Ayokunle Falomo’s latest collection of poetry, Autobiomythography of, is a lyrical journey of exploration. Drawing from mythology, history, and religion, Falomo searches for the speaker’s voice and sense of self. This is his fourth book after AFRICANAMERICAN’T and two self-published collections.

As a Nigerian, American poet, Falomos’ book linearly examines the speaker’s relationship with family, correlating his mother with water and his motherland and his father with fire and colonization. As the book progresses, the speaker has his own children and is no longer “just a son” of his family. He contemplates his memory of family from when he was a child versus older. At the same time, the speaker considers how colonization and nationalism changes the way he perceives himself.

I don’t remember. My father loves me. I am my father’s

Son. I am my mother’s first son. My father is his father’s.

Falomo scatters historical references and metaphors throughout the book, especially in the first few poems. He quotes Nigerian rappers and refers to the 1993 election, connecting how colonization and dictators have a vested interest in rewriting history in a personally favorable way. This speaks to a vital overarching theme: the effects of colonization and dictatorship on history and culture and the speaker’s own identity.

What is the best way to explore how you perceive your own identity? The poems in Autobiomythography of combine fact and fiction—whether it be in the form of autobiography, mythology, or history—to examine who the speaker really sees himself as. To understand his self, the speaker uses various voices and uses different combinations across the poems. Who really controls the narrative?

She said, Boys can be pretty too & I believed her. Gospel: a noun, a thing that is

absolutely true. Fact: / The earliest drawings of wolves are in caves / in southern

Europe and date / from 20,000 B.C, / so, go on boy, be a wolf. / Be more than

just beast. Be / a thing that is absolutely true. Did you know a wolf / pup’s eyes

are blue at birth? Revel / in this revelation. Be / like your Savior. Rise …

Towards the end of the collection, Falomo starts questioning whether or not he should be writing these poems, initially from a broader perspective of history and culture and zooming in on the speaker himself. Additionally, the speaker explores his sense of self while also considering himself as a literary subject.

While Falomo is certainly drawing from several points of inspiration, he uses engaging and strong depictions of every aspect, making the poems referencing mythology equally as powerful as autobiographical ones. I found every poem individually colorful, and the visual layouts of the poems specifically stuck out to me. His use of consistent metaphors, specifically body metaphors, were incredibly effective in keeping me excited to read the poems.

Several poems were my favorite; I find it hard to pick out only one favorite in a collection I enjoy so much. “Notes on Archaeology” was my favorite layout as a prose lover with its visual block style, almost representing a newspaper article. It’s written from the perspective of the speaker’s father, contemplating what parts of history are his to share and which he should leave behind. He specifically explores whether the past influences the present and more importantly if it should.

The narrative and descriptive elements of “Notes Toward a Conjugated Theory of the Self” drew me back to reading the poem several times, each time finding a new aspect to enjoy. It is the perfect combination of fact and fiction, with the speaker continuously asking questions throughout the poem. The speaker asks a non-human what it means to be human and to name his experiences for him.

Bored, I asked a bot, What does it mean to be human? It

said, Is it enough to have a body of flesh? Why do

we have bodies at all? And what does it mean to be free?

Whether it be through referencing the same individuals, bodies, or paintings throughout the collection, each poem seamlessly connected to each other. You can open the book to any page and see how it connects to another poem, and that’s what makes it so interesting to read. Autobiomythography of is a collection of strong, beautiful poetry. It focuses more on metaphors and lyricism rather than “traditional” elements of poetry, such as rhyming, which makes the poems enjoyable to read out loud. It’s not only a great read but also one I can see reading several more times.

Buy a copy of Autobiomythography of here.