HOW COULD I FAIL TO SEE by Kariuki wa Nyamu

HOW COULD I FAIL TO SEE by Kariuki wa Nyamu

by | Mar 19, 2018 | POEMS

HOW COULD I FAIL TO SEE?

by Kariuki wa Nyamu

Neema,
How could I fail to see
you weren’t the usual urban girl
whose ways are not up to scratch?
How could I fail to see
the patient waiting for each other
to get done with school?
How could I fail to see
the right timing of
our budding affection?
How could I fail to see
the immensity of adoration
embedded in our interactions?
How could I fail to see
we could modestly put up
with each other’s flaws?
How could I fail to see
you and I inserting gold rings
into each other’s finger?
How could I fail to see
our household could
turn out an envy of many?
How could I fail to see
your affability, chastity,
moderation and industry?
How could I fail to see
your African gorgeousness
could eternally charm me?
How could I fail to see
the likely strength of our matrimony
till the end of Time?
Anyhow Neema dear
you’ll have to pardon me
for fruitfully failing
to put in the picture
what the future holds.
After all
I’m just
a man.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Kariuki wa Nyamu is a Kenyan poet, radio playwright, children’s writer, editor, translator, critic, and educator. He earned a Bachelor of Arts in English Language, Literature, and Education from Makerere University, Uganda. His poems won The National Book Trust of Uganda (NABOTU) Literary Awards ‒ 2007 and in 2010, while in third-year, he won Makerere University Creative Writing in the Contemporary World Competition for the best collection of poems. He is published widely both in print and online, in anthologies such as A Thousand Voices Rising, Boda Boda Anthem and Other Poems, Best New African Poets 2015 Anthology, Experimental Writing: Volume 1, Africa Vs Latin America Anthology, Best New African Poets 2016 Anthology, Africanization versus Americanization: Volume 1, Africa Vs North America Anthology, Writing on Language, Culture and Development: Volume 1, Africa Vs Asia Anthology, Kreative Diadem, Praxis Magazine, The Wagon Magazine, Jalada Africa, Poetry Potion, The Mamba Journal for African Haiku: Issue IV, besides co-authoring a Children’s poetry and short story Anthology titled When Children Dare to Dream. Kariuki, who also won the Babishai Niwe 2017 Haiku Prize, is presently pursuing a Master of Arts in Literature at Kenyatta University, Kenya.

How Could I Fail To See?

by Kariuki wa Nyamu | POEMS

Lights Out by Chiamaka Nwangwu (1st Position – Poetry Category)

Lights Out by Chiamaka Nwangwu (1st Position – Poetry Category)

by | Mar 17, 2018 | CONTESTS, POEMS

Lights Out by Chiamaka Nwangwu (Winner – Poetry Category)

Poetry Category

1st Position –  Lights Out by Chiamaka Nwangwu

I wish that I could capture brilliantly the art that was 21 road yesterday
Of the lone fueling station surrounded at all angles by hundreds of cars waiting for fuel.
The sweat trickling down the brows of the tired fueling station workers
Hands cramped up from hours of injecting fuel into cars and jerry cans
I wish I could capture the ebony coloured face
Of the little child still scurrying along the streets of Festac at night
Jerry can in her hand and determination on her face
Desperate for ten litres to last her madam’s family the night
I wish I could capture the sigh of the tired single mother
Gazing at the empty fuel sign in her car
Thoughts on the absent father who won’t provide
And on the children for whom she can give so little
I wish I could capture the controlled expression of the middle class worker
Foreseeing another night of darkness
Of rumpled clothes and hot pure water to drink
Another day the children have to take a public bus to school
I wish I could capture the worried look of the bus driver
The frustration in his eyes and slight crease of his brow
Unsure of his tomorrow
Of the empty seats that will greet his now empty fuel tank
I wish I could capture the teary eyes of the little boy
Riding shotgun in his father’s car
Thinking no cartoons for the night
No excited squeal when his father draws the rope that pulls the generator
I wish I could capture the determined gait of the market woman
Wrapper half undone, trailing along on the dirt road
Making her way along the zigzag route of long car lines
Hand absently on her bra, stuffed full with crumpled Naira notes.
I wish I could capture the graceful strike of the match
Of the teenage girl lighting a candle from the flat across the street
Younger siblings clustered around her
Resigning to the fate of another day without light
I wish I could capture the tired smile of the grandfather
Entertaining his grandchildren with stories on the veranda
With just the moonlight to shield them
From the darkness of this night

