As the year continues to run, the call continues with this month’s theme being “Retrogression”.
Growing up I always had this feeling of estrangement from everyone, this deep sense of loneliness and alienation.
Although this poem speaks to the loss of my mother, while also paying homage to the very essence of womanhood, my mother is still very much alive and well. In an interview with Chimee Adioha of Black Boy Review, Ukata Edwardson once said: "The truth is, in all reality, every piece of art and literature performs a little lie."
Ikike Arts is committed to enriching the literary landscape with a diverse range of offerings, including the Oriọna Literary Magazine, the Direwords Annual Writers' Workshop, Poemify Podcasts, The Fellowship, and awesome literary prizes," said Tochukwu Precious Eze, formerly of Direwords and now Co-founder/Chief Editor of Ikike Arts.
When I was young, despite not knowing what poetry was, the lines stayed with me from the very first time I listened to the audio on my sister's phone.
On this week's episode of Young African Poets, we step into a particular childhood memory of the Intellectual poet, Micheal Imossan and a poem he titled "What Guilt Did To Me".
...I can't detach the nexus of unmet desires so I attach it with glue, set it to dry under the sun to loose myself off the claws of nostalgia, to alight at the range of where I mount the transport.
Meanwhile, the infectious energy of Yoruba movies drifted in from the living room. My dad, a fervent fan, would often have them playing in the background. The booming pronouncements, and the lyrical exchanges, often delivered in poetic verse, were a constant companion to my afternoons spent with African poetry. It dawned on me – both the poems and the movies revelled in the power of words. They held the magic to weave stories, paint pictures, and stir emotions, all with the simple tools of language.
in this narration of Ayobami's childhood, Ayobami takes us through the world of politics in a certain Western Nigerian state and why mathematics is not his best friend.
