Friday, September 2, 2016

Welcome to Isaac Melchizedek (Warning: Explict Language)



Tonight I am posting two prose poems by Isaac Melchizedek, a young poet and editor from Nigeria.

Love Poem

I have heard you call my head a skull of hostile waters. But I smiled. I love you all the same. Fire, dear, although is the perfect word to use; burns into love. Love into you. You into a manicured goddess.

There is a poster of Mary in my dormitory sucking her kid, just by the stairs down dark alleys where virgins employ hands to clean their virgingates.


As long as 'stupid' 'rubbish' 'asshole' 'fool' are flowery words in our love language, I'll love you, my precious fool. As long as we meet not to discuss the weight, size, depth, or paint that covers the face of forever, I'll love your rusting gate too. I'll be a hitler for you, I'll be madness itself.




Sewing

I hemmed streets of naked citizens round my favourite dress to show the world I care. A flesh ridden girl sewed not far from my sleeveless arm, her mother's corpse, sweeping the ground. I wanted to squeeze her into a jug of honey, rid her of haunting memories. She reminds me of oceans with faceless bodies. She reminds me of mother, with her face of contoured hells.

Some histories are penned alone with black inked blood.

I'll be wearing their fears to sleep tonight. Lest echoes of raindrops, weary of love, decides to empty itself of waters. Lest, UNICEF decides to dash this sad girl teeth to bit off her own head
I'll be wearing her people's story as a ceremony to church this Sunday. I hope my cologne wouldn't kill their hopes, my bad breath wouldn't make them think of me as home. I am a journey. A yellow thread.

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I'm going to post some videos from a YouTube playlist "Nigerian Afro Jazz," starting with Fela Kuti's "Fogo Fogo."




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