Image by Rudy and Peter Skitterians from Pixabay
A Psalm of Body Hawkers ¹ Today, we move, again; past the promiscuous politician ² & the rich man’s house; past our Crush’s frontage, ³ & the man with a cruel eye for us, picking our steps, koi-koi-koi. ⁴ We offer ourselves as living sacrifices, (un)holy and acceptable. ⁵ As we move with gums, dying in our mouths, & skirts, short enough to pass the message, yet long enough to cover the subject matter, ⁶ Bless the works of our hands, O Lord! ⁷ That if our beauty lead not men astray, our bodies may toss them abreast.
The Roads
The eyes of the roads are in search of a bride; who shall follow him to the fatal altar? The throats of the roads lungs for kidneys; Who shall voluntarily be a donor? Hunger pangs rumbles the roads’ belly; It is time to supper on flesh and blood. And there must be an unfortunate bride, there must be a kind donor … It is the roads’ period, so blood must flow.
Flourish Joshua is an Award-Winning Poet & Author of “Arúgbó ń Ṣ’oge”, a poetry chapbook. His essay, “The Nexus”, won 3rd Prize at the 7th Ngozi Agbo Esaay Competition. His poem “There is a Way that Seemeth Right” was 1st runner-up at the Lagos-Badagry Poetry League. Flourish Joshua writes poetic prologues for Dr. D. K Olukoya’s books. His poem, “Reincarnate”, was anthologized in the fifth Chinụa Achebe Essay/Poetry Anthology. He is a member of the Society of Young Nigerian Writers and was recently nominated for the Best Messager Poet 2020 at the ZenPens Literary Award, 2020. His works have been published and are forthcoming in Rattle, AGNI magazine, African Writers, Tolu Akinyemi blog, ZenPens, Poemify, NaijaHotstars, BellaNaija, and elsewhere. He writes from Ogun State. He’s usually shy. Holla at him @fjspeaks.