The archive Silent Passion Poem by O. Wonodi · 1970 SILENT PASSION O. WONODI The springs well out waterdrops;drops from the sky measure the hoursof your undue discretion, hourslost between contending thoughts.And I that brought amuletsstimulated for a dance of nervesstay your many moods and the silence of passionsunspent, slips through rubbing and caressingfar-flung desires back to lifelike bubbles […]
The archive New-Living Poem by Sam Onwuka · 1970 NEW-LIVING SAM ONWUKA Hopping on light feet over twigs over hoes, stretchingTo the wharf I will go from.AH! Hastening as if pursued, hunted by the wiles. The sound of laughterAcross the hilltopThe distant resonance of drumbeats ever receding I come in all furyFollowing the signaturePicking from […]
The archive Birds Poem by C. ’Tunde Ladipo · 1970 BIRDS C. ’TUNDE LADIPO On a stroll along the avenueThe time is exactly noonAnd above in the skyBirds of the same featherAll flock together When the day is fineI always watch the timeTo behold their sightWhich is just bright Birds of the skyOf no definite […]
The archive No Easy Roost Poem by Odia Ofeimun · 1970 NO EASY ROOST ODIA OFEIMUN Home, a flight of bouldersre-enacting the dire and fermentof rhythms from whichyou have always sought escape; —the sadness of slouching mothernakedin the rain of your muzzled wishes— home; Where, in the dark reachesof a past-drenched will,you find a motive for […]
The archive Africa Shall Sing Again Poem by Sam Onwuka · 1970 AFRICA SHALL SING AGAIN SAM ONWUKA GraduallyLike a slow kindling logA tree trunkRaising slowly, unwillinglyFireFor the harmattan. We had waited like the maimedWaited and had waited to the brinkTo the moment of despairAnd all seemed failingTo breakThe chill of harmattan. Editor’s note: First […]
The archive Sleep of Innocence Poem by Odia Ofeimun · 1970 SLEEP OF INNOCENCE ODIA OFEIMUN Another hawk tears through the wombof the night— gruesome go-crashof a million soulsin the speech of automation,the thrust of a monster-thoughtjolting your sleep; Comes oppressive silence,convulsing the selves in wild sensationsof prostrate-innocence, guilt. Mooning love, do not wakein this filthied […]
The archive Creative Process Poem by Samuel Asein · 1970 CREATIVE PROCESS SAMUEL ASEIN Scented ideas floatingin the mind’s suspensioncourt my soul like an evasive ladyon a first appointmentwith love. Mosaic of hued ideastender-lipped wordssink and float, weights and balancesof flagellating conceptslike sperms dazzling vanishing pointsof intermittent illuminationsof glow worms; faint suggestions and rejectionsthe ravished […]
The archive “Pool-Game Na Wa” Poem by ’Sanmi-Ebora Ogunjobi · 1970 “POOL-GAME NA WA” ’SANMI-EBORA OGUNJOBI (Written Pidgin English) Oh! which kan blow bin thisFour Pounds don go this week againE no include that oneWey I pay on banker “Arsenal Ah! Failing to draw”Tottenham “Sure banker”Liverpool “Oh E no draw”Wessex “Yes he enter”Two out of […]
The archive THIS VAST WILDERNESS OF LIFE Poem by Chris. Awonuga · 1970 THIS VAST WILDERNESS OF LIFE Man moves about in a worldThat is not his ownAnd revels in abysmal ignorance;He gropes his way about,Stumbling at various points;Still he tries to find his wayIn this vast wilderness of Life. He knows not what he […]
The archive Igbekoyi (Reoccurring Child) Poem by ’Sanmi-Ebora Ogunjobi · 1970 ’Sanmi-Ebora Ogunjobi Often have you comeDeceiving the WorldThat it will be to stayLike a good child under her mother’s careBut all in a suddenYou do disappearNow, Your yearly burialHas to endAnd you have to stayBecause “Igbekoyi” (even the bush refuses this) Editor’s note: Archived from […]