MY NIGERIEN FRIEND AND HIS STUBBORN SMILE by Agbaakin Oluwatoyosi

MY NIGERIEN FRIEND AND HIS STUBBORN SMILE by Agbaakin Oluwatoyosi

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

FROM DESPERATION

FROM DESPERATION

FROM DESPERATION

Dear, my heart is in pain
Since you took the night train,
I yelled out day and night,
Cried for you to come back,
Even asked the Lord why
We could not both survive,
Why he did not let me
Leave with you my lady;

Only the noisy steel
Of each single cold wheel
Is giving an answer:
It’s over! It’s over!
But I still can’t believe
That my pain can’t be eased,
That I will fight the cold
Without your smile to hold;

You were calling me Dear
When they called your name near,
You should pay for others,
For some of your brothers,
You my one, my Springtime,
My Moon and my Sunshine,
I cannot help crying,
Without you I’m sinking;

The desperate mind. Source: Internet images

The desperate mind. Source: Internet images

How can I rise again,
Can they, lords of this rain,
Poor men amongst the poor,
Show the way to that door…
Your train is far away,
Too far from the next day,
Only another train
Can heal me from my pain.

RAY NDEBI

 

 

 

 

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

My name is Théodore René Ndebi, born in Cameroon. I graduated in Banking Management. But what really makes me proud and happy is WRITING !!!!! I started writing around 1990. I write the most I can.

I mostly write for children’s future. As a child, I had always dreamt of a world where poor children and orphans could be happy as well. I have many unpublished collections in French: Chaque Jour Un Poème, Rêve D’un Soir, La Missive Du Petit Prince, Suis-Je Assez Bien Pour Toi… I’m also author of unpublished novels in French (Cierge Noir, Plus Violent Que L’amour, Les Fruits De La Tempête…). My first published novel; THE LAST GHOST/Son Of Struggle got published in 2013 by AuthorhouseUK; it appears in the LOS Angeles Times Festival Of Books Catalogue 2014 Page 8. Available online @ Amazon, Kindle, AuthorhouseUK, Barnes & Noble, Indie. I wrote numerous award winning texts. I am a Book Reviewer and Translator. I am a member of OneAfricanChild since 2013 and Co-Founder of Le Salon Du Livre Yaounde-Cameroon.

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