Nigerian Spice Poetry


six years away from home and i.
i could not have missed the memories
ignited.

smell of nigeria. of
blended beans, pepper mixed with sand,
dusty harmattan.

of locust beans mixed with raw pap
catfish, smoked. meat, fried. fish,
grilled.

puff puff, yam and fried pepper soup on
victoria island side road gutters.
aroma that hugs the senses,
awakening the grehlin. as.
as you make way from MM1, MM2, into
ikeja, the doors into the city that sleeps
with an eye.

voices of stoned bus conductors, with their.
their doped-up drivers.
high as a kite.
chanting
"n baye re je!", "isolo wole, mi o ni changi"
"ee wa gboko ku o lona"

broadway show of commuter groups, married
by bus conductors.
buying forced roasted corn to.
break the naira note into.
tinier denominations.

as i.
i unraveled nylon naija. filled with ogbono
garri, elubo, tailored bubu and kaftans
that
my mother sent me.

By Jumoke Eniola Odepe
ON. Canada
All rights reserved.