My Lagos Poem by Birgitta Abimbola Heikka
My Lagos
Under the Tropical sun, strung
Rumbling like the sea on which she sits
A tornado ride in an amusement park
- exciting, enthralling, endangering.
Tinubu Square
swarming with animals crafty
Cars honking
Pedestrians cursing
Customer! Customer!
Vendors hawking merchandise medley
Made in England!
Made in America!
Made in Japan!
Made in China!
Like hawks sighting a corpse fresh
they attack.
Hustlers, pick pockets
Naira, Dollars changing hands
faster than a Japanese sonic train.
Ashiri a bo!
Ashiri a bo!
On Carter Bridge, beggars belch
Mosques blaring prayers
Waves of discordant noises
swaying, coaxing.
Serene and sizzling
like a rebirthing snake
under the evening sun, she naps
Seducer of Portuguese slavers
Idumota Lagoon
Transporting King Sunny Ade and his African Beats
through iron-barred windows and quadruple-locked doors
Ole! Ole! Ole!
Dubbed melodies serenade the night
Pa! Pa! Pa! Pa! Papa pa!
Robbers and cops battling for the night street
like old American cowboy movies.
A jungle under the frying sun
dozing but never asleep
My Lagos.
Tinubu Square! ! ! Yes, i lived in Lagos (Nigeria) years ago. Great work! Thanks for sharing.
A JUNGLE UNDER A TROPICAL SUN / DOZING BUT NEVER ASLEEP - What a wonderful closing metaphor for the Lagos you so vividly evoked in the body of the poem. You transported me there and immersed me in the excitement, energy, madcap joy of a bustling market. Actually, the noise was so overwhelming, the crowd so dense. I almost wanted to take refuge in the mosque and sit peacefully in contemplation of a spiritual realm in which the body is calm because the spirit is aroused. It's a tribute to your poetic skills that the imagery gave me these opposite experiences and both were fully real and alive!
I've not been to Nija, but u talk about it as my Nija friends have told me the place is
An insightful, well articulated piece of poetry. The poem captured the hustle and bustle life in Lagos perfectly. A lovely penned work of art. Thanks for sharing.
An amazing man-made jungle, with all types of voices and noise. Can feel myself standing amidst all this hustle and bustle, hearing everything, seeing jumbles of crowds buying and wares being sold. Great poem! ! Love it's rhythm as well. Thank you for sharing it, Birgitta. RoseAnn
This poem has not been translated into any other language yet.
I would like to translate this poem
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4/19/2024 5:06:00 AM # 1.0.0.1119
A synthetic jungle under the frying sun dozing but never asleep My Lagos.......................... crowd befuddles by own mirror as cry of joy seems to ruffle at square, beautiful write with imagery and metaphors, yet i like the last two lines which is self depicting