i’ve accepted my unholiness. &
if humans don’t accept me this way, my brothersisters
& sisterbrothers will be my light & salvation.
Blue Top | a CỌ́N-SCÌÒ poem by Ismail Bala
That smile of hers, that cleavage
so prime to fulfil a new kind of sensual pleasure.
Slum & Transition | two CỌ́N-SCÌÒ poems by S. Su’eddie Vershima Agema
In my mother’s village, it happens again—
herders invade, fields burn, and another slum rises.
What is Being Born Inside You? | a CỌ́N-SCÌÒ poem by Amy Shimshon-Santo
never underestimate the power of the weak
Rwanda | a CỌ́N-SCÌÒ poem by Marial Awendit
Kagame atop the hills blows
His horn,
And the echoes melt the machetes
A Table Where I Am The Breakfast | a CỌ́N-SCÌÒ poem by Oluwatobi Ezekiel Poroye
my country invites me
to a table where
I am the breakfast.
A Passage Through Time | a CỌ́N-SCÌÒ poem by Abosede Ogundare
Time is a seer; a prophecy
of ashes clogged in beauty.
God’s Waiting Room | a CỌ́N-SCÌÒ poem by Derek Ehiorobo
At God’s waiting room,
it rains when you least expect,
& sometimes, that may be all you need.
Akpabana’s Banquet | a CỌ́N-SCÌÒ poem by Hillary Ofukocho Anfofun
Soon, beneath the heavens’ trembling roof, the potbellied profligates of public trust will dine on the bitter fruits of their schemes as lightning carves their names into the night sky.
Sweetness & Ruin (Gummosis) | a CỌ́N-SCÌÒ poem by Jakky Bankong-Obi
….flowering with a sweetness that snares, forestalling the impulse to flight.