First Lines
Catalina mia muy amada
You walk with the lightness
Poeta laureado vagabundo
I will serenade my beauty
Shall I write you sonnets
You remind me of my first love
For those who weep daily
Encanto mio
Under a coca-cola billboard
The moon mourns her love tonight
©Olu Oguibe 1993
All rights reserved
Painting above: Olu Oguibe,
Portrait with Sunflower
acrylic on canvas, 1993
© copyright reserved
Painting may not be copied or
reproduced without prior permission
catalina
A Love Poem
by Olu Oguibe
Songs for Catalina was written in two weeks in London during the summer of 1993 after a trip to Mexico. In the historic city of Guadalajara, founding place of independent Mexico, I had met a young woman whom I instantly adopted as my muse and for whom the poem was written.
The poem was published in London in 1994. It was radically different from my earlier work, it was my first serious attempt at sustained love poetry, and it had less of the acidity for which my poetry had become known. I loved it. I love it still. And it has been warmly received in Spain where the old tradition of love poetry and the serenade still survives.
Songs for Catalina was read on the British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) in October, 1994 by my friend the poet Ahmed Sheik, and is published in limited edition by Savannah Publications, London. The book comes with an original linocut print, also in limited edition. To find out more,you may e-mail me.