"What are we?"
You’d swear you didn't hear Romoke—
The first time.
But Ifeanyi, you did
Her Amala and Ewedu already found a place,
In your elenu gbànga gboró
So, you’d say, "Ehn?"

"Ifeanyi."
Not ifé mi,
like she often tagged you.

And you’d remember—
how it began,
with the "Heys" and "Hi-oos,"
Like Sisi Jenifa.
Then, "Let’s meet at my place."
That came after

"No, I wanna see movie,"
she’d bargain—
till she landed in your pyjamas,
Dinner at my place
Was suddenly real
her identity—
lost in the mist.

So you’d say,
"Just bring the food, my dear."

-

No one ever claimed you.
A naive Aduke, in her youth,
Left you by the beach
So you swore
Never to call her mother.

So when Arolake
Called you hers,
You didn't fully understand.
Then she went a mile further,
Looked you in the eye,
And said,

"You were mine from the very beginning."

You ran away.

-

A broken playlist, among other relics
Lies on your desk
Waiting to be read
A threshold you both once shared

Your heart is like the playlist
Incomplete,
You recall
The micro tins tins in your belly
Playing Fast and Furious
Until you gulped a pair of Flagyl
Or whatever
Sisi Nurse tagged it

But since the night
Adesewa had sent you packing
All for a test you thought you’d pass,


But your guys will say
Who sends prey into the lion’s den
And calls it a test of faith?

-

Baba and Mama’s 50th
Celebration of Love,
Brews a feast for a lifetime.

Sulia, with the “aww” residents,
Ensured to grace the occasion
Tied in the hottest of Asó-Okés.
And golden Geles.
Somebody’s Son might just linger by the corner,
But beauty fades quite quickly.

Like the years called yesterday,
Sulia's prime has become a tale of tomorrow died yesterday
And the Somebody's Sons?
Now wander, in need of young blood.

-

The first time you read my love letter,
You rolled your eyes,
Wondering if my love came with no workings.
By month’s end,
I showed up at your doorstep,
A bouquet of flowers in hand.

The next time you watched me write,
It was your mother’s funeral.
You asked for a tissue,
But my love reached out instead,
Wiping your tears away.

The last time you heard my romantic words,
You froze,
My lips tried to keep you warm, to no avail
They met a palm harder than olomo rock
Then my mouth opened wide
Your eyes rolled like before
Then you asked me how
I dared mention those words
To my wife's sister.

-

You’d often ask her how you both got here
A remedy
To get things back on track
Softly after hearing Oga Muri’s Words
Like a cassette
Playing in real life

Women wear clothes only for two reasons
For men
And for men

The words would lack sense
In the beginning
Till the rejection mail- love letter
Just as brother tuned it
All your last cards
Soon became a thing of yesterday

“Another one will come”
Halima often said
As she spent and spent..

Till the day arrived
Your pocket went empty
Your love did not come
And her ringtone
Forever ringing.

-

This is my last dance.
The bells ring just before you speak.
Your heart will race faster
Not only than the swing of your date's arms
But also a moving Train.

"He"ll have this night only."
The boys' bombastic side-look warn
No Kolo Muani moments today!

Hold me tight!
Ewa's words swing,
Swifter than wine spun into
A glass of Azul
Handed by the bartender.

"Ewa!
This free-spirited Ewa...
Is my destiny," You yell.

-

Someone tagged me an expert,
A painter of worlds with words.
I devoured the praise,
Leaving no crumbs
Much like I unwrap this cake
While the world lies fast asleep.

Mother’s deep freezer,
My anchor in the midnight hush,
Holds this cake,
It's longing for me ripened
Since the night before.

-

I hear the best stories
Are told from the very beginning.
The ending, however,
Is a show for another day.

The holy books always said,
"Count your blessings,
No matter how small they are."
Sola added her own version,
Reading to me by the glass house.

That I lean on
With a bag of dreams
And a bucket of blessings,
Handed to me
Each one make its way to the sky.

They all dance like lillies
And hum
"We’ve barely scratched the surface."

-

Detty December would gift you
Adetoke
On a night where
The street lights had no part two
Love was in the air- abi heat dé nì

Unlike Tunde
You don't damn Delilah tonight

Instead, you both stare
Like sojourners
Of what ought have been.

-