Sacrament of Soul, or, Baptism as a Foreword to Benediction
TAOFEEK AYEYEMI I lift my head, my body shapes into miracle; shakes the river back into itself; watches as my past ripples away into the river. I am cornered…
Death by Fire
BEATON GALAFA There should be a name for death by fire. those people that burn bound to large wooden stakes, run wild with tyres around necks, screaming, or inhale…
Fragment of Hidden Names
OJO OLUMIDE EMMANUEL everything you fathom, everything you imagine, are bones/stark dry/ people’s name are bones, too. someone called out, choked. names, here, are over-washed echoes white washed & hidden…
Sunday Morning & Candlelight
LUCIUS NDIMELE SUNDAY MORNING Cock crows escort a staggering thought to the church bell. I wake up searching for myself among scattered verses… on the way, a child picked and…
Refugees’ Testament & In my Family, Grief Keeps Biting our Eyes
JEREMY T. KARN REFUGEES’ TESTAMENT “…the Ghanaian National Police raided the camp and took away over 800 women and children to an unknown destination.’’ —Melissa Chea-Annan in Accra, baba said…
Daughter of Confidence
AYOOLUWA OLASUPO (IMISI) I should have been the child of an angel, But my mother had no money to buy wings. She was always in her apron, kneading dough on…
Before I Jump into Water
OLAJUWON ALHAYTHAM ADEDOKUN If you have ever watched your city burn, Your dreams will learn to count victims. one, you, two, home, three is your love for home.…
On the Third Cockcrow
ABDULAZEEZ SHOMADE a strange sound scoots into my roomshakes my dreamy bed. my eyes twinkles before going back to sleep.again, the sound strikes. this time i’m half-awake struggling to…
How My Mirror Makes My Morning Muse
ADESINA AJALA most mornings, i forget to look myself in the mirror—does a boy concern himself with his looks?—forget to let the mirror lure me back into myself. forget…