<body><div class="booster-block booster-read-block">
 <div class="twp-read-time">
 	<i class="booster-icon twp-clock"></i> <span>Read Time:</span>11 Minute, 41 Second </div>

 </div><p></p>The July 2017 edition of the monthly Words Rhymes &; Rhythm backed <a href="http://wrr.ng/news/call-for-submissions-brigitte-poirson-poetry-contest-2017-july-the-forbidden-fruit/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">BRIGITTE POIRSON</a> has been won by Aire Joshua Omotayo, the second winner from Edo state in as many editions.
<p>Aire, a 21-year-old from Irrua in Esan Central local government of Edo State, is a programmer, campus journalist and writer who started off with writing essays and articles from his secondary school days before taking up poetry in 2015.</p>
<blockquote><p><img class="aligncenter size-full wp-image-32094" src="http://wrr.ng/wp-content/uploads/2017/08/BPPC-JULY-2017-WINNER-AIRE.jpg" alt="" loading="lazy"></p></blockquote>
<p>His poem ‘HOW TO ESCAPE THE FIRE’ was adjudged the best of over 100 entries, beating ‘MAD MEN MUST NOT EAT CAKE AT NIGHT’ by BPPC serial finalist and two-time winner, <a href="http://wrr.ng/news/kanyinsola-ajpp-2016/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Kanyinsola Olorunnisola</a>, to and MOTHER by Chinua Ezenwa-Ohaeto first and second runner-up position</p>
<p><!--Ads5--></p>
<p>The July edition was themed ‘THE FORBIDDEN FRUIT’.</p>
<p>Below are the top 10 poems:</p>
<ol>
<li>HOW TO ESCAPE THE FIRE by Aire Joshua Omotayo</li>
<li>MAD MEN MUST NOT EAT CAKE AT NIGHT’ by Kanyinsola Olorunnisola</li>
<li>MOTHER by Chinua Ezenwa-Ohaeto</li>
<li>EROSION by Oppong Clifford Benjam</li>
<li>BIRDS ARE MADE TO FLY by Nemi Otikor</li>
<li>THE FACULTY OF BERSERK ARRANGEMENTS by Nelson C.J</li>
<li>CLOUD’S CRY by Savage Rahmotallah Abisola</li>
<li>TEARS TO TWO by Ajisafe Victory Tobiah</li>
<li>I LOVE A FIREFLY by Owoeye Olaniyi Andrew</li>
<li>BEING DIVERGENT by Solomon Olajide Oladipupo</li>
</ol>
<p><strong>HOW TO ESCAPE THE FIRE by<em> Aire Joshua Omotayo</em></strong></p>
<blockquote><p>hold your waist in the middle of the wind,<br>
gulp the breeze till it reaches the brim<br>
then wait and say your name to the face of the debris,<br>
let your eyes be filled with rage; then run!</p>
<p>write yourself a dirge<br>
and let your feet stick into a broken poetry,<br>
let the rhythm sway you amidst the broken lines<br>
then watch as tears trek down bitter faces; then run!</p>
<p>fill your eyes with burning rivers,<br>
trap a rainbow around their edges<br>
then watch as the rains falls bitterly on you,<br>
break the rainbow and fight back with the flood in your eyes; then run!</p>
<p>when the moon is lost,<br>
hold your shadow from dancing into the night’s pouch<br>
then seek the stars and fetch a cup of light,<br>
drink to your fill and stare at the sun’s rays; then run!</p>
<p>run! run!! run!!!<br>
like insomnia escapes into the spaces of dreamland<br>
when whipped by boring lullabies…<br>
…like an antelope sprinting on a river track<br>
When it smells the hunter’s headlights<br>
run! run!! run!!!<br>
and this is how to escape the fire</p></blockquote>
<p><strong>MAD MEN MUST NOT EAT CAKE AT NIGHT b<em>y Kanyinsola Olorunnisola</em></strong></p>
<blockquote><p><em>[double-ended acrostic]</em><br>
My fatherland is a paradise on fire, a forsaken kingdoM,<br>
all our gods are drunkards clothed in the sanctity of agbada,<br>
