The Emotive Verse: Joemario Umana on Influences, Process, and the Exploration of Masculinity
Joemario Umana is one of the rising voices in contemporary Nigerian poetry. Hailing from Maiduguri, Umana’s work explores the intricacies of identity, vulnerability, and the interaction between the physical and the emotive poetic realms. Umana is a SprinNG fellow, member…
Construct – Joemario Umana
whatever you say into the wind takes form,for there is power in your tongue, the preacher said ever since, I’ve been waging warwith the wind with my tongue the wind has refused to shapeshifto, how I envy the sky how…
‘Cactus,’ ‘Bug,’ and ‘Dinner’ – Jide Badmus
Cactus Yours is a snowshoe devotion—a heart built for all weather. Friends say you’re prone, thatYou’re made up of small bones Of emotions. Tendon of smile,Vein of laughter— you’re soft & warm like the bosom of sky! But how do you keep The…
Shore-gazing – Praise Osawaru
Praise Osawaru (he/him) is a writer of Bini descent. A Best of the Net, Pushcart Prize, and Nina Riggs Poetry Award nominee….
How to Tell My Body I Love You – JoeMario Umana
after Georgia Ifunaya’s Self-Love running waterfrom the showerbecomes hands& crawl my skinlike cover crops over soil, planting a million pimples on my body—a land fertilewith want. I slide into the tunnelof my left palm’s indexand thumb, slippery like okra’s drawmade from soap and water. this…
Thoughts about Tension – Blessing Obiahu
Tension should not be the umbrella word for that jolt that reverberates through your bones and skin when you brush a live wire on a day IKEDC forgets to flick the switch off in your zone because it does more…
Osholonge – Onoberhie Janet Ojevwe
A street divided by both the doers and the saintsA street divided by the houses: dilapidated and well structured Divided by different tongues, practices and beliefsTime to time, blue and red sirens come visiting With full force, taking into captivity the doers…
Two Poems by Mercy Musa
A Body Performing a Disappearing Act Like lace dipped in vinegar sorrowthe nature of my narcissism is translucent,this body, almost transparent, almost fading to nothingthis skin, almost disappearing, almost syncing to dust If only I could hold light in the…
Night song – Abdulrazaq Salihu
after Sylvia Plath The rusty blood of brown blades Set your body to rest like bean seed In dry soil — decay.My small palms lay 5 inches too smallTo hold your shoulders and the soft-Cracked air the night flushes in.An ode starts…
I Will Remember Your Name – Mayor Prosper Ihechi
Because the seers follow you across lifetimes. I am dreaming, and in my dream, we are together again, Temisola- the girl I can no longer remember, you. There is no face. All that remains is a voice, scratchy, like a…