Stories From Young African Poets: On Growth And Wana Umoh.

…But yet we are skilled in the act of distraction from sorrow

If I don’t laugh, I will cry

So instead I will laugh at the foolish housemates on big brother

Rather than erecting a mirror in front of me that will make me laugh at my gullibility …

I haven’t grown up, I’ve only evolved and my poetry has done the same. I pick random things that people don’t usually talk about and gift them a spotlight in my pieces. I performed my first poem during a camp where I didn’t have my phone for a week. I was fully locked in and I wrote something special.

I’ve carried that mindset in every piece I write, I never use my phone to write. Instead I lock myself away with my laptop that only has Microsoft word paired with a thought-racing mind. Most times before I write a good poem I’m very hungry, I probably wouldn’t have eaten the whole day. Me being uncomfortable pushes my brain to lock in, not get distracted and finish the work so I can be comfortable again.

I don’t have a role model in the industry because this style is not duplicated . I’ll be the pioneer. Many people will call it comedy, or limerick, or just a bunch of puns. But it’s poetry and you will force your brain to make sense of it when it has made sense to everyone else.

NIGERIA SPITS IN MY MOUTH AND I SWALLOW

This piece is called Nigeria spits in my mouth and I swallow. Over time I’ve seen the economy of Nigeria plummet and people quickly adapt, it has been a constant downward slope. This poem elaborates on how the country constantly spits in our direction , but instead of dodging and igniting a revolution, we open our mouth and swallow the saliva.

Like a first born son that has gone astray, Nigeria sprinkles white powder of corruption into its nose and has gotten high on the notions of tribalism 

The country stands tall but never sober, prices constantly high without drugs 

And the youths moral low without an anchor.



But yet we are skilled in the act of distraction from sorrow

If I don't laugh, I will cry

So instead I will laugh at the foolish housemates on big brother

Rather than erecting a mirror in front of me that will make me laugh at my gullibility 

gullible for accepting abnormalities we have been given a hickey and a whisper in our ear to swear is normal.



I love my government like love is a cricket bat with nails and thorns that I use to design my skin

But who said I don't like pain or bdsm

That's my kink.



Paint this picture in your head

You are driving  and someone reverses into your car and hits you 

Normal pattern

You come down shout small and insult their mother.



The arrogant bagger responds with 'do you know who I am"

Yes! I know you

You are my brother in suffering

We are united by the stronghold of backwardness our nation brews

But even a truck jerks backwards in order to move forward

We will jerk off not wank

Jerk and move forward as a country 

as Africans 

maybe not today

And definitely not tomorrow because weekend  is for resting

But one day.

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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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