‘When I was first brought here, Those hallways were more beautiful Than any palace…’—Merlin Two lines stretched apart And we fell through. The Isle of the Blessed. Shrouded by mist, Pulsing with possibility and life; The air never extreme Which for rain had a little silver dew. Your voice was a given, [...]
Driving home from the office on Addis Ababa evenings, but not all, The berbere makers would grind chiles and spices into a mix In small mills on the back streets, the smells floating over the beeswax Candlestick sellers and men drinking coffee, passing through the car window. Berbere is found in [...]
Ills, thriving on carts with colourful wheels, Errors, steaming from grey pots of ignorance, Rotten stars, smiling gaily from above. Wherewithal shall salvation be? Corrupted gems, polluted treasures, Thieves, with ties and well-suited suits, Men with the belly of a ball, in flowing agbada. Unto which rock shall we call for safety. A [...]
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 [...]
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 [...]
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