Guardian Of The Fall
The branches of the trees trembled as the wind moved through them, making a small whistling sound. Down the hill, beside the river where the men worked, bringing down some ageing cocoa trees with their cutlasses, there was singing as the swish swish of cutlasses filled the afternoon air. An old battered pick up and a tractor stood in the middle of a large clearing behind the men as they worked.
One of them was calling to his colleague standing by the pickup truck. The sound of the rushing water of the waterfalls just a stone throw from them mingled with the men’s voices.
Twilight at Terracotta Indigo (1)
Marlene woke up with a start, beads of perspiration on her forehead. “A nightmare,” she whispered to herself. A loud pounding began in her head, and she massaged her temple with her forefinger and middle finger trying to remember exactly what her dream was about. Feeling disoriented, she switched on the bedside lamp, and began to push the quilt aside to swing her legs to the lush carpet rug when a rich baritone voice froze her in her tracks.
“Are you okay baby?”
Marlene’s eyes widened in shock as a head materialized from the sheets. She swallowed her scream and shoved the sheets aside. Her eyes still on the intruder, she landed with a thud in an ungainly heap on the floor.
On Winning The ANA Prize For Poetry
My inclination towards poetry started at the same time I discovered my love for all things literature. African poets like Okot p’Bitek, Wole Soyinka, J.P Clark and so many other fantastic writers helped me appreciate the uniqueness of poetry as a form of literature and it was not long before I would start scribbling poems of my own.
My first collection of poems “Inside My Head” is a work spanning a period of over ten years. Poems like “The Magnitude Of Love” was written when I was sixteen.
Winning The ANA/NDDC Flora Nwapa Prize
I can’t remember what spurred me to heed the call of the Association of Nigerian Authors to writers to submit their work for the annual literary contest. All I remember is the single thought “Well, why not?” and it then my work joined over 137 entries by writers home and abroad to compete in the various categories of the literary show down.
So, trying not to second guess my action and ignore the small, still and ruthlessly persistent voice that reminded me of my newbie status in the colourful world of Nigeria literature, I pushed the memory of what I had done from my head and went about making the most out of the year.
The Beginning Of The Twilight At Terracotta Indigo Journey
The evening was quite a slow one at “Waterfalls” restaurant off the ever busy Ajose Adeogun on Victoria Island (which co-incidentally is one the places that gets mentioned in my book). I was almost in knots over the arrival of the guests and the celebrities who were supposed to grace the event. The reason? – I am not the best public speaker this side of the planet.
Time has plans of its own. It has decided to pass with such alarming speed that evening my fervent prayers for a slower evening make very little difference.