The Watcher III
“It is true!” Amazarak’s whisper penetrated through the thick blackness within the temple. “She is truly gifted.” he continued. The night sky glowed with silver that fell into the temple through the windows that were close to the roof. It was normal for distressed humans to be found in the temple after dark, but Azazel and Amazarak were not humans. Their eyes glowed within the darkness. “Hmm! Does he know it yet?” “He suspects.” “Then we must move up plans.” Ishtar had come to the fields again, basket in her hand. The sun was quiet above her. It was different today. Somebody else was there before her. She strained her neck until she was looking up, into his face. The intensity in his eyes told her a story that she knew she should not want to listen to; but she did want to. She remembered him, although he looked different,…
Why Should We Even Care?
Don’t you just want to do stuff and not care what others would say? Don’t you just want to leave the house with those comfortably loose free clothes and not care how styleless you’d look. You won’t even care about the saying that looking good is good business, all you care about is feeling good and comfortable in your own skin. Don’t you just want to be very Frank and tell Sandra off, tell Duke No, tell your boss your mind, tell Emeka you have a crush on him, tell your dad you need more money and tell Tobi she looks amazing ? Don’t you just want to cry in church and serve God without minding what people would say? Don’t you? Why do we even have to care so much what others say? By Mirabelle Morah
The Watcher II
“Who is that?” Samyaza asked. His skin glazed under the sun as he looked far into the fields. He and Amazarak, the Sorcerer were taking their traditional walk in the afternoons. Ishtar was picking grains far in the fields. Her gown gracefully danced to an agile rhythm that played in Samyaza’s mind. Her hair gleamed in the sun light. ‘“Who?” Amazarak had a sharp voice so that even though he talked fast, it was not difficult to hear him. Samyaza was quiet. “Oh!? Ishtar? Her name is Ishtar. No one knows anything about her except that she is an orphan who works the fields for money” Amazarak spread his lips into suggestive laughs. “She is quite beautiful, isn’t she?” “Eerie, isn’t it?” Amazarak quickly turned to look at Samyaza. He was squinting. It was shocking to hear that Samyaza was frightened, even worse to know that the cause of his…
The Watcher I
Long, time ago, long before cities were built within walls, in the days of Enoch, the beholder of heavens, when men were closer to the truth and believed in only one god, a band of angels rebelled against the laws of the universe and decided to find freedom. They searched through the seven universes and found freedom on earth. They would soon discover that, on earth, freedom is not free. He stood still; the feeling was even better than he had anticipated. He closed his eyes as he inhaled the cold night air. The star-studded sky spread into the horizon that held dark waters. When he opened his eyes, the moon was in the water, it moved with the ripples. His bare feet were buried in the white sands. He moved them. Is this what it feels like to be human? He asked himself as the tides sent refreshing breeze tumbling against…
When Will My Own Love Happen
I feel too hurt for words To think I may never find love I never want to search for it Yet I search And even though I search I never seem to find it And whenever I think I have, It’s never truly mine They either love someone else Or it just doesn’t come to be When will my own love happen? When will I tickle with fickle excitement that someone I love, loves me back When will I finally not share someone’s love with another stranger If you’re out there, I want you to be all mine and noone else’s How much longer do I have to wait? How much longer do I have to love completely without my lover being truly mine? Why did you make me fall for you if you knew you were going to leave me halfway? So I ask again, When will my own…
Unplanned Journey
Infant love Crawling care Digging well A child is born. Unpleasant couple Love child Blood flows Authors of poverty. Lone mother Dyslexic child Cursed Devil Builders of agony. Poor father Vice child Government’s fault? Murderers of happiness. Obscure future Misused Heyday Who is culpable? Non but the unplanned journey. By Sotikare Taiwo Olakunle. Olakunlex007@gmail.com
To Nne’m
To Nne’m Today doesn’t have to be momma’s day for me to celebrate you, cause I’d celebrate you everyday. I’ve read that the older we grow, the more we realize that we have to respect our mothers. Nne’m, I respect you so much. When I think about you I remember how strong a woman you are. Everything you’ve gone through, every time I’ve hurt you, family’s disappointed you, friends have let you down but you’ve still been so strong. If I were in your shoes, mom, I don’t think I’d be able to tolerate myself just as you have. I know I’m so much of a pain, I know I could be impatient, I know how argumentative and annoying I can get with you, I may not be the best but yet you treat me like am over-the-top-amazing. I love it when you tell me that I’d go places, I…
