Snowman
By Akubudike Deborah i walk backwards on the snow: on you; take a handful of you: your reflection on my caramel skin; mold it into me, into my memories. i let that white skin, like white roses, pierce…
poetry column
NIGERIAN NEWSDIRECT POETRY PRIZE 2020: LONGLIST
The process has been long and tedious, though fruitful. Thankful to the judges for their diligence & brilliance sorting through the hundreds of entries (total: 1132 submissions). We present to you, in no particular order, the longlist for Nigerian NewsDirect…
refrain:
By Ruona to be at the pinnacle’s peak –no more bars to cross not one prayer to say even here is the world swirling chaotic around me and i am breathing the confusion settled around my neck to…
And in all these ways a woman is God
By Roseline Mgbodichinma I. In the chapel, the bell rings & the pendulum swings all into solemnity – the same way a mother’s breast becomes hose and stills the clamour of a child, The only salvation I know is an…
wake up, Rihanetu
By Haneefah Bello healing begins whenever you are ready – Ashley Davis honey, turmeric, chlorine & cloves. closed eyes, deep breaths, the cracking, then the counting: how many parts were you cleaved into? green bells ringing, limp shells bringing…
Dilution is the cure for pain, so I paint a landscape of tears
By Anointing Obuh This is how I remember my home downtown: Flowers fisting together like a child[‘s] hand, sprayed along the meagre journey From the patio to my room. The rain outside similar, to my mother’s tired eyes in this…
Sprout
By Ejiro Elizabeth Edward I am earning loss as an inheritance Despair is a betrothal of life & death & my best friend is growing towards her extinction The doctor announces a new cell sprouting, coiling itself into her bone…
CONTEMPORARY NIGERIAN POETRY: 30 NIGERIAN WOMEN POETS YOU SHOULD BE READING THIS MARCH
By Pamilerin Jacob Mid-February, I encountered a scholarly work that documents 50 women poets from 1985-2006. I mentioned this in my editorial note of the inaugural issue of EREMITE POETRY. I’d said: “…while working on an article for Poetry Column-NND,…
Jakky Bankong-Obi: Guest Editor for Women’s History Month
This March, in commemoration of Women’s History Month, we will be publishing only women. And we are happy to announce Jakky Bankong-Obi as the guest editor for the month! Jakky’s poem, Braven, has been previously published by Poetry Column-NND. She is…
Homecoming
For P By Ibe Obasiota Ben The love I’ve known is the love of / two people staring/ not at each other but in the same direction. — Frank Bidart I am a deserter. Somewhere, a man speaks to the…