drinking away the glorious dreams the oracle foretold.</p>
<p>My poems are famished ghosts bearing dreadful mayheM,<br>
endless in their ghastly terror to expose and exterminate<br>
night-demons planting shadows in the womb of our nation.</p>
<p>May these cursed words be the queer heralds of dooM<br>
upon the plotters planning plunder against this plateau,<br>
soldiers of the army of darkness have made home of our shores,<br>
take up words with me in battle, together we must fight.</p>
<p>Narcissism has taken captive the hearts of our meN,<br>
our wondrous woes woven into teary tales told on the radio,<br>
today, let us rise against the evil in the land with all our might.</p>
<p>Excuse me if my sharp-edged diction cuts you like a knifE,<br>
a poet becomes a butcher with a few lines and a stanza,<br>
the true taste of freedom lies in rebellion’s forbidden fruit.</p>
<p>Come be weird with me, let our madness be electriC,<br>
annihilate the spirit of fear with defiance and chutzpa,<br>
knock down society’s walls of hate, brick by brick,<br>
engender a rebirth to usher in a newer, brighter age.</p>
<p>Antoinette’s incarnates may try to silence our brouhahA,<br>
tell them that this revolution is a song that can never go quiet.</p>
<p>Never eat the national cake with those who starve the natioN,<br>
indulge not your values in the flexibility of an origami,<br>
giwa, wiwa, and fela are entombed in history’s gong,<br>
hailed each as heroes for daring to be a norm-breaking pariah,<br>
they were mad men who never sold their souls – never ate cake at night.</p></blockquote>
<p><strong>MOTHER <em>by Chinua Ezenwa-Ohaeto</em></strong></p>
<blockquote><p>Mother is round and patched with boiling hearts,<br>
knock-knees, dismembered intestines and soured tongues.<br>
Her dreams are of people humming lost songs.<br>
And her face is the distance between sadness and unhappiness.<br>
Her heart holds chambers of soaring dusts and ravaging storms.<br>
One chamber harbours Father who left some time ago<br>
but never returned and never wrote her any words.<br>
Another harbours men with brushes trying to paint semen in-between her thighs.</p>
<p>So every night I draw her face on an empty canvass,<br>
as happiness is far from her, I give her a smiling face.<br>
I stretch her lips to her ears that she may forever know<br>
happiness in my eyes and in the eyes of those who rape her with things.</p>
<p>In the mornings, I also put my lips upon hers to bury in my mouth<br>
the nightmares of people here and there living in ruins, dried as bones;<br>
of people forcing a god over other peoples’ god, crimsoning sands;<br>
of people who write love off their hearts to replace it with ammos, shells, grenades;<br>
of a boy who wanted to die another day burnt alive for scooping a handful of garri;<br>
of killings and counter-killings somewhere in the Niger-Delta and Bayelsa;<br>
of girls caged by men at twelve or ten or thereabout and used to soothe itches;<br>
of souls in prisons and elsewhere shrinking, crying, wailing…<br>
But my mouth cannot bury them all, it is too small graveyard.</p>
<p>Then I try to search her eyes<br>
to see if I can find any pint of hope,<br>
no matter how small.</p></blockquote>
<p><strong>EROSION <em>by Oppong Clifford Benjam</em></strong></p>
<blockquote><p>A mother once said to her daughters:<br>
fill a man’s heart with rich loamy soil<br>
and plant in it a sprig of acacia<br>
that it may blossom<br>
