Poetry: Places Inside Out

Timbuktu (Timbuctoo)
Mali
Serially abused prostitute
Slaves. Salt. Ivory. Gold.
Medieval market monkey.
Porous as sponge
Enslaved freedom.
The light headed to the light-headed.
Impoverishment
Djinguereber

Leonell
=======================
Garam
(Pankshin) Plateau
A rock in the sky.
Alive in the market
A bird on a rooting branch
As strong as ice
Steeply high below the ground.
A fairy fair fire from afar.
Distant
Blood.

Ruddapoet
===========================
Aghabia
South east
Crown of thorns
Pains, tears, war, fear
Peace comfort lies in grave
Like a baby in its cradle
Death befriends peace
War wore on every face
Vincible
conquerors

Tochi
============================
Ifira
Ondo state
Hidden under the branches
Of large cocoa trees
Like the famished land
Blessed to die in hunger
Wearing kwashiorkor like a crown
Yet nakedly unashamed
Ragged
Colourful

Bose

Jos
Plateau state
Death place of peoples
Under colonial dug mines
In shades of religion
Hunted still by unknown soldiers
Though the tomatoes are greens
Red is the blood irrigating them
Cold
Beautiful

Bose