Art —Adriana Rocha

Arrow Of Poached Porcupine—Abubakar Auwal

Arrow Of Poached Porcupine—Abubakar Auwal Smiles before the stream of earth— blood coloring the grasses. Sounds of ceremonial drums; Race of stray bullets. A child is dazzled and his mother has learnt to fly; Men over here wear spears between their teeth. Take a look into the eyes of the town. There are clouds wearing the face of gods, Holding swords and false promises. "Oh,where else does a boy learn to scream?" The cries of a missing mother Who lost her seed In a barren farm, speak! Since yesteryears till date- the red blood flows beyond the eyes Cracking with tears Till it becomes dregs. In restlessness we swim, Out of the home for dome, To escape from The direction of stray bullets. No skin is left unscarred , Fathers and potential mothers, brothers and sisters Worship in the death field. They prick our daughters Into early mothers They "inactive" our brothers and sisters; And we found them asleep in the d...

brother's head/father's sacrifice— Chukwuma Eke Pacella Chioma

brother's head/father's sacrifice — Chukwuma Eke Pacella now home has become a city of lost bones and falling waters. i wonder what god thought when (s)he placed souls on the metals of hunger; i mean spinning out the humanity in them listen, i know brother's body is hidden somewhere in father's heart perhaps father had traded his blood for noodles when his cv turned into rotten papers perhaps he had been loyal to the call of his stomach, became an abraham and led brother into the woods of sacrifice; isaac died after all. now mother still looks at my neighbor as though he has the smell of demonic altars she says her son lays in a corner of that boy eyes but i suppose she is too much of a weakling to search father's own eyes and heart. now pastor jay performs exorcism on my innocent tongue because i told mother; that night brother slept outside forever, i ...

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...

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