Written By: Tukur Ridwan
Tukur writes about violence on women in this rather brilliant poem littered with imageries that leap right out of the page. He models a potent way to join our voices in the clamor for social change. ‘before a woman marked her body unsafe’ is a beautiful read!
safety is now a sun setting at the other
end of a vast sea
a girl’s haven
has been pillaged
her body branded with the labels
of a time bomb
adorned with the buttons of guilt
shame & panic
on her chest
there is a boy who thinks that’s not guilt
he thinks to be tingled is to be pleased
you can’t walk bare in your own room
the windows & walls harbor
burglars of bodies
like camouflaged chameleons
your openings are tunnels
to trauma because the groins of beasts
never sleep they are night trains
your breasts are booby traps
to your peace of mind
you’d be scared to tread downtown
the night is insecure of your strides
the day now connives
with the growls
of ghouls ready
to rape you of your breath
if you walk here
a goat would salivate over your legs
& run after you like tuber
you can’t walk here again
if you stay there
another ape is craving to hop on you
like the nearest branch
you can’t stay there again
everywhere is a jungle
jungle injustice— some men would chide you
for walking free & let their heretic brother
go after desecrating your temple
houses are not homes
to a woman anymore
a roof now obliterates
with the evil of fathers
& brothers in disguise
Tukur writes from a coastal axis in Lagos Island, South-Western Nigeria. His poems have been published in journals including Libretto Magazine, The Quills, Art Of Peace Anthology, Ngiga Review, and elsewhere. He won the Brigitte Poirson Monthly Poetry Contest (March 2018) and shortlisted in the Collins Elesiro Poetry Prize (June 2019), among others.
In 2019, his debut poetry chapbook, A Boy’s Tears On Earth’s Tongue was published. His poems are inspired by existence, ruins, memories, identity and, the inherent crisis, creation and desires.
Photo by Godisable Jacob from Pexels
Writing Tip
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When it comes to writing poetry, the new cool is to write something so cryptic and difficult to critique.
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The message/artistic beauty is often lost in the poet's desire to put out something grand.
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Billy Collins says clarity is the real risk. One that many are not willing or confident enough to take, for fear of criticism or standing 'naked' in front of their audience.
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We want you to know that you're not putting out sub-standard poems just because yours is simple and relatable!
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#poetry #poems #poemsofig #writingcommunity #saturdaynight #writingadvice #writingtips #weekend
In Sunflowers and Sunburns, Joshua Effiong shares what we would like to refer to as the recipe of hope.
Enjoy the #read: https://eboquills.com/2020/09/18/sunflowers-and-sunburns-a-poem-by-joshua-effiong/
#poetry #poetrycommunity #FridayFeeling #FridayMotivation #WritingCommnunity #poem
We wake up to multiple mails from some of you, private messages and whatever. Please stop being a pain in an #editor's ass!
TW: harassment
I’ll no longer be publishing the work of Samuel Junior Irusota in Chambers this month, as he sent me multiple messages across my different social media accounts, one of which was my private Facebook account.