The End —Salim Yakubu Akko

The End —Salim Yakubu Akko

tears from a gloomy

stream came & took

away my little being

as i laid down counting

the unhatched days

i planned to weeve

into a book of life;

of glistening memories.

& a razor blade

was given to me

to shave the growing forest

on my head;

of gnawing histories

interwoven betwixt

the muscles and my arteries.

the time came & i could hear

and feel how the gently swaying

like the flavored lines

of an old haiku,

leaves of the mango tree

that grandpa used to say

were the every single

breath of my life dried

& fell, announcing the acme

of the life i murdered nakedly

with the cutlasses of my hands.

Bio:

Salim Yakubu Akko is a Nigerian writer and poet. He has his works published/forthcoming in Applied Worldwide, World Voices Magazine, Trouvaille Review, Ice Lolly Review, ILA Magazine, Scratch Poetry Magazine, Upwrite Magazine, My Woven Poetry and elsewhere. He has also been shortlisted for the 2021 Bill Ward Prize for Emerging Writers.

Comments

Submit To Us

A Repository For Literary Works Teen Lit Journal is an online journal that publishes poetry, fiction, book reviews and photography. Here are a few things to keep in mind: We accept poetry, fiction, photography, essays, and book reviews. We do not accept submissions that have been published elsewhere. Simultaneous submissions are fine. All we ask is that you notify us when your work is accepted elsewhere. Include a short bio and photograph of yourself. Feel free to make the photograph as informal or as formal as you please. We reject submissions we deem to be misogynist or homophobic, or supremacist on the basis of race, ethnicity or religion. You retain the copyright to your work. However, we do require that you credit Teen Lit Journal as the original publisher of the work. Submission format: Entries should be sent as .doc or .docx files. Entries must be sent single-spaced in 12 point, Times New Roman font. Files should be saved with the title of the work(s) Kindly submit fo...

SWALLOWTAIL AT THE NIGHT GARDEN —Abdulrazak Salihu

SWALLOWTAIL AT THE NIGHT GARDEN By Abdulrazak Salihu I believe I carried the Snapdragon out of the woods And named it a wild flower. There’s a drip in the wind Into your eyes For girls your age I poured a rock into being And it clouded my head. There are crystals in sand And flower-perfume By your chin, And freckles of dust Like saltwater could swallow worms. In my last rite I’m still barricading my eyes Even as light falls as petals Of warmth from a blue moon. Abdulrazaq Salihu is a 17 year old Nigerian poet and writer.He is a member of the hilltop creative arts foundation and was the winner of the December edition of the splendors of Dawn poetry foundation poetry and short story contest . He is part of the panel for the Nigeria Review(TNR) .He was shortlisted for both categories of the Nigerian prize for teen authors (poetry and prose)where his poetry manuscript Constellations won the poetry category and his collection of short stories Hiccups was the first runner up...

Radiant Colors —Sunday T. Saheed

Radiant Colors By Sunday T. Saheed today, I saw two boys fight. & as if words were gold, they cursed their parents & cruci- fied them with hot tongues. The sun doesn’t shine here, I think. & perhaps, who would know the essence of a mother like a boy drenched by petals of rain waiting for God to lazarus his mother, so she could shift the tomb she sleeps in & announce her awakening. herein, everything I touch turns to red. someone said it’s a sign that a withered flower doesn’t shake its old age away. —not the magnolia, not the quince. some days back, I thought solitary wasn’t a word in the lexicon —until my shadow I thought was with me disappears into the aperture of my fears. Telephone rings , the call disconnects —ding! the roof of this house cracks on me, & the murals on the wall fades off its texture. so...

Teen Lit Journal

Search This Blog