SLQ Daily, 03 October 2020

Read of the Day is May 1970, highly commended in the Sentinel Literary Quarterly Poetry Competition (July 2020).
The Blast from the Past are three poems by Obiora Udechukwu taken from his book Portraits and Landscapes. Professor Udechukwu was our guest poet in October 2003.

KATHLEEN STRAFFORD
May 4, 1970

While tin soldiers armed with rifles
tear gas and bayonets
fired 67 rounds in 13 seconds
into mobs of unarmed students
wounding nine killing four

Kenny just back from Nam jumpy        addicted & empty
smell of blood on his hands                   pushed
down our basement forced                    into hiding
where the dark is stored                         father said
they have their place                               but haven’t dug it yet
grandma said they weren’t to blame   poor buggers
& neighbours organised vigilante meetings
READ THE FULL POEM HERE>>

OBIORA UDECHUKWU
Maru

Maru the Mad
Has gone for a walk
Our hill is now littered
With pellets of goat shit

Haiku

Bushy-tailed squirrels
Trees undressing in the yard
Farewell to summer

Trapped

Trapped in this cozy cage
Gazing at the cold wilderness
Of whiteness
We spin clouds into yarn
Weave yarns into song
Waiting for the new year

In France, the griot has gone home
In Ibadan, the towncrier is silenced.

(“Maru” “Haiku” and “Trapped” are taken from Portraits and Landscapes)