Poems

We have got a collection of thought-provoking poems authored by poets from different backgrounds.

WHAT DO YOU WANT ME TO TELL YOU ABOUT WAR? by Rasaq Malik

WHAT DO YOU WANT ME TO TELL YOU ABOUT WAR? by Rasaq Malik

WHAT DO YOU WANT ME TO TELL YOU ABOUT WAR? Is it the way men die, the way their wives trace their corpses with candlelight? Is it how bombs sound when they hit those boys? Is it the way people fall whenever bullets sail like water in their hearts, in their veins? Is...

AWERO’S POUNDED YAM by Kanyinsola Olorunnisola

AWERO’S POUNDED YAM by Kanyinsola Olorunnisola

AWERO'S POUNDED YAM Have you eaten Awero's pounded yam? it is a scrumptious finger-licking action, as each morsel dances around in plates of egusi soup and calms the restleness of watering lustful mouths. When you hear the mortar and pestle murderously conspiring to...

HUNGRY LITTLE BOY by Chuks Obi

HUNGRY LITTLE BOY by Chuks Obi

Hungry little boy If only you looked at my side You'd see that I am burning inside If only you considered my plight You'd see that I've never known light My life has been a fight For survival and for life All I've known is strife Please let a brother live I never...

WHERE IS NIGERIA?

WHERE IS NIGERIA?

WHERE IS NIGERIA? The giant of the black continent, locked up in the den of dwarfs, looking haggard with overgrown hair, she must be very old, for her head is a fountain of grey leaves, and these wrinkles come only with old age, The king of the jungle with a roar that...

TELL THEM TO REMEMBER THIS COUNTRY

TELL THEM TO REMEMBER THIS COUNTRY

TELL THEM TO REMEMBER THIS COUNTRY & if at all the world wants to write about me Tell them to remember this country: Its broken body. The sketches of tears that litter everywhere. & if at all the world craves to sing my name Tell them to echo the names of boys...

WHAT MY MOTHER KNOWS

WHAT MY MOTHER KNOWS

WHAT MY MOTHER KNOWS The texture of darkness. The scent of my father whenever he leaves home at dawn with anger rioting in his stomach. The shape of hunger. Our bellies on days when my father deserts us like a haunted house. Our eyes full of hollows on nights when our...

I NEARLY WROTE YOU A POEM

I NEARLY WROTE YOU A POEM

I NEARLY WROTE A POEM FOR YOU I nearly wrote you a poem About how my eyes did the seeing And how my heart did the falling My brain is busy wishing Leaving my eyes to do the crying. I nearly wrote you a poem Never knew my heart could beat this fast While my brain...

THE CREATURES OF ELÉDÙMARÈ

THE CREATURES OF ELÉDÙMARÈ

THE CREATURES OF ELÉDÙMARÈ Amputated windowpanes, never would close Retreat I must into the sovereignty of the insecticide-treated net Cellules within cellules Sinister atmosphere The night of the angels of doom. Like the night of the killing of the Egyptian...

A SILENT VOID

A SILENT VOID

♠A SILENT VOID ♠ Voidness pervades my empty soul Sadness drums for my legs  to dance The endless longing for your presence Sings melodious dirges to my heart I stand at this troubled crossroad looking down the path you took Will you ever come back? To the waiting...

DRUMS, DRUMS

DRUMS, DRUMS

DRUMS, DRUMS… Drums, drums, Play drums not violins, Play drums not keys, They asked me to play drums… And I started playing drums Though I grew up amid violins and keys, Though I used to dance around cement trees… Drums, drums, Play drums they shouted If you want our...

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