and the remnants
of the orphaned rain is lying here
between our ribs, sieving the dust
trying to blur the eye’s of this
night would born.
HOW I BAKE MY DAILY BREAD (a poem by Joseph Olamide Babalola )
I launch my day mixing desires in the same
bowl with uncertainties, kneading them soft
on the intricate board of complexities
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
UNDERSTANDING POETRY: THE PLACE OF PUNCTUATION IN A POEM (by Kukogho Iruesiri Samson)
‘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.
“AT THE FOREFRONT OF MY INTENTIONS AS A WRITER IS A NEED TO ENTERTAIN”: A CỌ́N-SCÌÒ MAGAZINE INTERVIEW WITH OTHUKE OMINIABOHS
At the forefront of my intentions is a need to entertain. Of course to whom much is given, much is expected in return. This means I do not write in a vacuum, or rather I do not ‘entertain’ in a vacuum. There is so much to be said, so many questions to be asked, ills to be addressed . . . so much that even a thousand books will still not be enough to cover it all. So I write, first to entertain, and in the same vein, to question/address whatever pressing concerns there may be.
EVERYWHERE THE AIR GOES, I GO (a poem by Uwen Precious Ogban)
a trumpet needs a mouth to make its melody. we all need air to be alive.
i am standing on a branch of life
and willing it to break.