LIGHTS OUT (1st Position - Poetry)

by Chiamaka Nwangwu | Creative Writing Contest

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Chiamaka Chukwudire Nwangwu is a contemporary Igbo-Lagosian. She is currently in her fourth year of a romantic relationship with the Faculty of Law, University of Ibadan. She is a budding public speaker. She loves to read but particularly enjoys reading contemporary Nigerian fiction, history, and poetry.

Her poem, “Defiance in Death” was published in the 1st edition of the top 100 poems of the Nigerian Students Poetry Prize Anthology, “The sun will rise again” in the year 2016. She won 1st place in the Kreative Diadem Poetry Prize for her poem “Lights Out” in December 2017. Her essay, “Savior” was published in the “My Book Affair” section of the literary blog, theafroreader.com

Chiamaka is absolutely certain that she is supposed to write.

Breast Cancer by Omobashorun Agbalagba (2nd Position – Poetry Category)

Breast Cancer by Omobashorun Agbalagba (2nd Position – Poetry Category)

by | Mar 17, 2018 | CONTESTS, POEMS

Breast Cancer by Omobashorun Agbalagba (2nd Position – Poetry Category)

Poetry Category

2nd Position –  Breast Cancer by Omobashorun Agbalagba

My pride.
Prominent beauties.
Soft areola tissues.
Recipe for sanity.
Smooth contour.
Like a thief in the night;
It was just a lump.
Cyclical pains.
Irritating melanin.
Tainted redness.
Defacing beauties;
Life threatening.
Seizing breath.
Radical mastectomy;
No left over.
Frigid fraternity.
A beautiful man.
My breast cancer story.
Ayanfe

BREAST CANCER (2nd Position - Poetry)

by Omobashorun Agbalagba | Creative Writing Contest

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

My name is Ayanfe and I’m a writer; a poet, songwriter, scriptwriter, and I also do spoken words. In a nutshell, I’m sentenced to form a sentence. I’m  African by ancestral lineage; a Nigerian to be precise. I’m 21 years of age,  I hail from Kwara state.
I’m a graduate of Anatomy, faculty of basic medical sciences, college of health sciences, University of Ilorin, Ilorin Nigeria.
I love arts in various presentations. From the written to the visuals. I do a lot of writing, from poems, short stories, to seasonal stories, which I post daily on ayanfepens.com.

 

Things Your Uncle Left Inside You by Stephen Ogunfoworin (3rd Position – Poetry Category)

Things Your Uncle Left Inside You by Stephen Ogunfoworin (3rd Position – Poetry Category)

by | Mar 17, 2018 | CONTESTS, POEMS

Things Your Uncle Left Inside You by Stephen Ogunfoworin (3rd Position – Poetry Category)

3rd Position – Things Your Uncle Left Inside You by Stephen Ogunfoworin

Your uncles touch you while you sleep
And the walls wail as they mangle your innocence
You are eight
Olatunji sneaks in at midnight
He pulls down your underwear
And thrusts two fingers into the flesh between your thighs
You listen as his breaths quicken and thicken
And pretend that the sound is your mother scrubbing the kitchen floor
You are twelve
Olarinde comes in the early hours of the mornings
While the Imam calls out to Muslims to say their prayers
He gently spreads you open
And you hold your breath, quietly awaiting his entry
Olarinde never lasts more than seven thrusts
You know this because you count them.
One. Two. Three. Four. Faster. Five. Six. Seven.
When he climaxes, he cries into your hair and begs God for forgiveness
He closes you up again and scurries off into the darkness
You are fifteen
Adebola visits on Thursday nights
While everyone is watching Super Story in the living room
Bola uses his tongue
Or his tongues perhaps, it never feels like one
Sometimes your body betrays you and a moan escapes your lips
Sometimes he shoves himself into your mouth
When he finishes he whispers into your ear
‘Don’t pretend you don’t like this’
This confuses you
Because you almost believe that you do
And when you finally tell Mother, you tell her everything
You do not spare any detail
But you soon realize that this is a mistake
Mother, who is a deaconess and a spiritual leader
While you talk, she holds her head in her hands
And bellows like an animal in agony
She takes you to church, where the evil spirits are flogged out of you
Your uncles touched you while you slept
It has been seventeen years now
And you still have nightmares about the things they left inside you.

