I write to you; you holder of our broken pieces
I begin this poem with the theory of how men
Sing the songs of grief and hold our broken images together,
So when this poem gives birth to the storm
Mother was the first to sip the snow, strangling
On the whirlwind of typhoon nights. It says the nightmares
Sing the lullabies of flowering stars that appear in many films.
In one; a brother homed my words between
The colours of his tongue and Mama’s encamping grief.
In another; a boy crawls to understand the language
Of what it takes to sip fire from the cup of gods
Or those that invade the wind and nosed all that breathe corpses.
In another; a monogamous storm of scientists
Tongued the language of 15 July as the first date of rescue.
And your father was carved between the roars of thunder.
So this time— name me after the title you found
On your dead forgotten grandpa’s forehead.
I’m sorry. Back again is me— versing to paint the colours
Of naked metaphors to how men will
No longer endangered their breath.
ABOUT THE POET
Abubakar Auwal, a talented young artist hailing from Minna, Niger State, Nigeria, wears many creative hats. He is a bilingual teen poet, playwright, essayist, movie actor, graphics designer, storyteller, and spoken word artist. Abubakar is a proud member of The Poetic Collective (TPC VIII) and one of the founding members of Nigerlite Spoken Word Artists (NiSWA_1).
His creative works have found homes in various publications, including Teen Lit Journal, Synchronized Chaos magazine, Hello Poetry, LILAC Journal, Poetry.com, Words Rhymes & Rhythm, Artnews.com.ng, Al-Fijir MSSN magazine, New Voices Magazine, California Poppy Times, IJAEM journal, Flower Song Press, and Boundless 2023: the anthology of the Rio Grande Valley International Poetry Festival, among others.
Abubakar serves as the Editor in Chief at New Voices Magazine, a junior editor at Poetry.com, and takes pride in being a member of the Hill-Top Creative Art Foundation. Notably, he clinched victory in the Splendor of Dawn poetry and short story competition (February–April edition, 2023) and secured a finalist spot in the NSYTH Poetry and Spoken Word Recitation.
