Tag Archive for: West African Poetry

Tuesday Poem by Ibukun Adeeko

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Ordinary by Ibukun Adeeko

The whim of the wind in the wild
does not yield all it knows to a path.

The notes of songs linger on
the lips of floating leaves,

orchestra to the assonance of
the throttling wheel of the modern.

I am on the margin I think the light falls from
the sun. I see the woman picking

her nuts from the silent earth,
learning the time from the shadow.

Tuesday Poem by Oris

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There was another
Another 22
Unclothed in his bed

This one,
lithe, buxom,
Buxom was talking, asking

“Do you think,
Think you’ll cheat?
I know I will.”

The man drifted,
Drifted, recalling the European,
Twenty-two as well

Black pubic strands
A vision,
A vision vivid against pink crotch

What was matrimony,
Fidelity when these sights
These sights were here?

22 and lithe
Was still,
Still for his response

The man stayed
Stayed a digit on her lips,
Another strayed
Strayed lower,
Hovered, entered

With her help,
Her damp help,
He began…
He began digging for answers
To a question,
To a question not asked.

______

Oris Aigbokhaevbolo, writer and critic, tweets @catchoris. He lives in Lagos.