These three poems by Eriata Oribhabor were especially chosen for The Bala Selection.
The Bala Selection is a bi-weekly poetry feature curated by Ismail Bala for Konya Shamsrumi, showcasing distinctive new voices and resonant works from across Africa and beyond. Through his discerning eye, each selection highlights the craft, music, and emotional clarity that define contemporary poetry in its most luminous form.
Ismail Bala is a poet, translator, and critic whose work bridges classical poetics and modern sensibility, and whose mentorship has shaped a generation of emerging African poets.
Gate 15
Each time I come close
To sending you a throw
Poem, I find me falling
For your page, whose calling
Holds a chest of creative treats
Needed to be explored for genuine lifts.
Each time you open up to me,
I turn back the hands of me
Overcoming common vicissitudes
For paths of positive attitudes.
Your words of kind regards
Are fruits in my poetic vineyard.
Each time I look into your eyes,
I reminisce on love at first sight
And why talks aren't actions.
Like tides rolling in open seas,
Hearts do melt in eyes they see.
As yours shined deep into mine,
Lines of your shoulders opened
As first stanza to this poem;
A craving that should
Sail one through meadows
Of a departing night.
Not wondering a pause
Is my standing-resolve
To holding you high in my world
Miles and miles away from yours.
Knowing how a daily miss of you
Would play rings in my head.
I started Missing You.
Unforgotten
A dream visited me today
Reminding reality's day
Of lullabies brought my way,
I am filled by poetic lines;
Of then, now, and the times
Reading over classic wines.
A photo of me looms large
Like a thousand Timelines
Peeled from leaves on a badge
Sinking in waters of our times.
Once flown the seas, our flag
Now drags…we lost our name.
Best things don't forever go
Pretoria will always be that go
But Tshwane sounds like it
I know I will definitely get fit
Running through what works
As smiles of a long-awaited luck.
Timelines could speak so loud
But may hide away how proud
Our senses dance to success drums
Like ferrying depravity from the slums,
Of death, offering life to survivors
Of rancid political sores.
Fasting Breaks…
Pre-dawn of our last fast,
That perfect blast of oatmeal
And scrambled eggs, fast-ly made
To beat the rising rays of sunlight.
The vow to write lines of buttered
Awakening...hopeful of sunset,
Of family and friends at tables
Clustered by assorted deliveries.
Fagged and famished, we noosed
For light-weighted items like Dates,
Like sliced Watermelon and Fruity
Names of nature's love.
The company of beautiful books,
The magic of writing human frailties,
Poetry of fasting on non-spicy foods
And the culture of building healthily.
About Eriata Oribhabor
Mr. Eriata Oribhabor is a Nigerian poet, editor, publisher, and literary promoter widely known for his contributions to the growth of contemporary Nigerian poetry. A prolific writer, he has authored several poetry collections, including “Crossroads & The Rubicon” and “Colours and Borders“. Beyond his creative works, he has played a major role in nurturing emerging poets through the literary organisation Poets in Nigeria (PIN), which he co-founded with Kolade Olanrewaju Freedom. Through PIN, Oribhabor has organised poetry competitions, workshops, and mentoring initiatives that support young writers, making him one of the most influential advocates for the development of poetry in Nigeria.
