“…I Was A Reserved Child While Growing Up…”: Stories From Young African Poets.

I seldom talk about my childhood because I didn’t have a memorable one. I was a reserved child when growing up; always trying to stay out of trouble, always trying not to incur the wrath of my mother. So, to say that my childhood experiences play a role in my poetry journey will only be a make-up lie.

Although I had an experience between 1999 and 2000 in Kaduna. But the truth is, until now, I haven’t given it much thought or tried to write a poem about it.

It was on a sunny day when our neighbour invited my sister (now late) and me to embark on a ridiculous adventure that almost cost us our lives. We sneaked out of the house, boarded a canoe, and went in search of mangoes. Lmao. We almost met our end when we were attacked by some farm boys. They could’ve raped our neighbour, and only God knows what they would have done to us hadn’t for the intervention of other farmers who heard our screams.

That is one childhood event that has stayed with me. So, for my poetry, I would say it is greatly influenced by my later experiences. For instance, the poems in my micro chapbook, Litany of Longing. They are a compilation of my experiences during the trying times of my parents’ health challenges that led to their deaths, as well as the Nigeria wey happened to me.

The poem

have you sailed happily, five years now?

you were an unfinished eucharist

when the scythe was raised over your holiness

five years now and sadness has not stopped

injecting me with benedictions—my prayers

unfinished sentences trying to locate you,

& poorly written poems with heavy metaphors.

now, our hail Marys trigger déjà vu to whisper your name,

& photographs only smile without moving lips. 

only time measures how long it shall take

before I find the path you took five years past:

grief causes me to invent happinesss.

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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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