In the spirit of the season of love, we announced a giveaway contest across our social media platforms. Writers and literary enthusiasts were asked to send in fiction of up to 750 words, or poetry of not more than 30 lines, with Love as the theme of course. The winners in each category (Prose and Poetry) were to get cash gifts, as well as an African book relevant to the genre on which their entry was based.
Over a period of five days, we received submissions ranging from the funny to the cheesy, the introspective and the downright corny. We sieved these entries, and we were able to lay our hands on three short stories and three poems deserving of recognition.
As promised, we would be featuring the works that made the cut, so here’s some poetry to get you thinking.
Oluoma Udemezue emerged second runner-up in this year’s Valentine Contest, and below is her piece, “Silhouette”
***
I find comfort, in dark places.
My life is better lived, a mirage.
Can you see?
There are ripples underneath this
malnourished love.
An enigmatic abruption, of this placenta?
Hate and bitterness, marry a
tight pearl, round our neck and
we now eat bile for Supper.
These weeds, see?
They wither at my very first touch.
My very first rose petals, have all fallen, naked, on moisty old paths.
The green crops have all, turned, claustrophobic brown and
the corns I bite into are harmattan dry.
Food cannot satisfy the Famished.
A spring, of bitterness, wells, from deep within here!
There is no love, here, where
a corrosive attraction, now, erode, an
ejaculation of intimacy, that turns
I sore at the centre, that, cravings, suddenly, turn, strange, soured-sore and,our bodies, now grow, intimately cold.
What more, can I ask for?
After all, I am, only, a woman
A woman with strange needs
Stripped off of all nakedness,
in the middle of the market place.
Time, made us wait,
Time, made us whom we are, for,
the flowers, the flowers, that never scent.
The bees, that never came, buzzing
About The Contributor:
Oluoma Udemezue loves to read and write; she also enjoys movies and meeting new people. Oluoma believes that life is nothing without a little touch of romance, thriller and reality. Her short stories have appeared on Pulse Nigeria.
