POETRY INVOICE ON A TALK WITH SALAKO

WELCOME to this HOT SEAT SECTION: relax, chill, and be ready for growth.

Guest - Francis Salako
Host - Prince Joe

Topic: Writing: Mental issues.

Host: We are honoured to have you here. So, sharply, let's commence for tonight's topic. But first, can you describe yourself with just one word?

Guest: Good evening Joe. All of that honor is mine. And it's very kind of you to have brought me here tonight. Describing myself in a word sounds like a sort of hard task. I have not really thought about this before. I'll just say that I am: emerging.

Host: Lol. I know. I wanted to shake the table a bit. Thank you. Now, sir. Salako, according to your experience in writing, how will you define POETRY?

Guest: I had to take a couple of minutes to think that through. It's been a wonderful journey with poetry. I'll just say that poetry is what fills the gap.

Host: Wow. Deep. Like what fills the ellipsis. Lol. For you to have said that, shows you have went through a lot. Such is life. But sir, relating this concept to mental issues, what's your take, let's me put it this way: when you write, what inspires you to always write more in meeting deadline for submission?

Guest: I want to suggest that putting the 'Sir' tag off will make this conversation more enjoyable. I've not seen too much, or perhaps, I'm being modest. In relation to mental issues, poetry fills the gap in the sense that it becomes a medium to pass the unspoken, the silence unto the universe. I've not been writing a lot lately. Maybe because I am getting involved in more physical activities. What drives me is just the desire to be. To matter. To be a valid point. That's not to say that there aren't external factors.

Host: Good. Pardon my manners. You are a Guest, and indeed, we need to address you with  honour. Ok. That aside, now, let's move very deep into mental issues. I know very well, you should have heard, seen some people with this suicide issues, it's related to poets especially. In a nutshell, what is your take on this, does it mean, poets are embedded with so much issues or what? What could cause this? Relating to your experience.

Guest: Let's take the burden off the writer's neck. People are generally encumbered with a lot of issues - ranging from academics to finance to marriage and on and on. People who are poets are, by being a constituent of the human race a part of this struggle. So, poets like everyone else get mentally ill Which is normal, for our bold societal ignorance which doesn't understand. Mental issues are caused by a lot of factors such as stress, shock, etcetera just like everyone else. I am just getting out of a depressive bout (hopefully) I can essentially tell you that it's no pleasant place. Funny enough. I am unable to place what the cause of my depression could be.

Host: Exactly. Most poets don't understand the cause of this depression. They will just say, they are depressed. I think from my view, most people don't understand what depression means before they relate their issue with it. On this note, does it mean, depression can kill? To be sincere and realistic.

Guest: Joe, I wouldn't disagree that some writers pretend to be depressed for clout just as some pretend to be gay for same reasons. Some even force themselves to become depressed (however they do that) It's a really terrible thing to do, if you ask me.I agree that some people do not understand what depression is. And I think you're a bit overboard by writing "most people do not understand.." for we do not have a proper survey. What do you think? Depression is deadly. Should be one of the deadliest things in the world. All of that gloom clamping down on your world. All of that darkness. That silence. That struggle. Yes. Depression kills.

Host: Hmm. Speechless. Now, that you say, depression kills. Then, can you tell us what depression means to you?

Guest: Depression is what pockets the sun in daylight. I'm not even trying to be figurative.

Host: Deep. Please, can you come out plain?  So that we can get you clearly?

Guest: I mean that, for me, depression means a condition of absolute darkness.

Host: Absolute darkness. Where no light can comprehend. On that note, is there any issue that bold beyond what human cannot resolve or maintain. Maybe I should say: can depression be eradicated or maintained?

Guest: Depression is highly ruinous but there's a way around it. As a matter of fact, there are ways around it. The mediums include talking to (a) therapist(s), being in company of friends, reminding oneself of the their best moments, and so on and so forth.

Host: Good to say. But sometimes, very hard to put into action. Sometimes I wonder why poets prove suicide to be an escape room, on this, if I may ask: can loneliness cause depression?

