Deola insists that the market route is faster. You hesitate, because you hate its rowdiness and— "...and those silly boys that will be holding your hands and clothes because they want you to buy from them,” after saying this, you deliberately cringe in an effort to convince your friend to change her mind. "Calm down, jare," [...]
The day you were born, You became a man. So, when you crawl and hurt your knees Do not move your lips nor make a sound. Hold on child, men don't cry. The day you take your first step, Is the day you become one with the struggles of life. Do not feign annoyance [...]
Mama and Papa eagerly await your return from school. Mama prepares your favorite dish of Ofe Onugbu and Fufu, with half a bottle of Fanta to wash it down. They both sit under the Mango tree watching as you wash and spread your uniform to dry. They chatter excitedly. It is the first time in [...]
A girl asks her mother what her father looked like. The mother stared down at her own little portrait, And marvelled at the crystals on her body. Truly, everything made of black is beautiful. But she knows better Than to speak life into a forgotten scar. Life makes things bleed. She knows We [...]
Anytime I want to talk on Facebook, About those things the sun drags into my mind, I see the question: "What's on your mind?" My mind is a house to the blazing sun Which burns the skin of man. Can you handle what's on my mind? On my mind, There is a boy [...]
I am the product of an aged heritage, My father's fathers were erudite sages With replete basins of wisdom. Out of me came fifty-three vast kingdoms My skin is a glittering coal, Gleaming like a ripe avocado. I am the rubbles of darkness in the night And still the stripes of brightness at night [...]
This poem begins at the end of all life. It starts with full stops and has no commas. It starts with the sound of tepid stagnant water; With silence and stillness. This poem should begin with everything that love and life should be. Rainbows. Laughter. Songs. Pictures. Hugs. Smiles. Joy. But this poem [...]
i I do not belong here. passion has brought me into this place. The walls here are full of faces, Familiar faces of street urchins Who beg solemn alms from dawn to dusk. I am here in this place of tussles Where muscles are stretched in the struggle for survival. The men [...]
i. I learnt that a mother that breastfeeds wakes the compound at dawn with smoke from the kitchen hut before the first cock’s crow I learnt that you should never plant a seed yam with its anus facing where the sun rises And not to wrestle fingers for the meat in the soup [...]
The first day you saw your own image, it was like a nightmare. You were wide awake, yet unconscious. You jerked suddenly into wakefulness, coughing out your lungs and staring into the face of this stranger in front of you. A stranger you didn’t know was there, who looked every inch like you. He was [...]
