The Carpenter’s Unseen Hand:A Poem on the Synergy of Dìgbòlugi and Agbégilódò by Bolutife Oluwadele
I. The Standing Tree In the beginning, the tree stood. Roots drinking deep of ancestral earth, branches held high as offerings to the sun, its leaves a language whispering to the wind. It stood, and standing, was enough. It did not know it…
Fortune Omosola’s ‘Poetry Is Therapeutic’ Recasts Verse as a Tool for Survival
Nigerian poet and journalist Fortune Omosola says poetry is a lifeline that people can use to find their way in a digital yet inundated world. In his newly released book, Poetry Is Therapeutic, Omosola argues that verse is more than artful language. To…
The Alchemy of Emptiness – A Poem by Bolutife Oluwadele
The Alchemy of Emptiness The empty drum travels farthest. The cave with nothing inside answers every call like thunder. The politician’s chest swells precisely because there is nothing else. The activist’s tongue learned…
Before the Robot Came – A Poem by F.Omosola
Before the Robot Came With aluminum lanterns, we braved the night, Studying, dozing, giggling, Before dawn flushed our rooms And left us begging for more minutes. We sat on stories in the backyard, Leapt on broomsticks, Satisfied with…
Deviated Deviant – A Poem by Bolutife Oluwadele
Deviated Deviant I carved my name in protest on the wall, With acid words and principle’s sharp knife. I stood a shadow, slender, straight, and tall, And swore a fiercer, more authentic life. My creed was painted in a brilliant hue The grey…
Politics of Cross Carpeting – By Bolutife Oluwadele
Politics of Cross Carpeting Beneath the vaulted chamber’s stone, A choice is made, a shift is known. The member rises, walks the aisle, A changed allegiance, gone the smile That once was shared with party peers Through common hopes and…
An Empress in Òfi – A Poem By Fortune Omosola
An Empress in Òfi Garbed in the flush of Yorùbá luxury, Meet Opeyemi, Draped in fabrics woven for queens and Ìyálódes, Her poise stitched in ancestral splendour. Her smile blooms across every thread, Lips brushed with soft crimson, Jewels…
Grizzling of Illusion Seekers – By Bolutife Oluwadele
Grizzling of Illusion Seekers They say the field beyond the fence is drenched in brighter dew, that every dream grows truer there, and every sky more blue. So they climb, and strain, and wander far with neither rest nor root, wearing hope thin as…
Which Men – A Poem by Bolutife Oluwadele
Which Men? Go on. Say it again. “Happy international Men’s Day” Let the words hang in the air, thick with the smoke from Eruku. Let them echo in the silent classrooms of Kebbi, where a principal’s chalk-dust courage was met not…
When the Seasons Speak Again – A Poem By Bolutife Oluwadele
It wasn’t the first snow, But the heavens opened today With a quieter kind of reverence A reminder that God still turns The pages of the year With the gentlest of hands. No thunder, no trumpet, Just flakes descending like soft scriptures,…