Deborah Yisah, in this collection of poems, Under the Orange sky, expounds on art and the human mind. How the mind finds solace in art. And how art forages in the splendid acreage of the human mind.
Yisah in this collection of poems, writes with the zest of an archer; shooting arrows of words to deconstruct and defamiliarize everyday issues of life, with precision.
This book traverses different themes of human conditions and how people have sought healing from indulgences and other atypical means of decluttering the mind from paralyzing thoughts. Deborah depicts human life as a complex string of circumstances and how the duality of life is being navigated from different frames of references.Deborah also wrote explicitly on love, life, mental health, Lagos, and other pockets of issues.

In the poem, under the orange sky, Deborah evoked the complex world of a persona, seeking to harness the light within his being to stay calm in the midst of troubles and keep hope alive, no matter what.

In the poem, Heal, Yisah used a tree as a metaphor for resuscitation; and the persona in the poem is seen contemplating how to stay strong in spite of being burnt and tired; drawing from the winery of self encouragement to heal all injuries sustained in the jungle of life.

Deborah Yisah demonstrated the magic of words and the robustness of literary devices in delivering poignant emotions in the poem, Post Partum:

I arched this streamer of vapor in my head
with a taste of soot in my mouth,
this unholy craving for a meal of turpentine
to fill the emptiness within my breastplate
these fallen stallions made a mess of each day
pouring languorously without hesitation;
dangling like a pendulum,
now forlorn for his groping
when my bossom became the nub of lactation…

The poem shows a female persona, dealing with Postpartum depression and inquiring within herself how she could catch her break in the angst of things spiraling out of control beyond her consciousness ; and then reassuring herself about being fine at the end of the turmoil.

Deborah Yisah, in the poem, fun, emotes a joyful scene where friends upon graduation from the rainstorm of life, went out to party and enjoy themselves till the sun remembers to rise again.

In this collection of forty brilliant poems, Deborah has demonstrated herself as a clinical prophet; calling people to introspection, wholesomeness, dalliance of art, and a buffet of well crafted analogies . Yisah also gave us a manual to stay aware of our mental health amidst the pain and turmoil under the orange sky.

Yisha in the poem, this mountain in my tongue, invited us into her opulent marionette of metaphors ; tempering poetic wit with mellifluous narratives; as the poem reads :

Hanging on the blade of a mahogany
with tongues tied in sparks of a louding fire
bursting with the fresh allure of reasoning and coded notes
reaching your soul with empathy
burdens etched in hieroglyphs
speeches braided in alluring crypts
a horde of intents betrayed by a language of expression
minds as illustrious as a lush garden
with ingrained instructions of engagement…

The poem highlights the life of children on the spectrum who are gifted with amazing gifts that are seldom harnessed by society. Yisah reminds us of their inalienable space in society and the need for everyone to treat them with honor and dignity and not just a person occupying space or meant for a pity party.

This debut collection of poems by Deborah Morenike Yisah is a baroque of clinical evocations from the quill of a wordsmith whose genuine work will go far to the ends of the earth.