Salawu
Olajide is a B.A Literature degree holder from the prestigious Department of
English and Literary Studies, Obafemi Awolowo University, Ile-Ife. He is
presently a postgraduate student of the same Department. He has published
strings of works on Saraba Magazine, Stony Thursday (Ireland), Kalahari Review, ZODML, among others. He currently works as a freelance reporter and
digital writer for The InfoStride. He enjoys listening to dadakuada music at his leisure time. When he was asked: ‘what
piqued your interest in poetry?’ He answered, ‘the nothingness of its
everything. Once I am grabbed again in my inside lab, I begin to experiment
with those verse-able words.’
His
shortlisted poem is here:
WOMEN LOVERS by Salawu Olajide (Nigeria)
She first said her biology was failing, and
then her look, then her smile, then her feeling, then her heart. We look at
each other on the rocking chairs. Listen,
she says. The tube of her mouth holds something venal and serious. We long for each other. Finally. The finally comes as if it is the only
intended word in the middle of the phrasing. She has a way of meaning her
adverb. Did you moan on each other’s
thigh ‘cept for sex? She says nothing but a nod which means yes. The sun
seems to be gossiping through the window, I unhinge the curtain and let
darkness swallow us. There are things they must not know. I whisper some
calmness into her heart. She adjusts her gown and shows the part of her breast
where she last kissed her. It is as if I
have never loved before.
The
winner will be announced during the #Babishai2015 Poetry Festival, 26 to 28
August at The Uganda Museum.
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