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The SprinNG annual poetry contest winner

2/8/2020

13 Comments

 
The SprinNG Annual Poetry Contest celebrates SprinNG's anniversary. This year, we received a record-breaking number of submissions - 1,125, of which Sanni Oluwatimileyin emerged as the winner.

The Contest prompt: Write a simple poem on any theme of your choice between 8-10 lines.
Winning Poem: Bitter Roots by Sanni Oluwatimileyin
Some day when tears have dried on the black faces of our mothers
And sadness no longer peeks out from beneath layers of grime
I'll write about them –our mothers
Of how grief broke them time and time again
And how like Knights of valor, they pushed their broken selves to victory
I'll write about them. Of how they watered hope with salty streams
That it might flourish into a buoyant tomorrow
And we, their children, get to inhale its sweet fragrance
Remembering the murky tragedies, the garden of grief
That nursed its fragile buds with radiant smiles and aching hearts
Picture
Sanni Oluwatimileyin is a coffee-loving poet, writer and literary enthusiast who bends and blends genres in his writings. His works have appeared or forthcoming in literary journals like Writers Space Africa, Rather Quiet, Fitrah Review, Nanty Greens, Praxis, African Writers, Fiction Limbo and elsewhere. 

He is a SprinNG Fellowship Alumnus. He won the Writers for Humanity poetry contest in 2019 and the Fitrah Review writing contest in 2020. He was also the first runner-up for the Splendors of Dawn Contest in June 2020. 

​When not studying or writing, he is either painting or exploring new places.

The SEMI FINALISTS

First Runner Up - Omole Temiloluwa Ezekiel
​

LOVE DIED IN 1982 
Son! I tell you this because you're my only one; 
Love died and was buried far back as 19- eighty two; 
Then was Love between two lovers not three; 
But now a lad can claim loving nymphs up to four; 
Then was school lessons keeping us under the trees till five; 
And we don't mind receiving strokes of cane even if it's up to six; 
It broke my heart when we saw the Moon of Deceit at seven; 
Then I said to my husband "the end of days is near, it's already eight"; "
I think we need to tell our son our love story when he is nine"; 
My husband said "How I wish love was like when I was ten?".

Second Runner Up - Popoola Oluwatobiloba Samuel
​
HOME
it means being
forged in the same
fire that consumed
those before you;

it means being melted,
re-casted for another use;

it's knowing
we are only tools

waiting to be reforged. 

...home.

The judges

Picture
The SprinNG Team thanks the judges who volunteered their time to select the Semi-finalists for the contest.
13 Comments
Naomi Rukevwe Overo
2/8/2020 10:06:11 pm

Congratulations Sanni Oluwatimileyin! Wonderful poetry!

Reply
Sanni Oluwatimileyin
4/8/2020 11:18:21 am

Thanks, Naomi

Reply
Ikwor Uchenna Sunday
4/8/2020 03:06:45 am

Congratulations on your win Sanni... Cheers to more wins.

Reply
Sanni Oluwatimileyin
4/8/2020 11:20:15 am

Thank you so much

Reply
Verig Jummai
4/8/2020 04:11:02 am

Congratulations on winning. That is a beautiful piece

Reply
Sanni Oluwatimileyin
4/8/2020 11:21:14 am

Thank you so much, Verig

Reply
Faith Ademola
4/8/2020 05:41:45 am

Great!!!
Congratulations

Reply
Sanni Oluwatimileyin
4/8/2020 11:19:56 am

Thanks

Reply
Adedamola Jones Adedayo
12/8/2020 05:08:25 pm

Congratulations to you. Your poem is worth the win!

Reply
Sanni Oluwatimileyin
14/8/2020 07:46:02 pm

Thanks so much

Reply
Abdulraheem Abdulqodir
14/8/2020 07:37:23 pm

Congratulations Timileyin, such breathtaking Humanity poetry are very hard to come by. Kudos to you, keep making poets proud 👍....Congratulations to both semi finalists too, nice works there. Omole Ezekiel, that poem of yours is such a lovely one, with a very unique concept. Weldone

Reply
Sanni Oluwatimileyin
14/8/2020 07:45:04 pm

Thank you so much and yes, the semi-finalists wrote beautifully too.

Reply
Ngozi Mowah
28/8/2020 01:55:33 pm

Congratulations Sanni!
Your poem was really lovely—and haunting.

Reply



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  • Publications
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