Slouching sideways, color as dark as a starless night;
You are my worst nightmare come to life
A creature in thought
Fleshed out with every choice I made,
My own Frankenstein drooling
Maliciously over my drawn out dreams;
I made you and yet you disobey me
I command you and yet you enslave me
Creator bowing to created
Created lording over creator.
Dread trails me daily
Jabbing at me with gleeful harm,
Fear walks confidently by my side
Chortling with delight at my trembling steps:
Your minions dodge my every footstep
They do your bidding as well as you do not do mine,
I’d say this was sudden but that would be a lie;
In my mind you were fully formed
Fully formed and very much alive
I spoke you into being
From dawn till dusk
Till you were a faint apparition before my unbelieving eyes.
Still in defiance I dared you to be
With decisions that gave you strength
To reach out and touch me;
T’was that touch slimy and cold
That gave me a start and made you so bold
I can hardly send you back now can I?
When fear holds my tongue and dread imprisons my heart.
My despair created you
But my hope will kill you
If I could but speak
Only speak…
JUDGE PROFILE
Estrella Gada is an alias for Eleojo Esther Akpa, a development communicator with a keen eye and ear for things that are hidden and things that are unsaid.
The first of nine children, she derives sheer pleasure from exercising her seniority especially when it comes to food!
She holds a B.Sc. degree in Mass Communication from Ahmadu Bello University and is currently working on her thesis in development communication in the same institution
Estrella Gada was shortlisted by Novelist Chmimamanda Adiche for the Farafina creative writer’s workshop in 2008 and has since gone on to become a more active writer in the areas of prose and poetry.
Some of her works have been published in a spate of newspapers and online literary sites. She is also the recipient of poetry awards including the Eriata Oribabhabor Food Poetry competition.
ABOUT THE COMPETITION
Poetry is more than a couple of lines that rhyme hastily thrown together to give the semblance of a message. The poems that were entered for this competition more than anything demonstrated that a new crop of writers are coming up.
Those who understand that the best poems are written in simple fluid language and not with impenetrable words and imagery that leave the reader more confused.
If I must encourage writers of poetry about writing, this is the one thing I would say…write, so that others will understand.
Well done.
Related articles
- Eopp2013: the Winners (wordsrhymesandrhythm.wordpress.com)
- THE SHORTLIST: Eriata Oribhabor Poetry Prize 2013 (wordsrhymesandrhythm.wordpress.com)
