How to think of a broken river
think of a broken river hastening back to the sea
that is to say you remember a boy reshaping his dreams i carried
my body through darkness
through the paths where silence grows in men’s tongue
i splattered my grieves and gave them names
names ears cannot hold this is river hastening back to the sea i
mean this is me fixing myself into my wound into the broken
memories hovering in my bones i carried my coffin and headed
to the street of oblivion to where men call marijuana god
& replace tears with a cracking smile
Ololade Akinlabi Ige is a young Nigerian poet, a graduate of OAU. He hails from Ibadan. He was a nominee for Nigeria Writers Award 2017 and a two time winner of Poet in Nigeria 10-day poetry Challenge. He emerged as second runner up in Youth Shades international poetry contest in 2017. He was shortlisted for Albert Jungan poetry prize same year. He won the last edition of Ken Egba Poetry prize organized by PIN.