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<pre class="wp-block-verse has-text-align-left">father spells his name with his footsteps
I hear screams from across the house
e-z-e! e-z-e! 1-2-3! e-z-e!

I named the tv Nkechi, after our neighbor
who never shuts up. I think they’re related—
they look the same around the stomach

my brother thinks life is a song
always nodding and moving his legs
to nothing. if life were a song, we’re on a long

pause. my sister thinks life is a play
crying one second and laughing another
if life were a play, we aren’t shooting anymore

they say some men, hearing the shooting
had stopped, went out to play
football, and bullets scored against their bodies

mum likes to pretend like everything is right
like the song is loud, and the play is on
like the director just screamed ‘action’

and her role is to smile the heavens down
into closed doors. I think I’d smile with her
till the day comes when it’s safe to play

with leather balls and plastic tins
and not concede to bullets of steel
and those of corona</pre>



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<p class="has-text-color has-background has-text-align-right has-medium-font-size has-very-dark-gray-color has-pale-cyan-blue-background-color"><em><em><em><em><em><em><em>Emmanuel Udoma is a medical student with an interest in creative writing. Whenever he’s not flipping through the pages of medical textbooks, he finds himself introspecting on new ideas for his poems or short stories. He was a joint winner for the 2019 edition of Memoirs of Nigerian University Students (MONUS), and was shortlisted for the Eriata Oribhabor Poetry Prize 2018. He has been published in some literary platforms and anthologies including ANA Review 2018, Mixed History (NSPP 2017), Citadel of Words (BPPC 2018), MONUS Anthology 2.0, Naija book of Diabetes Stories, etc.</em></em></em></em></em></em></em></p>
 
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SHOOTING PLAYS (a poem by Tochukwu Precious Eze)
