Rainstorm in Lafenwa
By Saheed Sunday there are different voices at the centre of what holds láfeńwá up. the first time we held our heads over the demarcation between this home and the rest of the city, we witnessed faith crawling into versions…
poetry column
Cenotaph
By Bayo Aderoju Something about wanting to be the head of a headless mob like the young activist who has never read Jeyifo, who said: Frantz Fanon is a wretched name. Some are preaching positive asphyxiation of some of the…
Of Lasting Dreams & Memories
By Prosper C. Ìféányí Listen. The flowers weren’t once devastating in their beauty. No logic came from burning rosebushes; & somewhere, in the field, the birds are eating a man’s shame. I am drinking black coffee & walking barefooted in…
Invisibility
By Zaynab Bobi Law of invisibility: arrange the atoms in a solid object randomly. Heat at high temperature and cool down immediately. There is a realm in my mouth In my mouth, there is a dream In the dream, men…
WINNERS & FINALISTS: NIGERIAN NEWSDIRECT CHAPBOOK AWARDS
The NIGERIAN NEWSDIRECT CHAPBOOK AWARDS is an initiative of Poetry Column-NND that seeks to promote the voices of Nigerian poets, as the column does weekly in our newspaper. We hope to prioritize consistency of the award, and in so doing,…
Believer’s Hymn
after Samuel Adeyemi’s Desist Hymn By David Solomon Mouthless god or godless mouth? my mouth opens in search of what has not deserted me: soft dust curls out like hang ropes. when i was a child, mother lapped an old…
In my previous poem I was a boy
By Alaro Basit & yet again, like a seamster, I want to weave my past into my present. O Lord, help release a butterfly from this network of webs; I want to savor every blossoming petal in this garden &…
CALL FOR MANUSCRIPTS: NIGERIAN NEWSDIRECT CHAPBOOK AWARDS 2022
The NIGERIAN NEWSDIRECT CHAPBOOK AWARDS is an initiative of Poetry Column-NND that seeks to promote the voices of Nigerian poets, as the column does weekly in our newspaper. We hope to prioritize consistency of the award, and in so doing,…
A Compendium of Excuses To Not Call In The Aftermath of Falling Out of Love
By Onyekachi Iloh Sorry, I was in the shower. Sorry, my phone died. Sorry, I was doing the laundry. Sorry, I was at the North Pole. Penguins were sliding on the ice all around us. Sorry, old grief was at…
Aubade for the sin(g/k)ing river
By Muiz Opeyemi Ajayi Cathedrals drown the light at the denouement of this song. Say: even this orchestra defies illumination. At the edge of the dim light echoing from our past, I rock gently in the worn brown hammock on…