Submitted poem Son Poem by Kwame N. Dawes · 2026 SON (For Kwame) “And she sang mournfullyher voice shaking deeply,regret mixing remorse,sorrow with recollection.She trembled,the whole room trembled,the door criedthe chairs bent slowlylooking for himhoping for himnot seeing him.Then we all went asidesplintered points to a circlelinked by a single cord:sorrow, like the gray cloudsand […]
Submitted poem To Whom It May Concern Poem by Uncredited · 2026 TO WHOM IT MAY CONCERN “The back is bared!”“Aha!” Then shoot!”“Beat!”“Mock!”“Jeer!”“Destroy and pull the hair!” You wrote the stage directionsin a plot of script;collected royalties;danced its liesacross a dim-litcryptedcyclorama Hungry claws applaudedlaudedcalled for moreencores;manacled leeredyou bowed Did you not read the Scroll?The writing […]
BIRD-WATCHING (For Chochоo) doveswallowweavereaglefalconFivegliding gently in the calm;flapping bravely in the storm;a lark appearsupon the wind.Acceptance.Sixdipping lowsoaring high;fraternity in flight. Gwyneth H. C. Dawes EDITOR’S NOTE First published in Nigeria Magazine on 1 January 1987. This archival presentation preserves the poem and its original attribution for contemporary readers.
The archive Invitation Poem by Gwyneth H. C. Dawes · 1987 INVENTION come into my parlour,said the spiderto the fly;never mind the cobwebs,just come in and don’tbe shy;find a wealth of gourmetto suit your palate’schoice;let not my smile deter youor the silence of the noiseface it —this is heaven,leave the air’s thick fog,and rest; enter […]
As a little boy, I was punished endlessly because of my handwriting. I exhausted notebook after notebook, trying to make my letters obey the grids on the page. I could begin neatly, but before long the writing would collapse into hurried marks that looked, to the uninitiated, like another script entirely. What stayed with me […]
POETS’ NEST As we celebrate Our readers rejoice with uson our second anniversary.They express their good-will messages in machine languageto the citizen of poems and words,not forgetting the man of wordseven if the words are edited by awoman. Machine talk Do you remember meI am big, tall and newYou should know me. I can print […]
FAREWELL TO MY KINGDOMorA KING’S LAMENTATION Of once renowned ruling ancestors bornSo early forested great race of Glory to runLate to me revealed by that aging sageSoon born, soon by uncles engageBut enviable crown of Kingship was in latter years to wear Still toilsome now in this crowning yearSo from hand to hand this Kingship […]
Philosophical Poetry I TIV Ason ShandeIor mba ve whum mbelaVe hemba ga, ka Aonda ahembeKwaghi adi wihin we zeoIta wan kpev ju yoMba Mongo hembeMan tume nom yongu nguharKpev ase aseo Tor Labe Gyuse tar u hegenWangbian kanan lu sha pywigwau va ieren.M va me dzor ieren. ENGLISH Ason Shandethose who locked me are notabove […]
Atun Ra Wa Bi: Rebirthing Ourselves By Vic’Adex · March 2026 Exhibition appraisal. Originally included in the “Appraisal Highlights” section of the Atun Ra Wa Bi catalogue, page 9, credited to Adetimilehin Inioluwa Victor. The work also sits inside a specific civic moment. It was created around the presentation of a sculptural portrait to the […]