I am speechless.
Anthonia Nneji has done me again.
I am speechless.
I must write her a poem.
Interested in some of my published works?
Follow Me
Anthonia Nneji has done me again.
I am speechless.
I must write her a poem.
HOW TO LOOK IN A MIRROR When you find a mirror you must first turn on the lightNot the light in the room But the light in your heart. Never look in the mirror With your eyes:
Visitors From the Distant Past
They landed in three large pods.
“They look exactly as we envisaged,” one of them said, probing me.
“Bring him inside the pod.” Said another.
They took me inside the pod.
I looked around.
Moyo Okediji
Title: The Butterfly Thinks Himself A Bird
Medium: Acrylic on canvas
Date 2021
Size: 24″ x 30″
The title is an important line in playwright Ola Rotimi’s masterpiece, THE GODS ARE NOT TO BLAME.
Rotimi took the line from a Yoruba proverb, “Labalábá fira rẹ̀ wẹ́ye, kò le ṣìṣe ẹyẹ.” ̛It means, “The butterfly compares itself to the bird, but is unable to perform like a bird.”
Dear Kicking Fetus
For Saidiya Hartman***
Why kick your mother
so hard, so relentless
right in the center
of her tender navel?
Is there something
you know about life,
about the impious ways
Don’t pick an orange
for its enormous size.
The fatness of the citrus
is not a sign of its sweetness.
I’ve seen large oranges
that are firm and juiceless
And I’ve eaten tiny ones
so sweet and sumptuous
Cellphone Conversation
(After Wole Soyinka’s “Telephone Conversation”)
My phone rang, I recognized the number
and picked it up.
“Hey, babe,” I said,
“What’s going on?”
She started laughing,
and it seemed she wanted to talk,
but just couldn’t control herself.
I wanted to know
what was so funny. Finally,
she managed to stop laughing.