poetry column

Transcendental

By Chinemerem Prince Nwankwo Thou shalt come to thy grave in a full age, / like as a shock of corn cometh in in his season. –  Jb5.26 & bones once chiseled in youth, leaned toward a lingo. —how evening…

Red Spear in my Dream

By Goodnews Karibo again I come to the place where I am inept at upending my fears. to sort each quaking bone for its smouldering nerves. before I take my body out into the open fields. before I listen closely…

Impermanence

By Osahon Oka Your hands shake the tray, the cup scatters its hypodermic needles of piercing light, liquid trembling around its rim & then, spill comes gently & sudden to its own impermanence: a puddle slowly closing its eyes. You…

Legitimate

with a line from Gbenga Adesina By Taofeek “Aswagaawy” Ayeyemi Memory is the darkness in which we find our gone souls; history and heritage reminisced as culture, as headstones to crush our flowers. Father was a griot and death filled…

WINNERS: FOLORUNSHO EDITOR’S POETRY PRIZE 2023

Named after the late Publisher of Nigerian NewsDirect, Dr Samuel Folorunsho Ibiyemi, the Folorunsho Editor’s Poetry Prize follows in the tradition of upholding and supporting poetry in Nigeria through its Poetry Column. Only poets published in the Poetry Column in the year under consideration are…

the making of a persona poem

By Chiagoziem Jideofor I miss home. I am old enough to have unleashed all sternness, wear out my leather skin. I am made of this dirt, mold a mother rejects. I’ve got guns, corked guns I am unwilling to show.…

Here’s Glory

By Tares Oburumu After Nabagasera If I have sinned against my own body, then let grace shine on your self-preservation. Here’s the diurnal history of leaving, of the glory of airplanes jangling in the sky. Here’s the city, cobalt blue;…

FOLORUNSHO EDITOR’S POETRY PRIZE

Named after the late Publisher of Nigerian NewsDirect, Dr Samuel Folorunsho Ibiyemi, the Folorunsho Editor’s Poetry Prize follows in the tradition of upholding and supporting poetry in Nigeria through its Poetry Column. ELIGIBILITY Only poets published in the Poetry Column…