colonialism and neo-colonialism-and then interrogates the postcolonial relationship between the West and Africa. Obama's life is sketched in painfully heroic terms, including his near mythical roots, visits to Africa, the hopes and the anticlimax with the end of his term in office ushering in the reign of "the rich fool" who sees others as "invasive weeds, /Who has banned banana boats, /Reasoning that they are from shit holes". The "rich fool", obviously an epithet of the current US president, has got more broadsides such as the accusation that he is "extinguishing the yeast of nations/The dream of the United States of the World/The dream of a global rainbow". In other words, he is doing a good job of reversing what Obama stood for. Obama himself does not escape broadsides for neglecting Africa and being part of the "deadly vulture" system that feeds on Africa's carcass. But in his speech that is yet to be read anywhere, and certainly will not be read in Africa, Obama reveals his true identity and defends himself against accusations. Then there is the poem on Michelle Obama in which she is seen not as "a digression", but part of "a progression" in a love story and in a history straddling slavery and freedom, beauty and brains ("What a marvel that in/Twenty-one centuries of being/Caged/Picked/And quartered/A lovebird would still sing, dance and reign!") On the whole, this long poem-the only epic about an American president-is about the hope of resolving contradictions and diversity (the rainbow) that Obama offers, and the fact that his presidency should not be the peak (kingship) of his power, but the glimpse of a prince charming who is still legible enough to play a big role in the world politics and culture. It is couched in appropriate poetic devices that puts it at a par with all great poetry. It is full of sound (some parts being played to musical instruments), sense, sensibility, landscapes and beautiful high-quality pictur
