Written By: Abdulbasit Yusuff
I want to tell you a tale about:
how my guts turn strings & sing elegies
for the grave I hold in my stomach
how I’m fodder for the jokes of wanton kids
by day
& food for the proboscis of mosquitoes
by night
how the sun thinks of my head as a footstool
how cold snuggles in the crevices of my bone
& my heart. they say cold likes empty places
I want to tell you:
how dreams drown in the sea that
erupts in my eyes when I see a school
how my tongue unfurls into a peal of pleas
at motor parks;
how my palms are curved like a bowl,
how life has relegated me to the bottom
of pots, to scavenge
I know what neglect smells like:
my memory of home is as vague as the smell
of clean water
& water is luxury
sometimes I feel the scars on my back can tell
this tale better. they are fresher than my mouth
So as I perch on the window of your car
chanting journey mercies, say a prayer
that I journey this earth well, too. Because
my soles may have memorized the city’s roads
but my soul is learning the weight of despair.
Abdulbasit Yusuff is a lover of arts and literature who enjoys writing short stories and experimenting with poems. He earned a diploma in Science Laboratory Technology at The Federal Polytechnic, Bida. Some of his works have been published on Tuck Magazine, Kalahari Review, Echelon Review, Prachya Review and Spark of Hope: an anthology of poems for saving lives. Abdulbasit writes from Abuja, Nigeria.
Photo Credit: Tomas R, Pexels.com

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17 hours ago
Our #MCM for the week is Saddiq Dzukogi @SaddiqDzukogi. His collection of poems, “Your Crib, My Qibla”, has earned rave reviews since its recent publication.
Award-winning poet, Ilya Kaminsky, describes it as a “stunning, memorable book”!
@UnivNebPress
"...
You had your voice,
yet silence was your outburst ..."
In this #poem, Ojo Emmanuel writes about loss, grief, and the long painful journey to healing. It is a sad, sensational poem & worth the #read.
https://eboquills.com/2021/02/27/one-poem-by-nigerian-poet-ojo-emmanuel/
#poetrycommunity #poets #WritingCommunity
Creativity and simplicity cohabiting in one literary piece, quite a rarity these days!
We loved this story, @ewoe_nam
We still do 👏🏾👏🏾
I am happy to announce that my story has found a home with @eboquills🥳 https://eboquills.com/2021/02/23/brach-and-ara-a-short-story-by-ghanaian-writer-ewoenam-kukah/
Kindly read, comment and share☺️😘.
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[…] us so to claim his gift. We also send a congratulatory message to Abdulbasit Yusuff whose poem “almajiri” made second place. Thank you for entrusting us with your […]