Black Poet

What's not to love about you?
The only one that reminds me of my unsung past
The fresh scent of my footsteps now
the gentle nudge on my gait
As i face the future
Fearless like a tutsi warrior
Only you can bend my knees
In awe of a colorless being
My Lord, my King
Why shouldnt i write for Him?

Danfo

We had travelled through the dust
Zigzagged across the same road
Like a rattle snake
Weary from the poison of the sun
The sultry dance stops suddenly

Oya ebole ebole
The end had come before the end
Nna clutch no dey work
Oya give us our change o
Conductor…conductor….

My feet kiss the muddy earth
I cringe at the cold wetness
Mud mixed with cloud saliva
It’s all coming together

Another rattler for another destination
He kept insisting he wouldn’t take that seat
They were celestial in their white garments
He was different
He carried a bible
He didn’t wear their sultana

I didn’t see them coming
But they did anyway
Like uninvited guests
His index and middle finger
Pointed like a gun
Shielded secretly by the cloak of darkness
Searching for something?
Maybe he was

They came again
Those dreadful fingers
On my breasts
He was hoping to get lucky
Maybe grab a nipple and pinch away
My torch came on
It’s a crazy world I tell you
Crazy world

Would you please take your hands off…
Off where?
The pious voice against mine
Who would have believed?
It’s a crazy world
©Toyin Odewunmi , 2009

The middle of a heartbreak

He watched as she walked in slowly. For a second there was silence. It was rare to see an unaccompanied lady in a bar at night. But the silence didn’t last for long. The club buzzed on with its usual activity. It was a Friday night after all. The same reason he had come here. He hadn’t seen her in a while. Three months actually.

She looked beautiful in the dark room. Her gown barely covered her upper chest; she walked like a model in her six inch sandals. Red. The color of the night. He gulped his beer quickly. He shouldn’t be here. Knowing this was where they met, on a night like this. Seeing her after such a long time brought back the memories. He had come with his colleague, Lulu for a night of fun with the other boys.

They were introduced and became friends instantly. He loved the way she laughed and he marveled at the easy way she made him slip his wedding band into his jacket without being noticed. But they didn’t last. He didn’t want to cheat on Vivian. Even if he did a couple of times. He wanted to confess to her one night but he had used up all of his courage. He ended the affair.

He got up to leave. As he handed Peter the money, he heard her soft voice behind him.

"Hello Henry. Leaving so soon?"

The bar vibrated with Femi Kuti's song. He watched her slowly sip her vodka on ice. She hadn’t said much. Her dark skin looked so radiant. Like hot chocolate. He swallowed hard.

"So, Laide, what brings you here?" trying to start up a conversation.

She looked up for the first time. He noticed she was a bit nervous. She had been fiddling with her glass for sometime. He shifted in his seat.

“Henry, i thought you knew"

Her eyes glittered in the dim corner of the bar. Had she been crying? He couldn’t tell. Women wore too much make-up these days.

"Knew what" his voice shook and he hoped she didn’t notice.

"I’m carrying your child" He saw it then. Two lines across her cheeks. He watched as they descended. Slowly. He felt his heartbeat reduce. Something told him there was more but he didn’t care. He wanted her again.

"We can t-t-ake care of that" He heard a voice that didn’t belong to him but felt his lips move.

"I h-h-have ...."

"I’ve missed you too" he quickly finished for her.

There was a strange air between them. She suddenly hugged him tight and he found his hands stroking her hair.

Why am i here again?

She kissed him with a flush of emotions, her tear stained cheeks brushing against his face. He felt good. He did not think about Vivian and the kids. He thought of Laide. She belonged her with him. She was real.

"Let's go upstairs" He would pay for the upper room in the bar and they would have a great time. He wouldn’t see her again but he didn’t care.

"No Henry there's something I must tell you before we go up"

His desires were taking over. He thought she didn’t want an abortion so he said "Baby i don’t care what you have to say. I need you baaaaaad"

He didn’t know what came over him. He had her like a starved lion. He couldn’t stop. Later, they both lay on their backs. Staring at the ceiling. He held her and whispered in her ears.

"So, what was it you wanted to say?"

"Oh i thought you knew" she pouted her lips like a school girl

"I've got the virus"

Lying Hearts

So is it true
That when men stoop
Their heads can touch their scrotums?

What wisdom exists
In the roundness of a fat fool’s belly
Cannot compare with that of a child
His belly is big and round, yes
Like a fura da nunu pot
Yes instead of milk
There is green algae
Decomposing slowly like a chameleon’s carcass
The same big bellies unite both beings

So is it true
That when a man looks beyond his nose
He sees his forehead?
Even clowns dance in a king’s courtyard
Only when he wants to forget the enemies at his gates
So who fools who?
The jester who dances for the king’s money
Or the king who laughs in the face of war

So is it true
That when women go to war
Their breast milk turns sour?
Women who dance like soldiers
And chant the songs of freedom
Only do so for their children
The ones who know them not
The ones who call other women “mother”
When they come home
With the spoils of war
So you hail their victory
Or hiss in shame?
What do we know?

2007

This is it!

The news of his death hit me with mixed feelings.
First I thought it was a joke
He’d been the butt of many in recent times
Then I laughed
Then again I thought "how exactly did he die"
I pictured his thin frame on his lush bed
All white skin with no trace of a black spot
Peacefully (or not) slipping into the other world
What will he do when he gets there?
Will he do that astounding dance?
Will anyone recognize him?
I think Seun would...
He passed on last week
And I know he loved MJ
Maybe he'll ask for his autograph
- Me

A tragic ending to a troubled soul!!!!
Though I believe there is more to death or so I want to believe
But I was a big fan in my early childhood
When my aunties in university had the songs booming from the stereo
Into my head till it clung like glue
Those years when everything new fascinated one
Wearing my little brother skin tight jumping trousers
Imagining I had my own glossy black shoes
I would try out my comical version of the moon walk
My varied and distorted version of the waist trust
It use to send my aunties sprawling with laughter
Those were his days of glory
He had reached the very top of success
Literally worshipped
To fall apart, like that, from a god to less than a man
To fall to such a state of ridicule
Selah
- Ay

Rich Men

My mother once told me
Rich men don’t shit
The ones that do
It doesn’t smell
And if it smells
The aroma is like butter
My mother lied
Now I know better

Deep Sleep

He was dreaming
Of a place far far away
That’s why when they took him
He didn’t shake a breathe
They wept like they meant it
Spoke kind words like popes
What a world they said
But he kept dreaming
Lilies and roses
He must have slept for so long

Because when he woke up
It was all dark
Like an owl’s nest
The dream was over
He was very sure

But where am I?
His hands couldn’t move three inches up
His legs refused to make his favorite arc
This room is so tight
He needed air
Badly
Someone must have locked him in the cellar
Where is everyone?
He tried to call Adaora
Ada biko bia
His voice was hoarse
Strange like another tongue

That’s when he remembered
He saw her teary eyes
She was screaming his name
Uzoka o, Uzoka dim
But the lilies and roses
They looked so lovely

That’s when he remembered
He died
And was buried.