Spare the Rod Their body is a sealed brown envelope labelled as classified presented to the government at birth a temple of the lobbyist gods on the altar of failed heads lays the prey whose prayers are a political statement a property belonging of your family your pastor your partner this body is never yours celebrations in order when your life is on the line a dystopian...
Cost of Living I write of the anguished cries from the Chad to the Atlantic a fellowship of broken souls frantically fighting for survival on sinking sand no salvation for starving mouths in pot bellies no faith enough to move this rock of bad governance The timeline with its bants rants tweets in search for missing persons pleas for crowdfunding — cries for help spread...
The pain we don’t survive There is pain we perform The one we dress up nice enough for everyone to see There’s pain we gauge we can take So we take that one and hold it So that we don’t swap it for a new one There’s pain we know, pain that we can trust because it’s familiar Sometimes we even preempt it and then sabotage until we get the same results But there’s pain in its true form Unexpected...
Sneakers you did what my former lovers Couldn’t. you stayed you stuck through the mud the torrents and the seas until there was no space to hold my feet. you stayed with till you were old battered and worn out just like our unspoken vows for better and for worse. until there are no holes to lace. Author’s Bio: Melody Tobi-Makinde is a freelance writer and poet who enjoys reading and writing...
FOR DAYS BY VICTOR SESE There are days when the only place I want to be is beside you Days when I beg you not to get out of bed Because then the cuddling ends and the warmth leaves with you Days when I shudder at the thought of being overwhelmed by the cold Because I fear the warmth may never return But I’m glad today isn’t one of such days Today, for the first time in a...
My Relationship Saga by Raheemat Jimoh Popping pills everyday Because I can’t find a better way I’m a drug seeker seeking drugs for healing I know what you’re thinking and you’re right I’m an addict But not of marijuana or cocaine, but of folic acid and OPIOIDS Addiction takes many forms, and mine wears a mask of healing Like a vampire, I take blood too From sack to...
When you’re two bottles deep, and you begin to feel that trap door sliding open from underneath you, Maybe, begin to say maybe, Maybe pacing yourself will serve better than screaming “Shapiru, Shapiru!” at the very top of your lungs as you hold firmly to bottle number three, ice-cold but sweating just as profusely as it’s wielder. Maybe begin to look ahead, Maybe...
Struggles of motherhood, Agonizing, however fulfilling. I toiled day and night, So I may reap what I sow. Bodies grinding with sweats, With no pleasure on sight. Despair had been my abode, With no child to call my own. Then you happened, The joy that cometh by morning. Only that I was jinxed, For I bore an Abiku! With a razor, you were scarred Never to return to my dwelling...
today my mother calls me, even though we spoke the night before. i am not ready for any of it, so i still, until i can, until i am alone, and am charged enough to hear it whatever it is. in her first syllables, i hear that she is worried about me, and perplexed, i ask her why, wondering if this is about the fact that i poke needles through my flesh to relieve pressure but she...
The music wells, caresses my ears and tickles my brain. I look up to the sky, blue with hope, optimism… Adorned elegantly in clouds, white, pure, ever changing. The foliage whisks by, luscious, green, making an otherwise bland landscape vivid and interesting. Faces, they move past me, different and unique, each wearing different emotions. Sad, happy, concerned, surprised...
