IKONNE.

He watched her with heightened suspicion 

As she made her way towards him

She was dressed like them, the killers

As she reached for something in her handbag

He gripped the hilt of his dagger

Her hand emerged, clutching an umbrella

She walked past him

As he struggled to hide the knife

He heard the voices again

'Drink petrol now, and become special'

In the backyard, he found a full gallon

And drank and drank

He felt his chest burning

The voices were laughing now

And singing in another language

He tried to decode the lyrics

But his head was spinning

He coughed, it was bloody

Another set of voices awoke him

A small, laughing crowd

A boy was shouting,'Ikonne drank fuel o!'

He stood up and charged at them, gallon in hand

They fled like mortified rabbits

He was indeed special

The voices issued another command

'You need to be cleansed'

Removing the remainder of his clothes

His naked frame trekked the tarred road

Under the heat of the midday sun

In search of a river

©Kelvin Alaneme, 2015.

BROKEN.

He came bearing gifts

Spinning rhetorics with his plastic smile

I stood in the midday sun

Apathy and fatigue etched in my face

The man in white agbada was talking 

His litany of promises made me sick

A group were holding up his posters, chanting support

I examined them in amusement

Frail-looking old women

Young, jobless men

Hoarse voices and rumbling stomachs

My face fell as I saw Okoro

The shame and the memories came flooding in

Of feeling bloated and having strange cravings

Of innumerable ultrasound scans saying the same thing

Of countless beatings from my step-mother and name-calling

Of the race from the abortionist's table

Of seven months of loneliness and eventual loss

I looked at the man and then at Okoro

'Evil people!' I stopped short of screaming

I was a naive damsel, eyes filled with laughter

Okoro showered me with gifts and attention

He said I was his angel and it sounded funny

After months of wooing, I went to his house

Once inside, he bolted the door

I sat a safe distance from him

After drinking the juice he served me, I felt woozy

I woke up on his bed, feeling sore

I looked for something, anything, to cover my nakedness

There was blood on the sheets

©Kelvin Alaneme, 2015.

UNBORN.

The night never ends

I sat, hands folded in my watery world

Accompanied by darkness 

My belly tethered to the mound of flesh

Housing my delicate frame

A jolt roused me from my siesta

My house is on the move

I bounce up and down in my watery cushion

Turning has become difficult lately

I felt lazy and strangely big

I heard a familiar voice and smiled

Housekeeper's hands radiated warmth

Sending tingles down my spine

Her voice became clearer: a scream

I sensed commotion

My river grew smaller and smaller

I heard a cacophony of voices, speaking gibberish

What is happening? A war?

A strong force compressed me

Pushing me downwards, suffocating me

The compression and pushing continued

Why am I being so rough-handled?

Time passed, the voices grew louder

I could feel my strength ebbing away

My bowel let loose some hot excreta

A flurry of movement ensued

I felt weak and could hardly move my limbs

A tear appeared at the North end of my house

Suddenly, my house was in ruins

Something sharp grazed my forehead

A warm, thick liquid entered my orifices

I felt two strong arms pull my head

Face wiped, I opened my eyes to a strange sight

The slaps on my back left me heartbroken

I cried

©Kelvin Alaneme,2015.

FROLICS.

Your lips on mine

Like juice from fresh grapes

Red, succulent and full of adventure

Your tongue navigate my oral castle

Searching for hidden treasures

Your eyes are closed

The lashes moist with the morning dew

You open them

Your gaze penetrating my soul

A mixture of sorrow and fleeting joy

Your body is smooth, soft

Melting into mine

Our hands journey from the north to the south

Stopping at every gate

Every touch sending reverberations

Your love is tender

Slow, full, whole-hearted

A river bursting its banks

It overflows, surges forth

Cleansing and refreshing

Your voice is melody

Rising crescendo in an unending symphony

You call my name as I whisper in your ears

The winds and the rustling leaves

Laughing in agreement

Your grip is firm

Time stops, its two arms pinned down

The past fades into the future

Our quaking bodies make history

As we hold the moment

©Kelvin Alaneme, 2015.

BAGA.

We belonged to a country

Took pride in the green and white flag

In our thousands

We birthed the new year

Severing its umblical cord 

From the passing one

We struggled to forget the past

The air was thick with bad news

Our ears were deafened by bombs

And crackles of gunfire from surrounding villages

'The Nigerian Army is winning the war,' we were told

We believed until that midnight

Slashed throats and broken skulls

Human bowels lying on the bloodied street

They stepped on the mangled limbs

As they brought hell alive

We heard the machine gun sing

And watched the blade sever our spirits

From our disfigured bodies

Our virgin city stood defiled

Desolate with blood stained walls

Rotting flesh everywhere

Pot-bellied vultures perching and chewing

Dried blood on the pavement

The dense air, a curtain of darkness

Dead dreams and burnt faith

Our new year plans have been soaked in blood

The lucky ones have fled to Chad

The ill-fated ones still litter the streets

Just days before the city was filled with laughter

Now? Wandering shadows, birds, rodents

And eerie silence

©Kelvin Alaneme, 2015.

LIVE FOREVER.

You want to live forever

After the stars have lost their brightness

And the sun turned into a dull flat plate

You want to watch the moon's light go out

And the rivers become parched lands

You want to be remembered

Like the Gaza pyramids

Deeds standing tall

Offsprings surrounding you

Regaling in tales of time past

But today is a battle

Broken bones and torn flesh

An insipid mind in aching distress

Crying for more

Thirsting to be better

Fists pounding on an impregnable wall

The darkness approaches

Your present deeds haunt you

How do you erase

This terrible stain called your past

And walk into a glorious

Unsoiled morning?

You breathe; it is shallow

Sadness engulf you

You search and search for meaning

In an empty universe

You hear the taunts

And the ringing echoes

Still, you want to live forever

And read your suicide note

To generations unborn

The books of the future will tell

How you found meaning

And made something

Out of nothing

©Kelvin Alaneme, 2015.