but most importantly note that<br>
the storm will pass by your farm<br>
and manure will join the rest of earth<br>
to be washed away.<br>
Away everything may fly<br>
your acacia may go too<br>
your sweet acacia may go to another woman<br>
and strangely your acacia may be doing well<br>
in its new earth.<br>
Dear daughters, verily! Verily!! I say<br>
acacias are not to be eaten<br>
loamy soils are found in every pair of trousers<br>
cry a short while for your lost acacia<br>
refill, re-plant and expect the storm again<br>
that’s how to live loving.</p></blockquote>
<p><strong>BIRDS ARE MADE TO FLY <em>by Nemi Otikor</em></strong></p>
<blockquote><p><em>(For Maya Angelou’s I know why the caged bird sings)</em><br>
Did they clip your wings<br>
In doctrines of righteous jealousy<br>
In holy chimes of saintly sanctimony<br>
And ordained you, wallflower of all eternity<br>
Such graceful beauty for Oru-be’s consumption?</p>
<p>Fly little bird, find your heart and fly<br>
Grow and then fly.</p>
<p>Did they cage your being<br>
Sapping bravery in orbs of fear bars<br>
Breathing metals; coughing cages; sneezing shackles<br>
A mute synecdoche, Oru-be, their father</p>
<p>Beak on, little bird, don’t just lie<br>
Grow, heal and then fly.</p>
<p>Did they poach your song<br>
Forgotten, your voice cracks<br>
Impoverished, you await Oru-be’s verdict</p>
<p>Boycott the sermon from the gavel, child.</p>
<p>Did they cackle at your brave confusion<br>
Chuckle at your tear-mapped faced<br>
Chortle at the throes of your hope</p>
<p>Recover, rejuvenate, little bird, stop the sigh<br>
And heal then fly.</p>
<p><em>GLOSSARY:</em><br>
<em> *Oru-be: An Okrika word for the devil.</em><br>
<em> *Okrika is a miniority group in the Niger Delta region of Nigeria. Their language is Okrika.</em></p></blockquote>
<p><strong>THE FACULTY OF BERSERK ARRANGEMENTS <em>by Nelson C.J</em></strong></p>
<blockquote><p>It was in the fore, in your teeth,<br>
A hard thing to gnash.<br>
It made crystal spaces in the milky set.<br>
Then these spaces were openings,<br>
These openings a passage way,<br>
This passage way?<br>
Recollection.</p>
<p>Now that you have luxiriated in thirsting-<br>
In conditioning your body to read titchy lines,<br>
To align with the things that terrify the Je June.<br>
To wink at a boy or say a luxurious Hello.<br>
To allow yourself dismay when he says Wetin Happen?-<br>
And not Hello, back.<br>
Nice, and carrying, and suggestive, and askew, and wrongly right.</p>
<p>Now that you have spiked up to own your body, soul, being, and thoughts.<br>
The Faculty of Berserk arrangements immure in your brains,<br>
Shake their wizened strands at this.</p>
<p>You dey fine trouble, they clang!<br>
Society attenuates your likes that ruffle it’s stiff, stiff plaits.</p>
<p>Now that you have spiked up to learn your body the truth of desire,<br>
Society, as always, as in all things perturbing-<br>
Has things to say.</p></blockquote>
<p><strong>CLOUD’S CRY<em> by Savage Rahmotallah Abisola</em></strong></p>
<blockquote><p>The bright blue sky turns pale in confusion<br>
Like a bee trying to get nectar from the sun<br>
Cold breeze hits my gentle skin<br>
Sending shivers down my spine<br>
Thunder growls from afar<br>
Mother Nature must be angry i think</p>
<p>Bitter tears rolls down her rosy cheek<br>
Pouring down in thick sheets of water<br>
Submerging the earth and sky<br>
Making it difficult to ascertain<br>
If the rumbling thunder<br>