THINGS YOUR UNCLE LEFT INSIDE YOU (3rd Position - Poetry)

by Stephen Ogunfoworin | Creative Writing Contest

LOVED BUT FOUND by Akinsanya Damilola

LOVED BUT FOUND by Akinsanya Damilola

by | Dec 16, 2017 | POEMS

LOVED BUT FOUND

by Akinsanya Damilola

For days lost, he sat by the old tent
With thoughts of a pretty dear, he could never get
We pitied, helped and endeared
That he leaves his drudges and face the sour truth
That a mistress would not bow to a poor lover’s wish
Told him tales of Antonio and the end hitherto
But he wouldn’t bulge to our stories that tore his little veins
We ravened his mother of her son’s latest duff
That makes him lie awake with her portrait in his wide cloak
Clenched tight to the chest in sleep or wake
With passion that could boil an orb into a sizzling egg
All night, we pray that the princess comes
To save the life of a tipsy soul;
Before affection takes its turn of the highest toll.
For her beauty could make princes beg
And cause a king to abdicate his golden throne
In twilight, she wore her velvet robe made of silk
And walked through her gates with elegance so swift
With such tender steps that makes the earth lull
Our baby boy has gone really numb!
We no longer see in him our sane son
When he tore the market square with his new song
Of affection’s tight grip and the lily found
That raped his senses like a timid newborn
Who has swam the blue bay of beauty at night?
Or seen the shore of love?
Or sailed the isle of dote?
Has anyone seen the shore of her?
Who rules a man’s heart with smiles so shy?
Only the brave can trudge out the plain
Where affections lie fresh on the field like dew at dawn
Near the lake of flowing estuaries of love and like
The wave of love, my heart to wet
Where thence do I tend to dwell?
Amongst my kinsmen, or to my Lover that I may never get

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Akinsanya Damilola (Akindavies), a final year student of the Faculty of Law at the premier University of Ibadan. He discovered his writing aptitude after an encounter with Richard Wright’s Black Boy a couple of years ago and has ever since written a considerable number of poems and short stories. He is the recipient of the Lagos State (Alimosho Local Government) Essay Contest 2009 and was among the ten finalists of the Unesco Goi Peace Essay, 2015, among others. Away from writing, he has a fondness for trees and wildlife conservation.

Loved but Found

by Akinsanya Damilola | POEMS

SMITTEN by Eghele Akpere

SMITTEN by Eghele Akpere

by | Oct 14, 2017 | POEMS

SMITTEN

by Eghele Akpere

On the black rose hill,
Where no morning warmth hugs,
The mild expected no cuddle;
The freely priceless love,
And compassion shown,
Was welcomed with rebukes,
The rebukes of stripes.
Love was brute.

 

 

Without any lullaby,
No applauds or cheers,
With chants of crucify,
With blows and bruises,
Of shame and curses,
Mockery and laughs,
Laughs of scorn;
Love showed hate.
Without any words;
Calming words of affirmation,
She showed forth thorns,
Thorns as crown,
Trickles of vinegar,
Spits and slaps,
Strokes and ripping;
The ripping of death,
Death that was being swallowed;
Love bore cruelty.

 

 

With no feeling,
Feelings of compassion,
She nailed him still,
She spilled the gall,
And dared to say;
Let us see,
See who would save,
From this grip,
The grip that bore freedom;
Love walked still.
And as he looked,
At the bride he did love,
The same that pierced,
The same that sneered,
More love,
More love He poured.
From the wounds that bled,
That love was sealed.
Sealed with blood;
His stainless blood.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

 I am Eghele Akpere, I live in Warri. I am the author of a novel, Diary of a Warri Boy. I am a geoscientist, who loves discovering new things. I keep on understanding myself more, and I found out that I love poetry (for the beauty of it). I get better, as I appreciate corrections.

Smitten

by Eghele Akpere | POEMS

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