She kept laughing at his interruptive quips. They weren’t all especially funny and the other members of his Company of Friends thought they were annoying but she laughed it anyway. Maybe it was because she felt at ease with him and not as uptight as Amanda had described her last week when she introduced her … Continue reading Company of friends
YONDER I sometimes wonder The way we carry on Forgetting life yonder Where all we have will be gone I sometimes wonder If the rain would fall On one and not another If pain doesn’t greet all I sometimes wonder If not in vain saints live and die And not in vanity and squander Opposing … Continue reading Yonder
It wasn’t the way he carried himself that gave him his reputation. He did not appear, as people would say, as the ‘type’. He had this dull brightness that fluttered around him; he was sluggish and overly unimpressive. In fact all that was attractive about him was his face and his naturally muscular body. The … Continue reading You Reputation Precedes You
I woke up On this side of your love Where your shoulder slouches And your fidelity sleeps On lascivious laps Kissing plastic lips I felt your heart Beat to a drunken rhythm With feet like stuporous staggering stilts When you were high on booze Mind separate from body If not yours then whose? I woke … Continue reading The Other Side Of Your Love
If Crying Can Do Anything by Kay Ugwuzor If it helps to cry Then cry And like the heavens, pour rain From the clouds in your eye Soak your heart In baskets full With dauntless tears Turn your pillows To hard stones of sorrows Then pass the nights Without wink or sleep Turn out the … Continue reading If Crying Can Do Anything
In The Eyes Of A MadMan A mad man sees things that no one else sees and he laughs because the things he sees are beautiful. Nnadi, a young man newly entering his second decade in Umuturu village, placed a pad upon his shoulder and lifted the basket of cassava onto it. He whistled as … Continue reading In The Eyes Of A MadMan
This Love Is No More by Kay Ugwuzor So this love is No more the fantasies No more about us No more the item we were Whatever that was This love is No more passions to fill the night No more ‘baby, please hold me tight’ No more ecstasy rising from inside Capturing moments with … Continue reading This Love Is
Darkness was coming. Jimmy walked calmly; he just confirmed he was being tailed by a boy in a green shirt. He had seen the boy in the restaurant and he kept casting glances at Jimmy. The boy had followed him out of the restaurant, through the court yard and recreational center. Jimmy noticed him when … Continue reading Dead At Birth
There were the moments That weaved our hearts together In taut plaits Like tattoos etched on our light skinned hearts We were one word Inseparable Time strut away Like she had forgotten us Straddled in its undulating fold What could put us apart? Shall death when he came knocking? No, for we were body and … Continue reading Inseparable
Love is not for me, tufia kwa. I’m not going to fall in love. Not like Uncle Sam and that girl he always called ‘Obim’. Every time she came around she would wrap herself in him and they would whisper whatever into each other’s faces with their legs interlocked and their hands hung over their … Continue reading A Shade Of Black (That’s The Way It Is)
The unsuspecting driver let him overtake at the turn and just as is expected of a sane driver to pick up speed after the bend, the driver stepped on the accelerator expecting the driver of the Camry to do the same. There was a crash. Nick was propelled forward; his head was cushioned by the … Continue reading Keep Your Mouth Shut (2/2)
Nick emerged from the media building, clutching his bag to his side and descending the stairs in quick careful steps. From the top of the stairs, Nick could see the heads of hundreds of students walking to and fro like ants on a table previously smeared with sugar, some walked casually and some hurried, carelessly … Continue reading Keep Your Mouth Shut (1/2)
By Kay Cee They set out at midnight An hour after 12pm Their lantern shone a dim bright They walked in silence, seven of them Bare footed, head bowed The owl has hooted to herald What was and is seen to be The passing procession of an astral family An earthen calabash, a black cock … Continue reading Night Watch
The rain had subsided to a light drizzle, the ground was wet and soggy, beads of mud jumped onto Mrs. Ejima’s legs from her rubber slippers. They hurried through streets and came to the spot where Angela was. The crowd had dispersed, some people still lingered; people like the man who drew her out of … Continue reading The Orphan’s Song – 2
Welcome to my birthday party Try to mingle with my friends Sorry, they are but owls and wolves And beasts of my sentimental forest Frightening as they are, they are still the closest Even more real than the realest Please have a slice of My cake baked in despair in the conclave of my mind … Continue reading My Birthday Party