Actually comes<br>
From above or from below.</p></blockquote>
<p><strong>TEARS TO TWO <em>by Ajisafe Victory Tobiah</em></strong></p>
<blockquote><p>Your mother was the ocean that gave birth to the Earth,<br>
My mother was the atm’sphere that gave birth to the sky;<br>
And we the children, mortal and unblind<br>
Saw I, did You; saw you, did I.<br>
If only I can hold You tightly through the lonely nights:<br>
I wish- my tears that jump on You to your mother ride<br>
As your mother flies to mine, I stared<br>
Violently at the sea; cruelly at the ocean, breaking<br>
The cobbles, the veil- shall I come down or You come up?<br>
These words and tears I drip are mine!</p>
<p>My mother was a lioness that birthed a kitten;<br>
Your mother was a rabbit, so cute the rat rat she’d borne!<br>
And we the children, mortal and unblind<br>
Caught sight did I of Your sapphire eyes<br>
But I know not what You caught-sight-of of I.<br>
I feel the fire inside my chest: your sapphire!<br>
But if I be too close to You to touch your gentleskin;<br>
To taste the You flavoured kiss, to ride on the wind<br>
And touch its horn, ignite the rainbow, to dance<br>
In Tigris and Euphrates. To feast your eyes to mine,<br>
And beat in your chest. But then I’d be close.<br>
‘If I be too close, I ought to eat you, you to cower.’<br>
So said my mother; so said your mother.<br>
But No, let’s burn these tears in the ocean’s fire<br>
And dance among the ashes to the tune of our hearts.<br>
We’d bend in and eat till we die out, I in You; You in I.<br>
These words and tears I drip are mine!</p></blockquote>
<p><strong>I LOVE A FIREFLY<em> by Owoeye Olaniyi Andrew</em></strong></p>
<blockquote><p>I love a fleeing firefly<br>
I desire its beauty<br>
But it mocks me<br>
Its incandescent belly houses a pyre!</p>
<p>I shouldn’t do this!<br>
How can I love him?<br>
Cupid hears and smiles<br>
For he has pierced the Bull’s eye</p>
<p>I am a boy<br>
The firefly is a man<br>
His nakedness dances in my thoughts<br>
And his shadow lays with me</p>
<p>I laugh at the pyre<br>
Don’t you dare forbid me!<br>
My heart bears the arrow<br>
And I will go where it points.</p></blockquote>
<p><strong>BEING DIVERGENT<em> by Solomon Olajide Oladipupo</em></strong></p>
<blockquote><p>Yesterday, I asked my mother how to rule the world<br>
She said, ”Befriend the sky; never wait for the slow patters of rusty roofs.”</p>
<p>Yesterday, I asked my father how to rule the world<br>
He said: “Be meek as lamb but brave as lion; never trust tortoise and his old tricks.”</p>
<p>Today, I walk many roads—<br>
Some to the North, and some to the South<br>
Some to the East, and some to the West<br>
Some to the right, and some to the left<br>
Some to blight, and some to light—<br>
Today, I walk many roads</p>
<p>I want to rule many worlds,<br>
conquer many skies<br>
I want to be a thousand flies<br>
free above many fears and frights</p>
<p>I tried to fly, but wings won’t grow<br>
I tried to glow, but fade rather slow</p>
<p>Tho’ I walk many roads<br>
I will take that road less travelled<br>
And like Frost, I’ll make all the difference<br>
And fly my stars in nightly glows</p></blockquote>
<p><!--Ads5--><br>
