hoteli nafuu
I arrived Yaba at 12 a.m., Miley Cyrus ‘Wrecking Ball’ blasting from my earbuds. There was no indication that this was the very definition of the room I would be booked into. It was a cage. The bed was hard, and I was doing gymnastics in my head. How would I survive the night?
I made a call, and the person on the other end spotted blood on my bedspread.
It was the closest I’ve been to a crime scene. My mind couldn’t stop wandering. What could have happened here, maybe forced intercourse? In this dingy, deadbeat hotel, I hope I wake up tomorrow.
…
Robinhood
You keep a small black book of iniquities,
Write sins and wrongdoings; ask existential questions.
Not one to wait around for karma to do your bidding,
You gather a rag-tag team to mete out judgment on
Behalf of vexed soul.
…
It was you!
“He can never amount to much,
crude, uncivilised, he goes about
like it is still the dark ages”
Yet, it was you who needed slaves,
came down my coast and shot some maxims
loaded your cursed ship with lanky negroes
took them off to your plantations.
It was you who came back, preaching progress
equity and justice, blew off chiefs and exiled princes
for what crime? They didn’t cower to your guns.
It was you who stole and pillaged, levied taxes and duties
yet you blame the black man for being so poor.
It was you
Babatunde Adeleke is a Nigerian writer, poet, and public relations (PR) professional. A communication specialist with a background in print and digital journalism, he has written for the Nigerian Tribune and other national publications. His poetry and essays have appeared in Lion and Lilac, Meniscus, Kalahari Review, WildSound, Erogospel, PunPoet, SpringNG, and several anthologies. He is the author of two poetry chapbooks — Origami and Pleasure Field.
