We have carried the weight of their names on our tongues, in our hearts, and it has been heavy. But now, let us lay that weight down, not in forgetting, but in honoring.
‘YOU CUT MY CHEST OPEN / GRIEF IS NOT AN EMPTY SMOKE / YESTERDAY IS A MONOGRAM STITCHED INSIDE MY TONGUE | three poems by Annah Atane
My beauty is parched my teeth can no longer hold laughter
yesterday is a monogram stitched inside my tongue
DEAR EDITOR | a poem by Kingsley Onyekachi Asoronye
My literary works lie in coma for help..
They long for your surgical knife
GOODNESS | a poem by Rosheed Ayinla Shehu
A nostalgia for a Father whose name she bears but
Whose face only surfaces when she looks in the mirror.
F/R/A/C/T/I/O/N/S | a CỌ́N-SCÌÒ poem by Chidera Udochukwu
The Ogas at the top just like Big Brother have an all-seeing eye,
If you dare say a word they will flip the switch, plunge us into darkness.
Esperance | a CỌ́N-SCÌÒ poem by Grace Orobosa
Am I a poetaster, finding solace in the sanctuary of poetry?
Or am I a poet, eccentric in style and yearning for peace?
Káṣìmawò | a CỌ́N-SCÌÒ poem by Owólolá Àjúlékún
Olúmọ etched an epitaph
She inked a testament of tears
For her son’s fate was annulled
Home Is Where Our Tears Are Stored in Big Barrels | a CỌ́N-SCÌÒ poem by Igbokwe Roseline
And I tell you again that this home
Of mine is a mischief/milkmaid; milking tears from citizens
Untitled | a CỌ́N-SCÌÒ poem by Ivan De Monbrison
he was like a sexless mummy
resurrected from the grave
a castrated Lazarus
Street’s Song | a CỌ́N-SCÌÒ poem by Osho Tunde Matthew
A poet sitting by his shadow, his empty
cylinder, nothing to fire his hope tonight.