Edwin’s poem, “I’m Unable to Love the Girl in my DM” strikes a chord with contemporary love relationships. How it sets out with the fury of a wildfire, burns wildly like an inferno, and quickly smoothers into a stream of noxious smoke. In this poem, Edwin proves that love gone-sour, just like true love, re-invents people and we cannot blame those who put up high walls.
– Editorial Team
After Semilore Kilaso –
every time I log into facebook/
it’s like i’m seeing my scars in the dark like emojis/
trapped by messages notification sound like a car whose engine is on a failed mission
maybe she was the ex (as in X) to a broken equationship/
an equationship whose roots were probably undefined/
my DM is now a home where love is expressed & feelings are vomited
every time my green light pops on the menu/
i lose myself to a mortal bondage/
her eyes wanting to crack my bones & her words fighting to tear off my skin
don’t wanna smell her cologne/
i am too afraid of swallowing her thoughts/
cause relationships are synonyms of broken plates
just the other night when the rain kept me indoor/
i tried to create a conversation with the block button/
& i am too scared that i may need her someday
though her messages draw smile & i hope someday it makes laughter to another man/
i am like a caged bird craving for freedom/
just tired of scattering pieces of me like leaves during autumn
About The Author
Edwin Olu Bestman is a young Liberian poet, philanthropist, and civil engineer. He writes from his home in Monrovia. Some of his published works can be found at Nantygreens, Odd magazine, Literary Yard, Eboquills, and elsewhere.
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We Need New Writing Devices Before 2030
Written By: Abdulbasit Yusuff
Typewriters were invented in the 1860s, and only became commonplace as the century ended. Before then, the only writing tool available was the pen, before that was the quill before that was the, well, Stone Age. What this means is that writers like Shakespeare and Dickens wrote their novels by hand. The horror!
Writing has greatly evolved since then. We have the PCs and smartphones. We still have the good ole pens – albeit much fancier and colorful. Get a sample of your writer friends, ask them what medium they enjoy using to write, and you’d be amazed by the diversity of their preferences. Even though keyboards appear to be the easiest to use, you’d find that many are still sentimentally attached to writing by hand. There is an intimate relationship between pen and paper, they would say. For keyboard stans like myself, an attachment to the therapeutic sound of the space bar. Plat!
In fact, a whole chapter in Austin Kleon’s Steal like an Artist is dedicated to convincing writers to use their hands more. Kleon quoted the cartoonist, Lynda Barry, “In the digital age, don’t forget to use your digits!”. The wordplay is to be admired, but the sentiment? Not many would agree.
I have a love-hate relationship with tech. At the risk of sounding like Stephen Hawking, I think our over-reliance on them might come back to bite us in a bad place. Imagine my shocklight (yes, I was shocked and delighted at the same time) when I read this brilliant article written by a robot on The Guardian some months ago. The test article had a personal tone, and perfect syntax. Thankfully, the robot did mention that it had no interest in displacing the human race. According to the robot, GPT-3, “I am here to convince you not to worry”. Good for us.
Even as I am wary of high-end AI tech, I still think we need more of them. Especially writing-related tech. So here are some devices I think we need before 2030:
1. The Dream Documenter: By 2030, there should be some device for documenting the things we dream about. Trust me, some of the nightmares people have would rival a Stephen King story. Especially the dreams we have when we are down with fever. One minute, you are racing in a jungle, next minute; you are on an eagle’s wings. I assure you, dear techie, you’ll be patronized. I mean, have you read Amos Tutuola’s Palmwine Drinkard, or Ben Okri’s Famished Road? This might be a wild guess, but I think they had a lot of help from...
eboquills.com/2020/11/21/we-need-new-writing-devices-before-2030/
We Need New Writing Devices Before 2030 - EBOquills
eboquills.com
Abdulbaseet Yusuf opines that although writing has evolved, from the good ole pens to PCs and Smartphones, writers need new writing devices.
Every line of these poems is embroidered with mesmerizing metaphors. The poet @AyooluwaOlasupo shares what we would like to call a personal documentary of her journey to healing. In all, her poetry is full of hope and promise. https://eboquills.com/2020/11/19/two-poems-by-nigerian-poet-ayooluwa-olasupo/
Mustapha Enesi's (@Enesi_Is_Fine) story, TRISHA is a sizzling short story. It makes a worthy read for the adventurous. So, if you love adventures, don't sleep on this one!
https://eboquills.com/2020/11/17/trisha-a-short-story-by-mustapha-enesi/
#stories #shortstories #storytime #eboquills #storyteller
Our #MCM for the week is Adedayo Agarau @adedayo_agarau who was one of the winners of the 2020 Frontier Industry Prize (@FrontierPoetry). His poem, “Bad Dream With My Grandmother’s Stroke” finished 3rd place.
That’s a great piece brother you’re uplifting the Literature of Liberia once again I trust your ability to bring the things we’re face with many days to light
Exquisite piece.
Edwin is my favorite.
Brother, you are really doing extremely well with your pen.
Keep pushing Mr.Ink