Author: Bruce Oden

  • Blog Review: Hands of a lonely boy

    Blog Review: Hands of a lonely boy

    Hands of a lonely Boy is s a poetry blog by a mysterious poet from Ghana who goes by the name PK (@Pe_kayy) on Twitter.

    Once you set foot on the blog the melanin art captures your mind. The poems introduce you to a world of black consciousness ,melanin celebration and ebonyic appreciation.

    The poet has amazingly mastered the use of imagery to bring his poems to life. When you read the poems it feels like you are taking part in creation. Each word gives limbs to the poem, by the final line, the poem takes a life of it’s own. It jumps from the page and begins to live in your mind. Such is his magnificent use of imagery. His diction uses body parts, expertly woven with nature to create a comfortable love making experience with the reader.

    The poet is conscious of black struggle as he hints in his poem I too:

    I’ m trying to pray for freedom for the one we have is not enough…

    The blogger makes it known that despite black people being despised there is something royal about them:

    Black is a world Housed in flames Glowing softly in crystals of turquoise Shimmering lightly in twirls of gold

    In many of the poems on the blog he traces black lineage to the Panthera Leo and Nubian Goddesses. The poet makes you proud to be black.

    The blog is clean and void of many other distractions like sidebar widgets. Perhaps deliberately done to place emphasis on the poetic words. If this was the idea, it works perfectly.

    However the lack of widgets especially those that make it easier for one to find older posts like the category widget or navigation menu forces one to endlessly keep scrolling down. With prohibitive data pricing in Africa it’s wise to make your articles easily accessible.

    And err…the lack of an about page …feels like reading a book without the back cover

    Nothing about what to expect on the blog.

    Nothing about the blogger. With myriads of blogs on the web readers often rush to the about page to see if your blog is a worthy “camping site” .

    So a promise of life and an invitation to live is always welcome Dear blogger.

    I kept seeing “image credit unknown” and I wondered, why not credit the site or book you found the image at least? It’s easy to find the source of an image on the web. You can use the Reverse image search app or simply long press/ right click the image until “search image on Google” pops up.

    I have to say I loved the blog. The poems are excellent and the images do wonders in creating a site black people can relate to. It’s like being in Wakanda!

    Reviewed site : Hands Of A Lonely Boy

    Featured photo credit / artwork by nicole renee

  • Blog Review : Chronicles of a Nubian Queen

    Blog Review : Chronicles of a Nubian Queen

    Chronicles of a Nubian Queen is a lifestyle blog by a South African woman identified on the site as Noloyiso. On this blog, she shares about her teaching experiences, poetry, her hair journey, guitar playing and music, visiting the gym and she also muses about love and war. 

    Noloyiso helps you navigate her blog through multiple pointers arraigned on her menu tab. Quiet commendable seeing that she blogs on a variety of subjects and the posts fall like rain on this site. Talk of being on fire! She has a post up almost every 3 to 4days. 

    The following categories stood out for me,

    • G-strings
    • Teacher problems
    • Nubian Hair

    G strings is all about her love for music. In this category, you find lyrics to some of her favourite jams. Noloyiso has been playing the guitar since she was 17.  The name G strings is explained in one of her short musical posts:

    In case you were wondering, the G-string is the 4th string from the 1st string on the 6 string (Guitar)

    Teacher problems is where she shares her teaching experiences. Noloyiso teaches English. One thing I loved is the book Wall of Fame she created in her class! 

    One can easily see that Noyoliso has a fond spot for her career. She also trains a girls’ netball team. However, I couldn’t find why she called the category “Teaching problems” This is a category worth celebrating because of the work she is doing at the school. Without doubt my best category on this blog.

    Nubian Hair is, of course, a hair journey. She bares an obsession with her hair sharing growth, failures and discoveries. She reviews a few products also.

    Some of What She does right

    • She has a consistency posting schedule. She publishes Sunday and Wednesday. Sometimes it’s just a short post like Group chats, it does wonders to keep subscribers engaged
    • She runs a guest blogger series called Anonymous. It’s a great way to generate content and bring in something fresh to her blog.
    • Noloyiso is sincere. Sincerity is a great thing for a lifestyle blog. It means you never have to struggle for content. It is also easier for your audience to resonate with your posts.

    What can be improved 

    • Photos. Lifestyle blogs do well with high-quality photos. Lifestyle blogs are different than any other type of blog out there. They tend to focus on being a bit more visual sense they must use high-quality images to showcase their activities and interests.
    • Navigation. The menu is good but it serves little purpose when other posts are published as Uncategorised. These are posts that will appear nowhere on your navigation bar. Untick the Uncategorised box then tick the relevant category. This will direct the post to appear under that category making it easy to be found.
    • “Who am I” widget does justice in explaining who Noloyiso is, so maybe a change of the About me page to About the blog. It’s always great to get a heads up about the whole blog. What is it about? Why was it started? What is your vision among other things?
    • Social media links. Some, like Instagram and Twitter, are not connecting to Noloyiso’s profiles. Social media is a great way of building a loyal audience.
    • Always reply comments it makes your readers feel appreciated and want to keep coming back.

    Noloyiso’s soul stuff tales are great experiences to learn from. I feel this category can be combined with Love and war seeing that they both share sentimental kind of post.

    I loved the consistency, many bloggers can learn from the publishing schedule tactic. Happy blogging!

    Parting words:

    The greatest sadness isn’t realising something less than perfect about yourself. It is when you don’t admit it to yourself and when you don’t take steps to change it.

    Noloyiso, Chronicles of a Nubian Queen