By virtue of his victory, Aire takes over the BPPC bragging rights from his fellow Edo compatriot and winner of the June edition of the contest, <a href="http://wrr.ng/news/brigitte-poirson-poetry-contest-2017-benins-osahon-wins-bppc-june/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Oka Benard Osahon</a>. He will also get the top prize of N7000 cash, a certificate, and books. All top 10 poems will be automatically entered for the ALBERT JUNGERS POETRY PRIZE (AJPP) 2017 and published in the BPPC 2017 anthology. The poets in the TOP 10 list will each receive a certificate and free copies of the BPPC 2017 anthology, to be awarded at the Words Rhymes &; Rhythm Literary Festival 2017.</p>
<blockquote><p>“Finding a winner for the Juky edition proved to be a difficult, albeit rewarding task that I would gladly do again, because of the diversity of the entries, the originality of their metaphors and the overall creativity expressed by all of the entrants. Indeed all those who participated should see themselves as winners, in some way.”</p>
<p><em>— BPPC July, 2017 Judge</em></p></blockquote>
<p>The <a href="http://wrr.ng/csr/bppc/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Brigitte Poirson Poetry Contest</a>, a brainchild of Words Rhymes &; Rhythm (WRR), is a monthly writing contest aimed at rewarding the under-appreciated talent of young Nigerian poets. It was instituted in February 2015 in honor of Brigitte Poirson, a French poet and lecturer, editor, who has over the years worked assiduously to promote and support of African poetry. Now in its third season, and being one of the few credible contests for poets, the BPPC has since grown to be one of country’s most popular, especially among the younger poets.</p>
<blockquote><p><img class="aligncenter size-full wp-image-31378" src="http://wrr.ng/wp-content/uploads/2017/03/BRIGITTE-POIRSON-POETRY-CONTEST-BPPC-SEASON-III-2017-.jpg" alt="" loading="lazy"></p></blockquote>
<p style="text-align: center;">NOTE: Submissions are being received for the AUGUST 2017 edition!</p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://wrr.ng/uncategorized/call-for-submissions-brigitte-poirson-poetry-contest-2017-august-life-is-for-the-living/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">CLICK HERE TO ENTER YOUR POEM</a></p>
<p></p>
 
 <div class="booster-block booster-author-block">
 <div class="be-author-details layout-square align-left">
 <div class="be-author-wrapper">
 <div class="booster-row">
 <div class="booster-column booster-column-two booster-column-mobile">
 <div class="be-author-image">
 <img alt="" src="https://secure.gravatar.com/avatar/3de36b6da89639b3d80d015f84d2cfc35212bb0678ceb13c46dc8c712831d196?s=400&;d=mm&;r=g" class="avatar avatar-400 photo avatar-img" height="400" width="400" loading="lazy"> </div>
 </div>
 <div class="booster-column booster-column-eight booster-column-mobile">
 <div class="author-details">
 <header class="twp-plugin-title twp-author-title">
 <h2>About Post Author</h2>
 </header>
 <h4 class="be-author-meta be-author-name">
 <a href="https://www.wrr.ng/author/admin/" class="booster-url-link">
 Words Rhymes &; Rhythm </a>
 </h4>
 <div class="be-author-meta be-author-email">
 <a href="mailto:%20info@wrr.ng" class="booster-url-link">
 <span class="booster-svg-icon booster-svg-envelope"><svg class="booster-svg" aria-hidden="true" role="img" focusable="false" viewbox="0 0 24 24" xmlns="http://www.w3.org/2000/svg" width="24" height="24"><path fill="currentColor" d="M0 3v18h24v-18h-24zm6.623 7.929l-4.623 5.712v-9.458l4.623 3.746zm-4.141-5.929h19.035l-9.517 7.713-9.518-7.713zm5.694 7.188l3.824 3.099 3.83-3.104 5.612 6.817h-18.779l5.513-6.812zm9.208-1.264l4.616-3.741v9.348l-4.616-5.607z"></path></svg></span>info@wrr.ng </a>
