The Urchin’s Dance

Staring blankly

Into

Dainty doll house

A little girl dreams

Miniature teacups and saucers

Tiny pillows

The size of ‘Uncle’s” thumb

She knows

Wide-eyed she stares at them

Objects of her envy now

Sealed all round

Unfeeling

Safe from probing thumbs

A boy’s dread

In the cold abbey crypt

Young fingers forced on throbbing organs

Sheathed in pristine apparels

Hymns and canticles sonorous resound

Overhead from schoolboys’ lips

Seemingly unending like his grief

Unrelenting

Like his shame

At his passion

Stirred to serve another’s lust

Like his heart

Soiled by the sacred

Sacred yet soiled

He twirls and spins

45 dizzy seconds

Enough to make one puke

Not him

His stomach is empty

15 short seconds

He meanders through parked cars

Hands outstretched

to glasses wound

Up or down

With passengers

Smiling and unsmiling

He gets a nod here, a smile there

A  scowl here, some change here

Red, amber, green

He steps off the road

Breathless

Counts his change

120 seconds of green

And the urchin will dance again

(by Ulo Inyama)

courtesy- Abuja Literary Society 

off the Street

They wake up hungry every morning,

With no hope

Of what the future holds,

They have always been lonely and cold,

Nobody to hold them close,

They look tattered in these rags.

But these rags are all they’ve got,

Today is just another day they’ll have to survive,

Another day they will wish they are the ones

Going to school in these coloured uniforms,

Carrying fancy bags and loaded lunch box,

Wishing they are the ones going to learn the ABC’s and 123’s,

But when they try going to school,

They chase them back to the street,

Where they don’t belong,

People see them suffering everyday…

But they just ignore,

Leaving these poor kids all alone to fight this cold war,

Don’t just give them money for food,

Or change their cloths,

You can do more,

These are leaders of tomorrow,

Let’s make life right for them,

Let’s win this fight for them…

Let’s take them off the street!

(by Hamza Mayaki)

courtesy Abuja Literary Society

FOR ADAEZE

Adaeze-I have seen the pure truth.
With mine eyes have I seen it.
Your loving heart has danced on the pavement of my soul.
Your charming beauty has strolled across the corridors of my heart.

How can I forget the itch that drowned with a gentle touch- the touch of mine hands.
How can I forget the shining adornments of your braided hair?

 O how can I forget the spangling rings that defines the borders of your African ears, pierced atop and beneath?
And so he danced, a shameless dance of nakedness.

Out he came, one leg standing.
Beams of laughter caressed his face.. Singing gaily, I had seen the joy of childhood- when Azuka will poke my side- and together we would wrestle in the sand.
Dancing like a gazelle, full buttocks exposed.

Black bell dangling side to side.
Unashamed- the shameless joy of youth.


Snapp drink, snapping through my gullet,alcohol intensified, flowing through my vein.
Gentle legs slightly raised, revealing the blue garment that covered your honey pot.

O Adaeze joy of youth! Undying charm of the Igbo clan...In my heart may u safely rest

By- Dr Sabastine 

This is Adaeze's Poetry World, WELCOME!: DEAR SON

This is Adaeze's Poetry World, WELCOME!: DEAR SON: They say a woman's place is in the kitchen My little one, the woman's place I must correct is in nation building They have larg...

DEAR SON

They say a woman's place is in the kitchen

My little one, the woman's place I must correct is in nation building

They have large heart that care and mend broken fences

They possess ‎deep vision that sees beyond world spaces

And like a sage they nurture and bring up heroes

Dear son

You just might find this strange

Cos culture has taught you different

My little child, just look at world's real heroes 

and tell me their women's role

Then you can hang those myth on a pole

My dearest child

They told you a woman is weak

And she reasons like a fish

What they didn't tell you is 

She endures the 2nd most painful experience during delivery

Given our shabby health system

She often cheats death while birthing life

And she will do it over and over again‎ for world sake

My little one I may not know about gender

But I know about finders being keepers

If your find a woman that makes your heart beat

Be sure to support her and torch up her human gift

Like a flower,  she withers without care and blossoms with tending

Like a pillar she holds firm a building, ‎only if you make strong it's foundation

Like a root, she nourishes a tree‎ though sunk into deep dirt and mud

Give her the freedom to express herself

And you will find your crown in her

Make her aspire as far as birds can fly

And she shall make you an empire in the galaxy

Only a woman, knows to give from pain and love

Only her can help you reach your fullest sense of being.

Dreams Impossible

My nights are filled with dreams of

a mother holding me tight to her bosom and

covering my faces with warm kisses

My days are filled with wishes for

a father lifting and spinning

me high up in the air

And when my thoughts wander

I dream of having protective brothers and

lovely caring sisters and a pet or two

I dream of dreams that make

my friends say I’m crazy but I know there

are other dreamers like me out there

I dream of attending exotic schools and

becoming a doctor or an engineer or

someone important

I dream of fun adventures and

exciting holiday trips and

dreams known only to me

But most of all, I dream

of love and happiness and joy and

all those free emotions that you enjoy

I dream dreams… impossible dreams

(by Azizat Mohammed)

 courtesy Abuja Literary Society

NO APOLOGIES

I don't have to apologize for being a smart Alec
brimming with wisdom only god Zeus can comprehend
there will be no sorry for being me

a princess endowed by mother nature with all the curves and fullness of a woman
like a pretty Venus my eyes shines
like queen Moremi regaled
its Yemoja I'm modeled after


no apologies for being a queen of color
bronzed like the setting dusk
emerald after the rising sun
chiseled like Cleopatra
with dentiture carved like unto the African lioness


ask no apologies for my worth
silver weigh less than my virtue
gold still in deficit of my pride
rubies yet to measure my heritage
I am the daughter of Mormon goddess


wait not on apologies for  whom I love
like mars I’m taken to my kind
fashioned after the similitude of Sango and
I will never apologies for being me
with character glassed in transparency I'm built
and a mantra sculpted in humanity
I can never play your role
I can be better than no one but me

MY NAME IS NMA

My name is Nma 

Dad says my future is just like my name

I am 14 and full of hope

Hope that life would be better

Faith that my book would bring us butter

Aiming to get us all out of this gutter

Till the evil sting left my dream shattered

My name is Nma, I am 15

Wondering if my name will mean a thing

Asking why life hits me with pain to my bones

Taking the crown off my home

Leaving me bent Without a note

Our rickety throne will pass for broke

Clueless in murky mire‎ as death deals us blow

My name is Nma I'm still 15 

A'las the monarch has a lineage

Just like my father he says my name 

He reminded me my life could be like my name again

Savvy as a prime dame

Flawless like a China frame

With a smile that matches my brain

And then he swore it

That as my uncle

He pledged to see me  attain my goals

He vowed to help me reach the end on his own

Along came rosy and blissful days

Until that morning when night fell like a sword

As he forced himself and pierced my soul

My name is Nma I'm 16

My purity paid the debt to my ‎kinsman

My fault was believing my name was my charm

Smiling at all goodies he offered for school

He said my A1s ‎don't exist without his fortune

He was a collector, my scream only sent the wrong alarm

The world told me agreeing to meet  means I chose the harm

My name is Nma, now I'm 25

Private drinks are never welcome

A kind smile or help  is a turnoff

Gentlemen seem to me like a felon

A simple date means I say my name

A better choice means to stay away

If you ever wonder what my name is

Sometimes it means men are not welcome

My name is Nma

I am 25 and still finding me