I saw the roses you got me.
They were beautiful.
They had thorns,
Much like our relationship,
The red as deep as the lipstick I wear,
To impress you on dates,
The smell as intoxicating as yours when we hug.
But the biggest similarity you have with the roses;
They wilted and faded after sometime,
Just like you did.
Zakkiyah Ibrahim is a poet and student living in Freetown, Sierra Leone
No.
It's not because I'm having an affair with a wealthy married man who buys me pretty things and promises me he'll leave her for me; A nɔ want yu.
Yes, I know you're ABC and you do XYZ, you'll take me here and there and do this and that; "But a nɔ want yu".
Even though she'll give the world to be here with you, a jus nɔ want yu.
Your shoes; tanned leather, your collar; starched-stiff, your skin touched with that jc gloss and your back pocket bulging and screaming "you know say money no be problem"
But a still nɔ want yu.
Don't do that. I said no.
Don't call me that. No means no.
Careful now, your ugly is starting to show.
Don't ask me "Aw yu de mek so ba", because I already told you. A nor want u. Without an explanation or apology.
A nɔ want yu.
Rejected, jilted, self conflicted sexually frustrated turned angry, vindictive slanderous story teller.
"Bitch", "slut", "hypocrite" just a few untrue words you said out loud and to every idle ear to restore your shrunken ego, just because I said...
Ebun Tengbeh is a Lawyer and Poet based in Sierra Leone.