 </div>
 <div class="be-author-meta be-author-url">
 <a href="https://wrr.ng/about-us/" target="_blank" class="booster-url-link">
 <span class="booster-svg-icon booster-svg-sphere"><svg class="booster-svg" aria-hidden="true" role="img" focusable="false" viewbox="0 0 24 24" xmlns="http://www.w3.org/2000/svg" width="24" height="24"><path fill="currentColor" d="M 11.25 1.5 C 5.035156 1.5 0 6.535156 0 12.75 C 0 18.964844 5.035156 24 11.25 24 C 17.464844 24 22.5 18.964844 22.5 12.75 C 22.5 6.535156 17.464844 1.5 11.25 1.5 Z M 17.617188 16.5 C 17.816406 15.550781 17.941406 14.546875 17.984375 13.5 L 20.972656 13.5 C 20.894531 14.535156 20.652344 15.542969 20.253906 16.5 Z M 4.882812 9 C 4.683594 9.949219 4.558594 10.953125 4.515625 12 L 1.527344 12 C 1.605469 10.964844 1.847656 9.957031 2.246094 9 Z M 16.078125 9 C 16.304688 9.960938 16.441406 10.964844 16.484375 12 L 12 12 L 12 9 Z M 12 7.5 L 12 3.109375 C 12.34375 3.210938 12.679688 3.375 13.011719 3.609375 C 13.636719 4.050781 14.230469 4.726562 14.738281 5.566406 C 15.085938 6.148438 15.386719 6.796875 15.640625 7.5 Z M 7.761719 5.566406 C 8.269531 4.726562 8.863281 4.050781 9.488281 3.609375 C 9.820312 3.375 10.15625 3.207031 10.5 3.109375 L 10.5 7.5 L 6.859375 7.5 C 7.113281 6.792969 7.414062 6.148438 7.761719 5.566406 Z M 10.5 9 L 10.5 12 L 6.015625 12 C 6.058594 10.964844 6.195312 9.960938 6.421875 9 Z M 2.246094 16.5 C 1.847656 15.542969 1.605469 14.535156 1.527344 13.5 L 4.515625 13.5 C 4.558594 14.546875 4.683594 15.550781 4.882812 16.5 Z M 6.015625 13.5 L 10.5 13.5 L 10.5 16.5 L 6.421875 16.5 C 6.195312 15.539062 6.058594 14.535156 6.015625 13.5 Z M 10.5 18 L 10.5 22.390625 C 10.15625 22.289062 9.820312 22.125 9.488281 21.890625 C 8.863281 21.449219 8.269531 20.773438 7.761719 19.933594 C 7.414062 19.351562 7.113281 18.703125 6.859375 18 Z M 14.738281 19.933594 C 14.230469 20.773438 13.636719 21.449219 13.011719 21.890625 C 12.679688 22.125 12.34375 22.292969 12 22.390625 L 12 18 L 15.640625 18 C 15.386719 18.707031 15.085938 19.351562 14.738281 19.933594 Z M 12 16.5 L 12 13.5 L 16.484375 13.5 C 16.441406 14.535156 16.304688 15.539062 16.078125 16.5 Z M 17.984375 12 C 17.945312 10.953125 17.816406 9.949219 17.617188 9 L 20.253906 9 C 20.652344 9.957031 20.894531 10.964844 20.972656 12 Z M 19.46875 7.5 L 17.222656 7.5 C 16.785156 6.121094 16.179688 4.914062 15.457031 3.949219 C 16.453125 4.429688 17.355469 5.066406 18.144531 5.855469 C 18.648438 6.359375 19.089844 6.910156 19.46875 7.5 Z M 4.355469 5.855469 C 5.144531 5.066406 6.046875 4.429688 7.042969 3.949219 C 6.320312 4.914062 5.714844 6.121094 5.277344 7.5 L 3.03125 7.5 C 3.410156 6.910156 3.851562 6.359375 4.355469 5.855469 Z M 3.03125 18 L 5.277344 18 C 5.714844 19.378906 6.320312 20.585938 7.042969 21.550781 C 6.046875 21.070312 5.144531 20.433594 4.355469 19.644531 C 3.851562 19.140625 3.410156 18.589844 3.03125 18 Z M 18.144531 19.644531 C 17.355469 20.433594 16.453125 21.070312 15.457031 21.550781 C 16.179688 20.585938 16.785156 19.378906 17.222656 18 L 19.46875 18 C 19.089844 18.589844 18.648438 19.140625 18.144531 19.644531 Z M 18.144531 19.644531 "></path></svg></span>https://wrr.ng/about-us/ </a>
 </div>
 </div>
 <div class="be-author-profiles">
 </div>
 </div>
 </div>
 </div>
 </div>
 </div>
 </body>
BRIGITTE POIRSON POETRY CONTEST 2017: UI’s AIRE OMOTAYO WINS JULY BPPC TROPHY
