By Soji Cole That black Friday When the canoe berthed by the bank You entered as a passenger Oh, how can you be so unsuspicious! Not to know that the canoe paddler was death Now, how do I tell the world what my eyes have seen! How shall I tell the world what my ears have heard? How shall I [...]

by Joseph Ushie I never knew you while you danced and breathed But the innocence and charm on your undead face In this photo tell me you’re not dead. Earth and we’ve been jealous co-wives Eying your frame, eying your talent, eyeing your all And just while we feasted over having you Mother Earth laughed us to this scorn As [...]

by Peter Akinlabi   Say there was a dance unspent in you, a certain aversion to twine in the soul-shifting plunge into the  spell of the transformative pond;   or say  a refusal to arouse with the singular, profane tension of that plunge and grab Hermes by the mane, wresting   and heaving the techne   and the fire that followed, [...]

by Benson Eluma   For Ify Omalicha Who now to carry on Your dance of beatitude, Lead the chorus In the return movement?   Your strings have suddenly come Undone centre stage. The actors Cannot avoid the strewn beads.   Giving a matinée, death Offered us free seats, Issued you a libretto You were not eager for.   You did [...]

For Ify Omalicha, prima ballerina by Yomi Ogunsanya   It is night too soon in the house, and not time for matinée The lead dancer’s feet have strayed beyond the geography of the stage Beyond the arch and the orchestral pit, beyond the shadows of illusion   The lights are out, the drumming fingers are silenced mid-throb Now others have [...]

by Ayodele Olofintuade   Tonight I deleted Ify Omalicha’s phone number from my contacts. The number has not been on my phone for long, just barely 3weeks old. It’s strange actually because I’ve known Ify for longer than that. She was one of my missed opportunities. I still beat myself up over that, because on several occasions I’d been given the [...]

(for Ify Agwu) By Jumoke Verissimo   i   Dreams should not lose their way But when they wander into The garage of graveyards and ghostly towns What poem will protest and fight abyss grief?   *   Before now, my eyes became many things: A river, a mirror, a flower, a door, a light   It was never cemetery [...]

by Odetomi Festus Olasumbo Oh death You who pitch your tent Above everyman’s roof Your name dreadful The breath of man You make less meaningful Your time and tide Predicted by no man   Love, life, laughter, smiles Peace, hope, beauty Poetry, dance OMALICHA You snatched away Without out consent If this is a dream Then I decide To wake up [...]

by Sophia Agbasiere   GOODBYE OMALICHA Goodbye, Omalicha And without anger I, myself, am not upset Goodbye as you sojourn Without much  ado Goodbye provided you are safe May he protect you He who gives and takes life     IFY’S UGLY JOURNEY   I heard you’re dead. It was not a dream, As I tried hard to fight This [...]

by Sunmaila Umaisha (IFY OMALICHA’s collection of poems, Now that dreams are Born, published by Kraftgriots, 2011, p.141.) The Nigerian literary scene is fast becoming famous for churning out promising writers. Ify Omalicha, a master’s degree holder in Theatre Arts from the University of Ibadan, is a veritable proof of this fact. Her new collection of poems, Now that Dreams [...]