Abdulkareem Abdulkareem

​Image by Caleb Toranzo from Unsplash                                                                                    

Abdulkareem Abdulkareem, Frontier III, is a Nigerian writer. His works appear/forthcoming on POETRY, Asterlit, Poetry Column-NND, Brittle Paper, Rulerless Magazine, Lumiere Review, Claw and Blossom, FERAL, Rigorous, Kissing Dynamite, & elsewhere. He won the University of Ilorin SU Writers Competition (Poetry Category) 2022. He reads poetry for Agbowó Magazine.

JOY i

after Pelumi Salako

​the house dances               to the music

                                          of the pestle     pounding the mortar

& this is how we make music             from the pain of the yam 

 outside     young boys propel tires into       acceleration 

with a small stick       punctuating their joy       with the sweat on 

their bodies  

        at the corridor  

                                              older women sit on a bamboo 

strewn mat              plotting words that burst      into laughter— 

dislodging      the intestines of Alaran fish  & at the backyard

           my mother sits         on a wooden stool     blowing the hand-fan

                to        the firewood in the tripod

inside           my father topples            a cup of    a thick

                    cowbell      chocolate into his throat   the night gaze upon us 

the sun   is rescinding       into        its shelter    an array of clouds  

                             here        the birds for joy      are not dead 

& their wings         patrol the sky                taking down every 

apocalypse of grief     here    we bird into joy       we joy into bird

here  my deep scars are sealed   here     my father is not dead

__________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

__________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

__________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

__________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

__________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

Home    About    Subscribe    Guidelines   Submit   Exclusives   West End    

©2022 West Trade Review

Stay Connected to Our Literary Community.  Subscribe to Our Newsletter

Home    About    Subscribe    Guidelines   Submit   Exclusives   West End    

Join Our Team

Listen to Poem Here: