Café 24 || Winner: The Distance, By Nket Godwin

Cafe 24 is a bi-weekly competition aimed at budding poets in Nigeria run under the umbrella of Konya Shamsrumi, an African poetry publishing company based in Nigeria with a stipend attached to the winning poem alongside publication on their website.

Cafe 24 is run by Community Manager, Omokafe H. Dennis.

Theme: Heartbreak (February, 2024)

The Distance
By 
Nket Godwin

This distance, sprung between us, limps the limb of day:
hectares of longing flung over devotion,
dew-dampened logwood of arms decaying from foliage of embrace;
conspiracy of roads—weariness heavy on heart’s footpath;
weeds of apprehension hedging passion’s bush path.


This distance stretches beyond murmurs of mud houses,
sighs of sun-tanned thatch houses in the throat of evening breeze.
It burrows, deeper, potholed strivings of tarred roads,
over hilly forests of desires stretching dream-boughs,
eager to catch early morning sun that’s always running away.
This distance…acres of farmland sprawled over yellow hue of grasses,
& light-foot consolation of birds whose wings can’t cross three trees;
tired footsteps of phone calls drowning in the wind before reaching us.


This distance we longed to gauge with stride of promises
only leaves us, fretful limbs, on the eternal road of memories,
memories already tired on the road of hope, & wishes.

Nket Godwin is a poet, literary critic and book reviewer. His works, mostly poems, spanning different forms including haiku and senryu, have appeared or forthcoming in both local and international magazines, anthologies. His works have appeared in Afrocritik, Africanwriter, Lionandlilac, Afreecan Read, Conscio magazine, Libretto, Eboquill, Best Poet of 2022 Anthology published by Inner Child Press, USA, HaikuNetra Magazine, and elsewhere. He can be reached via:

Twitter: @Nketgodwin

Facebook: Nket Godwin

IG: @Nketgodwin

Author
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Hannah Omokafe Dennis

Hannah Omokafe Dennis Is A 24-year-old Journalist, Voice-Over artist and UNFPA Adolescent Sexual Reproductive Health Rights Advocate Living In Nigeria. She Currently Serves As A Community Manager In Konya Shamsrumi AndHas Some Of Her Written Works Published On Writer's Space Africa and audio stories on Genti media. She Enjoys Using Words And Her Voice To Tell Stories. She Tweets @Omokafe_forite.

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