BLAZING HOT (ISSUE 5)

BLAZING HOT (ISSUE 5)

 

BOOK BOOM

By Badamasi Aliyu Abdullahi

 

Much have I hurried

into the fold of your arms,

for in the chill of ignorance,

you hatched a warmth of knowledge

turning the rag of foolishness

into a lace of wisdom

 

Much have I wondered

about those who ignore you,

wandering in a lonely voyage

at the mercy of termites

tearing and eating you into slivers

away unbeknownst

 

Much have I laughed

at those who look at you in contempt,

assumedly a weightless object

not a pagination of endowment

but left in the company of dullards,

leaving a store of wisdom untouched

 

Much have I hoped

for those who yearn for you

to demolish their illiteracy

that blinded their visions

around circles of their foreheads

to join the queue of intellectual pilgrimage

 

Much have I pondered

about scholarly deposits

hidden in the ground of your pages

birthing booms from a glooms,

and build a mansion of hope from the sand of despair

for humanity’s fruit of bliss

 

Much have I craved

a roll of my brain in your clay,

and hairy bush of enquiry

to waltz out of the maze of oblivion

around the pinpricks of consciousness

for a get away from intellectual vertigo

 

 

badamasi Badamasi Aliyu Abdullahi, Secretary, Kano PIN Connect Center, is a Kano born multi-talented poet and graduate of Economics from Bayero University, Kano. He is an award winning writer in the Junior Chamber International Nigeria Essay Writing Competition in 2014. Badmasi is an unrepentant poet with unyieldingly passion for creative rendition.

A winner of a Presidential Award on Entrepreneurship in the Youth Enterprise With Innovation in Nigeria Youwin is also a JCI Certified Trainer who trains dozens of youths on Entrepreneurship, Leadership, ICT, Life Skills and Writing For Personal and Professional Growth.

 

 

 

 

BLACK CHILD

 

I, the African moorhen

dark-skinned,

bloody steam,

black to the bone,

red blood,

hotter than spice

 

I, squatted with stars

Sharing twilights

night and days

trees sleep

and slumber

Like old drunkards

in dreamless naps

 

I, bleached by sun

my lips coruscate

all Africans…

A sheer mass of pearl

covered by African Shells

folds hues of dear souls

 

I, the fountain of morality,

wet African walls,

my Africanness,

adorns the skulls of all;

make my earth a legend

with my giant tongue,

gladdening hearts of our ancestors

 

I, the mirror of Africa

lengthier than heaven

reflection of dreams

I, the pride of Kalahari

throne of Kilimanjaro,

will wear the lion’s fur,

for my lovely Africa

 

maryamMaryam Idris Gatawa, Kano PIN CC Rep, is a young brilliant poet and writer who lives in Kano, Nigeria. She is a graduate of Economics from Bayero University, Kano; and a human activist with special concern on making the lives of the orphans tear-free. Writing and reading are what give her great joy as a passionate lover of the arts. Some of her appetizing literary works were published in the African Writer Magazine.

 

 

 

 

***

 

SOME POETS CANNOT ALWAYS…

(For Mary Mackey)

 

Some drums are not

As loud as gongs

Accelerating unbroken beats

That move palace gigolos dancing

Like tireless Koroso dancers

Thrilling crowds on end

 

Some poets will not

Carry their pens with them

Composing panegyric songs

In praise of the king

 

Some passengers opt

For the train in rowdy rush,

Others patiently await their turn

Stepping in alone!

 


khalidKhalid lmam
, Member of the Board of Trustees and Kano Lead Rep of PIN Connect Center, was born within the ancient walls of Kano, in 1973. He is one of the finest postmodernist African panegyric poets. Imam, a passionate teacher, translator, editor, literary columnist and a multiple award-winning playwright had publish in UK, US, India and Germany. He is a bilingual author of nine books some of which are available on www.amazon.com/dp/B01LY4CPV4. He has served on many ANA committees both at National and state levels. Imam single-handedly popularizes Teen Authorship in Kano since 2004 by facilitating dozens of creative writing workshops for students of secondary schools. Imam, who was described as “a bag full of ideas”, successfully coordinated READ ACROSS NIGERIA Kano national reading event, in April, 2016. Awarded, in 2011, with one of Kano’s highest honours for Service to Humanity, by the highly respected Board of Trustees of Kano Forum for his diligence and initiating many innovative ideas and investments clubs in the schools he taught. Presently, Khalid lmam, is the founder and Executive Director at Whetstone Arts & Translation Services- a leading translation firm based in Kano. “Justice, Fairness and the Quest for Egalitarian Societies” published in Germany is one his most recent books.

 

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