Telephone Conversation

The conversation in this poem involves several moments of silence and needs for readjustment, making their conversation one of tactics with power moves forward and backward. Soyinka refers to the speaker’s phone call as “hide-and-speak” (Line 12), wordplay on the game hide-and-seek. The first silence takes place after the speaker says, “I am African” (Line 5). This term is not clear enough because the woman eventually follows up with, “How dark?” (Line 10). The speaker has to double-check if he has heard her question correctly or not. After an “ill-mannered silence” (Line 15), the speaker asks if he has heard correctly. She asks again, and he puts into his own words, “You mean—like plain or milk chocolate?” (Line 19). When the landlady’s harsh tone seems to suggest her understanding but lack of appreciation for the comparison, the speaker readjusts and selects “West African sepia” (Line 22). When there is further confusion, the speaker tries the term “brunette” (Line 26). The speaker does not directly answer her light or dark question, constantly swerving the direction of her questions into other colorful terrain, confusing the landlady even though they speak the same language. He plays to win not only the apartment but also the conversation.