THE WONDERS OF IKOGOSI by Adedayo Ademokoya

THE WONDERS OF IKOGOSI by Adedayo Ademokoya

by | Mar 26, 2019 | NIGERIAN POEMS, POEMS

THE WONDERS OF IKOGOSI

by Adedayo Ademokoya

THE WONDERS OF IKOGOSI (For Olaitan Victor)
There they sat, feeling
the living spring that compresses
the fusion of their hearts on the emblem
of gold.
The warm spring
came flowing through the nirvana
of her soul to rev up the rattling
imaginations. Chasm couldn’t
stop the flow.
The cold spring ooze fresh air
simmering passion for the flesh.
The decibels of the heart contorted
to the strong wave. The once
impervious spring conflagrate to
infuse itself to the waiting warm
spring.

 

 

They met at a confluence of silence
congruent desires glued them
to be inseparable
That touch was the coup de grâce
to bring down resistance in a haste

 

 

Yes, it was all but blessings of nature
to etch on the soul forever the burning
flame of them.

 

 

THE WONDERS OF IKOGOSI

by Adedayo Ademokoya | POEMS

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Adedayo Ademokoya writes to resonate with his inner self. He believes that words shapen the world. When he is not writing, he’s reading or surfing the internet. His works have appeared on Brave Arts Africa, Praxis Magazine, Thought Catalog, The Rising Phoenix Review, Wild Word, Ethos Literary Journal, Indian Periodical, African Writer, Pride Magazine, Tuck Magazine, Parousia Magazine, and other platforms.
ON DAYS SUCH AS TODAY by Elujulo Oluwatobiloba

ON DAYS SUCH AS TODAY by Elujulo Oluwatobiloba

by | Jul 11, 2017 | POEMS

ON DAYS SUCH AS TODAY

by Elujulo Oluwatobiloba

On a day such as today
When it rains as though it would never stop
And then stops as though it never rained.
We laugh and we talk
Wasn’t it the other day we saw the girls
Playing and talking and laughing
Doing their best to play and talk all they could
Like they knew just how short time could be
Like they knew what we also now know
That soon, the rains will come again
And in that moment, I paused
They reminded me so much of us
Back then when our chests were flat
Just before we were made to know
That time in this world is not measured by
Days when it rains and when it doesn’t.
Then I look at you
This day as it rains
As you continue your narrative
about how the blue- black battered eye became yours
And it occurs that we still don’t know what measures time in this world
I stand up wiping the dust off my dress
“Nnamdi will soon be home”
We both understand what I did not say.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Oluwatobiloba is a Law Student at the University of Ibadan. She is a daughter, a sister, a friend, a colleague and many other things. She loves watching Nickelodeon while sitting on a brown couch at home. She knows she is deeply loved by God and that gives her the courage to face life. She believes if she was not reading Law, she would be reading English. She loves people and their stories.

On Days Such As Today

by Elujulo Oluwatobiloba | POEMS

TO A FRIENDLY BROTHER by Oredola Ibrahim

TO A FRIENDLY BROTHER by Oredola Ibrahim

by | Feb 28, 2017 | POEMS

TO A FRIENDLY BROTHER

by Oredola Ibrahim

To a Friendly Brother

…for Bashir
Friends in arm
Brothers for life
Forbidding harm
Chesting the knife
Staying up late
Discussing dreams
Saving the date
With lightened beams
Crushing off bugs
Covering with clothes
Giving tight hugs
Roaming ghettoes
Brothers in arm
Friends for life
Under a charm
For friendly strife
Living off youth
In risky strides
The cult of truth
Stemming the tides
And ganging up
Against the world
Raising the cup
To reason’s twirled

 

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Oredola Ibrahim, the winner of Inspiring Brilliance Foundation
National Poetry Award 2012, believes in poetry as a tool for self
discovery and ultimately, a potential tool for national transformation. His poetry delves into popular themes like politics, love and inspiration. Oredola Ibrahim is the convener of WhatsApp Poetry Contest, a periodic competition organized on the platform of “The Penclan Initiative” (www.penclan.com). He is a campus journalist, a student-entrepreneur and a web designer. He’s a recent graduate of the University of Ibadan. He tweets @platolaw and can be reached via asiaquad@gmail.com.

 

MY NIGERIEN FRIEND AND HIS STUBBORN SMILE by Agbaakin Oluwatoyosi

MY NIGERIEN FRIEND AND HIS STUBBORN SMILE by Agbaakin Oluwatoyosi

by | Jan 25, 2017 | POEMS

My Nigerien Friend and his Stubborn Smile

 

So because you're not glued by blood

mere haemo-bond,

you shrug at the news at 8.

You say there are no worried wrinkles

on the forehead of the cute newscaster

who brings bloody news

from Potiksum, only in a jiffy;

about dying babies in overcrowded IDP camps.
 
 
 
 
 

But would you blame her,

Her tear gland is a dry well.

The corporate duress screams

"Shed no tears, show no emotion!"

They say Oprah Winfrey

divorced her own fetters on the desk

of the same corporate duress.
 
 

But I say “shed no tears

to know the pains of these orphans-

tenants under dirty bridges.

You must first enter the parlour of their grief,

and burn in the kitchen of their memories.

You'd see, the only fire there

is that of loved ones

burning with bombs.”
 
 

Don't be fooled

by their clipped mouths,

for when anguish is excessive,

It castrates your tongue.

We're one big family

separated only by our indifference.
 
 

I once stumbled on a new relative:

A Nigerien lass, tugged at me

Her hair curly and shampooed

by extreme sunlight,

her bony finger tore my new Designer shirt;

at first, I was enraged,

but then, that ugly hole led to a map

that led me to a Kingdom of families.
 
 

A raconteur told me

“no child is fatherless.

Are there not too many men

to go round?

But love is enough

to check against the kerfuffle in Chibok,

and the searing screams in broken homes.”
 
…
 

“You do not mend dying homes with bricks

but another bit of love.”

He said.

Home is not only where you go at nights;

it is also the stubborn smile

on my Nigerien friend.

 
 
 
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Agbaakin O. Jeremiah, an aspiring poet and campus Editor reads law in University of Ibadan.
His works have graced several anthologies including Briggite Poirson Anthology and are forthcoming onThe Niyi Osundare @70 Anthology, Irawo Anthology,  etc.
His other publications feature (and forthcoming) on Liquid Imagination, Antarctica Journal, Wagon Magazine, Sentinel Literary Quarterly, Kalahari Review, Praxis Magazine, African Writer, Sub-Saharan Magazine, Pulse Nigeria and elsewhere.
He was a shortlisted for 2016 Dwarts Poetry Prize.  He also won the maiden edition of Ogidigbo Poetry Contest, University of Ibadan;  and was also a six-time finalist of 2016 Brigitte Poirson Poetry Contest.
 
 
 

My Nigerien Friend and his Stubborn Smile

by Agbaakin Oluwatoyosi

Pin It on Pinterest