Ogaga Ifowodo Biography

Hung above water, hands in the air,
whited tongues and breathing fibrous hair:
roots, white mangrove roots.
...

They heard a thud in a clump of bamboo,
then the tea-black water of the lake
they had drunk for a night and a day exploded.
...

I preferred the nights when oil lamps twinkled
over the evening tide catch in wet nets,
fish-women smelling of eau de poisson
...

They scrap for a living
where the land's promise was boundless ease.
The fisherman throws his net, rejoices
...

(for Ken Saro-Wiwa & the Ogoni 8)


1) Let Us Pretend We Can Write It

Let us pretend we can write it, using
...