when you get the last piece / of the puzzle / don’t walk alone / search this street for your kind
15 WAYS TO WRITE FASTER & BETTER
PILKHAN (a short story by Ayesha Khan)
And so I say, “Pilkhan”. It is not a lie, I promise. Not completely at least. There was a tree once. There were other things too, of course. A house that rested in its shade. A bunch of people who lived in it.
‘TO THOSE WHO STEAL GRIEF’, ‘PERDITA’ & ‘FORGETTING TO REMEMBER’ (three poems by Kukogho Iruesiri Samson)
We travel into cobwebbed memories
to recycle our long-binned pains
into brand new Unhappiness.
‘POETS ARE LIARS’, ‘DO NOT WAIT FOR ME, BELOVED’ & ‘MEMORIES I’ (three poems by Emmanuel Karibi Obuala)
O you must watch your steps
even as you pass by
& never fall in love with this poet
lest you forget your gold in his poems
‘ THE SOJOURNER’S ORDEAL’ & ‘DANCER’ (two poems by Arisno Nwankwo Isaiah O.)
I wish I could come again.
Like a bird or a flower
To be with you in the hour
When silence reigns supreme
ALL FOR WHAT (a poem by Ude Vivian Chidimma)
‘REKINDLED FLAME’ & ‘SCHISM’ (two poems by Gift Emmanuel Olaleye)
How he made his sharp but soft words break
Her heart to learn singing all night long
The desire burnt out at the stake.
DITCHES (a poem by Raphael Oryiman)
‘CHILDREN OF MELANIN’ & ‘ROAD TO SOLDIER’ (two poems by Owolusi Lucky)
Whichever road that leads us to soldier
For a land thirsty for green leaves
Makes a hero of us that never gave
Up on our fatherland.
