INSIDE THIS ISSUE:
Laszlo Slomovits
Alan Britt
Tolu Ogunlesi
Paul B. Roth
Gerald Clark
Dike Okoro
Jerry Blanton
Felino Soriano
Joanie Freeman
Steve Barfield
Shuta Crum
Running Cub
Odimegwn Onwumere
Duane Locke
Chris Lord
Fred Wolven
Nona Giorgadze
Bobby Steve Baker
Brandon S. Ray
satnrose
Serena Trome
Paul Handley
Kanev Peycho
George Moore
R. Jay Slais
Carol Smallwood
When Josef prays,
he prays with the names
of Azik & Ebereham
who are his fathers
and people follow him
and no one complains,
but when I pray
with my grandfathers' names
they antagonize me
and say that
I am worshiping idol.
How & when
has my grandfather
become an idol?
THE UN-FOUGHT WAR
I can hear the salvo.
All the people are grumbling.
All the cities are waking.
They are firing with misdeeds.
They are firing with AK-47s.
They are firing with curses and abuses.
But I am firing with pen.
Pen of an embittered poet?
Pen of a rebel poet?
Pen of a Child's Rights activist?
Pen of an un-noticed author?
Pen of a hungry opulent father's child?
Pen of an uncelebrated citizen
who has been solemn in solitude?
Who has been rewarded with sacrilege?
Albeit, I did not initiate any war,
neither thinks there is war,
neither am I in war.
But is there no war?
My kins and kiths, siblings and survivors,
brothers and mothers, fathers and sisters,
all are fleeing the neighborhood, all,
because of the danger ahead?
If nothing is done to stem
this inglorious hidden war
initiated by the practitioners of
the government for the people
and for the people
and by the people,
the Cold War will be defined
more than I can chronicle.
Anarchy is better been read,
than seen being practiced!
Odimegwu Onwumere, Rivers State, Nigeria