It was like a Sun’s city or City of the Sun With her ubiquitious seductive rays of gold Hovering everywhere as I drove on a fast lane Too far and near, and near and far she roved up and down; and down and up, she shone! The graceful African Sunset was everywhere The closer it … Continue reading Driving Sun
You began a sound poem -with purity, nothing had grown And ended it so -impurity is free like your soul Between these lines you made bare How cruel and worthless purity can be And attributed worthiness to impurity Your standpoint is unshakably clear And as a poet, I can swear It is one of the … Continue reading A Word withTaban Lo Liyong
“Are you serious? Do you have any idea the likely consequences of what you’re about to do?” Sheila asks carefully and I nod. Sheila has been my best friend for five years. We met in our first year at the University and we’ve been very close since then. I had slept over at her place … Continue reading I Go Go - Payback Time 2
The skies rumbled with thunder. The clouds hung heavy. Rahila was in the small shed outside her husband’s L structure house. It was three rooms arranged in L structure and perched on rocks in front of the flowing river Zaure, a tributary of river Kaduna. She was cooking tuwo. The black pot hissed and overflowed. … Continue reading The Angry Sky
November 13th 2012. 11:49am. It was one of those days. When I awoke in the morning, I wasn’t feeling refreshed. In fact, I felt like I hadn’t slept a wink all night even though I had blacked out the moment my body hit the bed. My routine at work had been so crazy for the … Continue reading Mickey Jay: Memoirs Of A Lagos Playboy (XVIII)
At the sound of rumbling, I hastened my steps along the track road leading to my house. I looked upwards, the sky was dark and ominous. The storm was pulsating, about to break loose; the way my anger was threatening to burst to the surface. I looked searchingly around, there was no shelter in sight. … Continue reading In the Storm
Have you ever seen a man so vilified? He would stand against bricks and dollop From the print and the whatsApps of this world And plod on gamely He maybe clueless About your innuendoes And potshots He maybe insipid And his voice drips Without character or form His visage A clamorous blend of dazed and … Continue reading The Most Vilified
Payment for no goods I gave a twenty naira note to the officer and he squeezed it into his pocket, Again he has returned his hand to the previous position. Stretched out, ready to take more of the notes from other commuters He peers into every vehicle looking for an excuse to extort money from … Continue reading The Officer in Black
Sing to the bird Songs of mercy For grains craved. Whisper to the cloud For waters, You will be denied. The gods lied when They sought our help To defeat the titans. Pick up the broken blade, Cut through the throat of the bird. Raise your houses from the dead, Ride like kings. Today, We … Continue reading Today
The break of dawn welcomed us with open arms We were awake; ready to live life Unsure of what gifts it will bring to us; But we still opened our arms; embraced life joyfully Today; still alive in our hearts In our minds, pictures of uncertainties reeled before our eyes Our visual senses … Continue reading TOMORROW, STILL ALIVE (Tribute to Chinua Achebe/Kofi Awoonor)
I held on to TJ. “TJ please help me! He has a gun! Take me away from here!” “What is it, Mabel?” he asked with a puzzled frown on his face. “Her brother was killed and she is having a hard time accepting it. She doesn’t want me to take her home to her parents … Continue reading A Shadow from the Past 12
“Final Bus-stop everybody” The untypical promptness that greeted the pace at which passengers dropped off the bus at the sound of the conductor’s announcement could only mean a thing, it was the last bus stop indeed, and what choice do I have? It wasn’t my first time in Lagos, neither was it my first time … Continue reading A Lagos Experience
I’d been awake since about 8a.m but had decided to lounge on my bed for a while, to plan my day in my head. I don’t usually wake up late; the reason for my waking up late today was because I’d spent the previous night on Naijastories, reading Betrayals and Funerals by Mimi and … Continue reading No Place Like Home
* * * * * The Murtala Mohammed International airport, Ikeja had not changed in Ukah’s eyes when he emerged from the airliner en route from Ottawa, Canada. He had been a former undergraduate at Schulich School of Business, York University. Before his present predicament, he had been in a pay-roll of a Columbian multi-millionaire … Continue reading And Ndu set forth… - 13
GROANING FOR RELEASE I believe in God The only supreme being Sole founder and creator of the world But as for man He is in my worries the least And in my eyes only a mere beast With burdens Like seeking with excessive efforts And various fruitless methods To understand God through the dark eyes … Continue reading Groaning for release