Between He and That Thing Called Love
“… Maybe it really isn’t my time, yes I do fall in lust with all the wrong people, so that really doesn’t make it love. I’ve tried to push myself on this person, I’ve said how I feel, I’ve sang love songs and written love poems even to her.” He gave a dry laugh and gulped down some more of the coke from the bottle in his hands. “My head hurts badly now, maybe I need panadol. It pains to know that my love loves someone else. I seriously have a bad headache now o! I could just be her side guy sef. I don’t see any reason to save money to travel out anymore. Aunty doctor, do you see this thing? You get the point ba?” I nodded and urged him to carry on. Trying to give him the best of my rapt attention but actually my mind had…
Ranyinudo
“Ranyinudo!” She moved skillfully inbetween tables of rotting tomatoes half-hidden beneath fresh ones. Fat healthy flies buzzed and danced without fear around them while the traders paid little or no attention to the flies, only calling out to passers-by to buy their tomatoes. “Ranyinudo!” The voice seemed persistent. She hastened her steps and moved briskly, brushing hard against the crowd as she tried to hide and mix with the different shades, colours and sizes of people. Whoever it was she didn’t want to meet, she wanted to be left alone. Mannequins showcasing different cotten and wool sweaters lined almost every shop she walked past. Her old sweater was threadbare now and the harmattan was just becoming intense, she was calculating how much she had in her savings bottle back at home when someone grabbed her left hand, jolting her out of her thoughts. She looked down and Sunia smiled at…
Ever
My bag is packed, she says in her mind, but I can hear her loud and clear. The most beautiful creature I’ve ever laid my turquoise eyes on since I was a cub. ‘I love you and I don’t want you to leave, but you just have to.’ I say to her in my mind. She packs her hair into a bun and ties it round with a black scarf—I love black. I love her —but she can’t hear me. I wish she could feel the rhythm of my heartbeats, the way I can feel hers right now. Boom.. Boom boom.. Boom.. Boom Boom… It goes and I love the sound of it. Each time we cuddle during the cold rainy nights, her heart beats just once every five minutes. She used to feel safe with me. I was once her angel’s wings. “I’m ready to leave now.” She finally…
Unread
It had always stared at him in the face. He respected her and she respected him, or so he thought. With that, he couldn’t just open it up. But you know something? Today was different. Today made it three years since it had been laying on his table, untouched. His curiosity was very much alive today. He had suppressed every monstrous journalistic curiosity in him for three good years. If she didn’t want him to open it she would’ve come back and taken it away ever since. She left it there. She left it there and never came back for it. Or. For him. *** He stood by the pavement of a bridge and looked across. “Wavy, curly, seesaw, up and down…” He muttered to himself as he watched the river tides. If only he had known all that she had been going through. If only he hadn’t been too…
Sex Is Not A Game
She’d played her cards well, Said the right words rightly, She’d showed her parts well, A diagram drawn brightly, She made HD of her HB, posterior and anterior, Take her BLACK dress LIGHTLY… Not her DARK motives that’s ulterior… She’s a queen with a black heart Her schemes stay green like the icon of Whatsapp… Attracting sheep to skin that strays with sins(scenes) without a Flashback… On her bed of pleasure and death, She feeds on bread, Luring them in with her words, Turning her doors into walls, Another checkmate of whots as They bleed unheard… They had more CHANCES than YAKUBU, yet they couldn’t flee even for THEIR OWN GOOD, She claimed she had secrets, and was willing to share, SHE TURNED ROUND ,giving them a REAR VIEW of herself, Their hearts race but their feet stayed put, Their thoughts wondered where conscience strayed to, The first was a…
Cynthia
Cynthia was always nice to me. She had the prettiest smile and the prettiest hair, not that I knew many girls but Cynthia lived next door. “You, come out and play with me.” She’d call out on Wednesday evenings. “Hey, come on and eat with me.” She’d say to me in school. “Won’t you be in church today?” She’d ask me on Sunday mornings. Sometimes I thought she cared about me more than my family did and so I trusted her with my trust. My everything. And my life. It was carol night in church that day. Cynthia made me sing with the junior choir and I had only obliged because she was also in the choir. The air was cold outside and everyone was inside the church building. We stood by the baptism pool, looking into it from behind the fence. “Mama says once I turn 16 I can…