Grandmother! Our sage of our grandmother gathered us Beneath the big oak tree On a very beautiful night She began to sing: Born to gain or Born to suffer She began to utter to us coherently: Great men are sons of men Whose hearts are walls Weak men are sons of women Whose hearts are…
Let Me Enjoy Me
I Am Human Female Coloured Black Breathing bits of my sensibilities Let. Me. Be. Let Me feel Me and breathe Me And sip my beautiful self Taste my mind intoxicated by My thoughts Let Me enjoy Me And know how beautiful I can be The brown of my skin…a rainbow of brown Red yellow black…
I Don’t Ever Want To Get Married
– I don’t ever wanna get married. Waking up every morning and seeing mama’s face being painted with high resonant slaps from dad’s palms hurt my soul. He’d wrap his hands around her neck in pursuit to take her life ; heaven knows he beat the hell out of her. – My dad doesn’t eat…
Child Not Bride
Under the silvery stare of the moon The children sat to listen to soul refreshing tales Beneath the starry blue skies, we laughed and galloped our ignorance of the world away It was in the nakedness of the breeze that I learned to smile my soul away And I enjoyed it A perfect peace But…
The Plead for Change
Change! Change!! Change!!! There was no response, Yet pleading for change not to change Growing up, I thought my generation and That of my children are going to be the best But now, I strummer and stagger Yes we all want change We don’t know weather The change will be positive or negative The change…
Lip Prayer
Your lips are mine and mine are yours. May my lips forever glorify and honour you. May my lips be truthful to you. May my lips calm your blazing brow and bring healing to your aching muscles. May my lips mop up your tears. May my lips dry the sweat of your toil, from your…
Wana Udobang, “Wana Wana”
Wana Udobang, also known as Wana Wana, is a Nigeria-based poet, journalist, documentary filmmaker, radio presenter and tv personality, whose production is at the intersection of women’s rights, social justice, healthcare, climate change, culture and the arts. Born in Lagos, she then graduated in the UK with a first-class Degree in Journalism. The experience in…
L.I.F.E.
Life’s like living just at the edge of a knife Incredible, yet most times one’s choice is not counted Fear, one’s likely to succumb to; courage’s rarely remembered Evidently, life’s not how long you live, but how well you thrive Life sometimes wants to be a dictator It can twirl and whirl without one on…
Mother’s Touch
In the village compound which was cleanly swept and tidy, a compound not easily accessible by road, a group of old women sat huddled together. Sticks and pipes jutted out of their mouths which occasionally moved in unison. A sigh here and a look to the sky there. Some sat with their chins in their…