Family House
- Apr 8, 2022
- 1 min read
by Ayokunle Samuel Betiku
As if unaccustomed To sound, the brogues Echo lonely down The paved throat Of the hallway at Which end the parlor Holds the mind Of what once held it; Fairy lights, gossips, Cats, her voice Slightly raised above The rest, somehow Managing to coax Shufflings into concord. The air crowded With roast and Jollof. In one room, she hangs On the wall in dust And monochrome, Two maternal epochs Away, frozen Mid glow, light Years behind the bier.
Ayokunle Samuel Betiku writes from the city of Ondo, South West Nigeria. He is a Young Writers and Creatives’ Award Fellow. He won the Eriata Oribhabor Poetry Prize for 2020, the BKPW Writing Contest for February 2021 and the Wakaso Poetry Prize for March 2021. His works have appeared in journals and anthologies, including Libretto, Kreative Diadem, Shallow Tales Review, Agbowó, Pandemic Publications, Rough Cut Press, The Offing, The Temz Review & elsewhere.