Guest: These cautions might be hard because depression is generally hard to get rid of. Suicide might not be the best escape - that depends on who's taking the decision anyways. However, suicide is a valid option, but I don't advice. Loneliness might not be a major factor in depression. I believe that it is mostly a complementing factor.

Host: So, what could be the complementing  factor?

Guest: I am saying that, loneliness might be complementing other factors such as rejection, ptsd, etcetera. Loneliness could just be the  enabler.

Host: Ok. Probably. That's true. Now about this, mental issues, what other things could make a poet to commit suicide, apart from the things we mentioned, is there any factor that we dont know yet?

Guest: Sylvia Plath & a handful of other poets that pioneered confessional poetry died by suicide. Poetry was their means of escape. But perhaps it failed them, so they had to find escape elsewhere. I have never attempted suicide but I am tilted to believe that all suicides are in tow of mental infirmity. Also, since there are no absolutes, I might suggest that the traditional belief of talisman might be a factor.

Host: Interesting. Interesting. That reminds me, I know you would have read a lot of poetry, but then, from your experience, can you tell from it if a poem can make someone depressed, how true is it or any work of art?

Guest: I try to read as much as I can, it might not be as much as you imagine though. Poems, or art, generally is capable of taking you to the most shallow places. I have been there personally. Seeing the most haunting painting of my life, reading romeo's highly terrific poems, Danez Smith about black brutality, DM Aderibigbe about domestic violence. All of these and more, but I have never been depressed permanently as a result of an art piece.

Host: Ok. Lastly, on this mental issues, especially writers, what will you advice them to always do anytime they are depressed, or left lonely, should they just write on it or take drugs (like some people find comfort in that)  or what exactly can they do immediately not to ever think of suicide?

Guest: Writing heals. But it doesn't work for everyone. So if you feel it's the perfect system for you, just do it. However, you're not enforced to write about your depression. If you can't handle making your depression public, don't do it. It will be a really disastrous mistake. It's important to not be capitalist about your health issues. Although, several writers cash on their issues and it pays. Overall, study yourself and be your own person. No one knows you more.  People will continually consider suicide. It is the ability to not activate it that is needed. Talk to experts immediately should you feel that urge, or consider attempting any of the earlier mentioned mediums.

             [Questions section]

Philip Peace: Thank you for the moment shared with us, thesalakobaba. I'll like to know, if mental issues can become an intentional repercussion (for writers and peoples alike) on the quest for understanding peoples with mental challenges.
I mean, you just want to learn, know how they feel, but the bridge is so sturdy, in the course of reflection, you're absorbed too. Do you think most writers with the depressed address are in this category?
2. You wrote that traditional belief of talisman can also be a factor to suicides. Can you briefly elucidate, sir?

Guest: Thanks a lot. I believe that people can get stuck in the process of finding a thing. Just Like archaeologists getting buried while navigating mummy tombs. Might be Stockholm syndrome of sort. it is very possible. People believe in talisman generally. Consider that I have Africa in mind. It's popular believe that people jazz people and they commit suicide as a result of it. In my penultimate year in secondary school, a friend whose father is an herbalist committed suicide. What we were told is that he was jazzed by a rival herbalist as get back to my friend's father. We believed. But that doesn't mean that it's the truth, and it doesn't mean that it's not true. I am open to multiplicity of truths. I am subjective enough to accept that there.

Philip Peace: One more question about this.
There are people who conceal their issues to themselves, what do you think about them? How can they be helped?

Guest: I am one of those people. I never open up unless you're very close to me, or you find out somehow. People who find it difficult to open up should be encouraged by their friends. I think that's the only way. But I can assure you that it's really hard to help people like me.

Host: Wow. Wow. All said. I really appreciate your presence here, sir. Salako( permit me)  and everybody online. Bless you. This is growth. I hope mental issues becomes history someday.

And now, we end tonight's section.

Thank you for reading.