In this collection of poems, The Anonymous Cherif is intelligent in his use of imagination and vocabulary. As is his style, he takes the reader into the depths of the profundity that is his mind.In ‘Sherifnanigans’, Cherif shows how poetry is an extension of himself – as if the pen and the words coming out of it are an extension of his limb, giving life to all that goes on in his head.
“Metaphors are not fully true,
As semblances are not truly full.”
That’s how I like to see Cherif – as a walking collection of poetry, emptying pieces, eagerly, along the path of time, hungrily seeking for new experiences to translate into literature. And he does it so simply it seems, that I find myself wondering how he churns out so many pieces of poetry. Just as in “Kobayashi Maru”, he calls his hunger for poetry a ‘Call of Nature’, one apparently stronger than what mere mortals like we consider a pressing call of nature.
“It would perch on your laps,
While on the toilet seat,
So you’re torn between two
Calls of nature”.
We even get to see a soft side to The Great Cherif in his more relatable section, ‘Heartmosphere’, where he talks about matters of the heart. Here, he becomes vulnerable when he admits to having feelings in “Feelings for the Five Thousand” and even more so, he is shocked at his ability to fall in love in “The She in Sherif”.
“My heart is a radioactive desert,
Love does not grow here,
How did I fall into infinity for you”.
What makes him stand out in the crowd, I believe, is his ability to turn simple poetry into a mind game as he forces the reader to meditate and try to see from a “Sniper’s Perspective”. One might complain that his poems are too covert, require too much thinking and are maybe even boring, for those who would prefer lighthearted entertainment. But, Cherif does not offer leisure or enjoyment alone with his poetry. The aim of his work, I believe, is to capture emotions or moments in time better than simple words like ‘beautiful’, ‘sad’, or ‘joyful’ could. And he does this by painting pictures with words, snapshots of those moments that give new light and perspective to depth of his understanding of the beauty of life- if you can understand it.
“The best poems undress themselves
when you are looking away”
Maybe we can coerce Cherif to write us a thesaurus of his mind one day. But, in the meantime, we enjoy the mind games and our little wins as we look at life from a Sniper’s Perspective.
Chinazom Okafor
Sherifnanigans 
I don’t read poems. For cherif,I make an exception..they are more than poems.
Succinct review by Chinasom Okafor,couldn’t possibly have worded it better!
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Interesting stuff…
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His poems always strike me. I always have to stop to reflect after reading any of his poems. I’m awed by his mind and surely would to read the thesaurus of his mind if he decides to put that to paper. I always feel smarter after reading and understanding his poems
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