Poetry: NOT MY BUSINESS by Niyi Osundare

They picked Akanni up one morning
Beat him softball like clay
And stuffed him down the belly
Of a waiting jeep.

What business of mine is it
So long they don’t take the yam
From my savouring mouth?

They came one night
Booted the whole house awake
And dragged Danladi out,
Then off to a lengthy

Biography of Niyi Osundare.

Niyi Osundare

Niyi Osundare (born 1947 in Ikere-Ekiti, Ekiti State, Nigeria) is a prolific poet, dramatist and literary critic. He gained degrees at the University of Ibadan (BA), the University of Leeds (MA) and York University, Canada (PhD, 1979). Previously professor (from 1989) and Head of English (1993–97) at the University of Ibadan, he became

Poetry: They too Are the Earth by Niyi Osundare.

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Image via Foluke Ifejola

They too are the earth

The swansongs of beggars sprawled out
The brimming gutters
They are the earth
Under snakeskin shoes and Mercedes tyres.

They too are the earth

The sweat and grime of
Millions hewing wood and hurling water
They are the earth
Muddy every pore like naked moles