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

I’LL ALWAYS REMEMBER by Kariuki wa Nyamu

I’LL ALWAYS REMEMBER by Kariuki wa Nyamu

by | May 22, 2017 | POEMS

I’LL ALWAYS REMEMBER

by Kariuki wa Nyamu

—01
I’ll always remember
admiring your gorgeous eyes
embracing warmness of your character;
Enjoying we charm of our friendship
Me, cuddling you; you, tickling my fancy
Eating we lovely jokes for breakfast
as lie we on the couch
Me, soft-twisting your arm on lawn
You and I mental-screening our tomorrow
in a family, an envy of many
reiterating that I wouldn’t make vows I’d break
Yes, I’ll always remember
You in my world, me in yours

 

—02
I’ll always remember
the days I’d write myriad love epistles
to your cheerful heart
those that lived with me for years
My mouth unable to confess terms
unable to delete lovely pages from mind
unable to shed leaves of pleasure from heart
My soul never exhausted of carrying love’s load
Yes, I’ll always remember
storing tanks of relentless love, 
Keeping it intact in my mind, heart and soul
in honour of the most irresistibly gorgeous lady I’ve ever met
Yes, I’ll always remember
You in my world, me in yours
I’ll always remember
often reminding you how you opaque all 
Me, reassuring you that
no simile or metaphor befits your comparison
I’ll always remember
vowing that my heart will hold you dearest
till End of Time
hence I’ll love, and cherish you my morning star
since the walls of my heart
over and over again testify power of our solid love
as flames of love remain ever on
reminding us we’re meant be one love
forever and ever!

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Kariuki wa Nyamu is a passionate Kenyan poet, radio playwright, editor, translator, literary critic and educator. In 2012, he was awarded the degree of Bachelor of Arts (honours) with Education, English Language and Literature of Makerere University, Uganda. He has won creative writing competitions at school, university and national level. Apart from poetry and radio plays, he also writes film scripts, short stories, satirical essays and fiction for Children.

His poetry is published widely both in print and online, such as in A Thousand Voices Rising, Boda Boda Anthem and Other Poems, Best New African Poets 2015 Anthology, Jalada Africa, Praxis Magazine, The Wagon Magazine, Poetry Potion, Experimental Writing: Volume 1, Africa Vs Latin America Anthology, Best New African Poets 2016 Anthology, and also forthcoming in Multi-Verse: Kenyan Poetry in English Since 2003, among others. He is presently pursuing a Master’s in Literature at Kenyatta University, Kenya.  Poetry is certainly his territory.

I'LL ALWAYS REMEMBER

by Kariuki wa Nyamu

LOVE LESSONS by Kanyinsola Olorunnisola

LOVE LESSONS by Kanyinsola Olorunnisola

by | Jan 30, 2017 | POEMS

LOVE LESSONS

by Kanyinsola Olorunnisola

—01
She learnt about love
from the markings on her mother’s body
and wails of agony that escaped weary lips
on nights when her father returned with staggering legs
and fermented breath.

 

—02
She learnt about love
around tense family dinner tables
where the clanging of fork and plate
filled the void of riotous silence.
—03
She learnt about love
when her mother bundled up curses and regrets
in fancy boxes and left her heart
to the music of another man’s hands.

 

—04
Love for her
is a romance of warring hearts and broken souls
in havens of dispirited devotion,
finding comfort in the arms of strangers.
—05
Ask of her today,
you will see her walking the streets
with divorced thighs, virgin fingers
and a ballooned belly.

 

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Kanyinsola Olorunnisola is a poet, essayist and writer of fiction. He writes from Ibadan, Nigeria. His writings border on the themes of unease, racism, colonialism, terror and all things familiar to the black folk. He describes his art as that specialized literary alchemy which aims to extract beauty from the frail commonplaceness of words.

 

His experimental works have appeared or are forthcoming on such platforms as Brittle Paper, Kalahari Review, Bombay Review, Lunaris Review, African Writer, Sprinng.org, Authorpedia, Kreative Diadem, Parousia Magazine and Sampad International Journal. He was the 2016 recipient of the Albert Jungers Poetry

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