Ah! Lagos Poem by Olufunke Ayeni

I must tell you

I am from the village, you know that one?

The one behind the hills

So you must understand my loss when I found myself on Lagos Island.

I thought the constant rustling of feet meant there was a war coming

I was to learn everyone here walks like they are being chased


Then there were the ever jingling bells

'kree' 'kree' 50 naira,50 naira buy your shoes 50 naira

as for the shoes they must have been stolen...who sells shoes 50 naira?


The clothe sellers were even more amazing, they knew everyone's name

One look at you and you will hear 'aunty sewa your size dey' amazing


There were also some people whose sole source of livelihood was to either 'slize' your bag or drag your purse with you... my bag wasn't stolen, it was taken.

The 'taker' looked me in the eye and simply asked for it...in a scary tone.


After loosing the bag I decided to go back to the hills on my way out I found a more interesting site.

A school, law chamber, a restaurant, several apartments, shops and possibly a warehouse were all in the same building. To this I gave a bow.

EKO ILE.