WRIGGLED BONES

1/11/2022

By Sunday T. Saheed

old age doesn’t wear us off
our beauty, it soaks our tongues instead
with acidic rum of an earthenware till
taste is a myth we were once told.
in every raffia mat we spread,
we find cockroaches crawl out
of the thin lines between the earth &
our soles. This is the third time
the hefty man at the door rattles the bell
—the next ring, always louder than the
previous. Everything herein fleets
—black hair, strong gums & straightened
bones.

we know, that the day gets weary too.
& it tucks itself back into a sleeve.
the road is muddy & full of potholes,
so when we fall, there’s only a thing to be.
pick yourself up, dust up till your body
is a mirror of your retina’s glistening.
the worse is not yet done.
we were fed lies strapped in a moimoi leaf.
life is not a bed of roses --
your life is but a page in Slyvia’s novel,
you get torn —another bourgeons.
eureka, plant a bulb in every steps you
take. At the twentieth step, the earth waters
every trail. A fall is easy, or acacia might
blossom with full branches & growling lips.
at the fortieth step, the waterdrop becomes flood
& your bulbs shall be swept one by one
& the glisten shall fade into the sky’s tears
of you. Be gentle, be --
the carapace’s weight strapped to your back
is crushing you. Nothing holds you again.
not your fluffy hair, thinned eyes, bent bones.

Writer's Biography

Sunday T. Saheed, Author of Rewrite The Stars, is a 17-year-old Nigerian writer and a Hilltop Creative Arts Foundation member.

He was the 1st runner-up for the Nigerian Prize for Teen Authors, Poetry Category, 2021. His works have appeared or are forthcoming on Rough Cut Press, Arts Lounge, Rigorous mag, Kissing Dynamite, Beatnik Cowboy, Trouvaille Review, Augment Review, Spirited Muse Press, Gyroscope, Giallo Lit, Open Skies Quarterly, Kalahari, Cajun Mutt, Open Leaf Press Review, Re Side, de Curated and others.

He was a finalist for the Wole Soyinka International Cultural Exchange 2018.

9 Comments

Ayomide Ruth Oluwagbenga

6/11/2022 11:44:11 pm

I smiled while reading this.
The words have a fluidity like the handwriting of a maestro describing the nuances of old age.
I'm excited to read about the poet too.
He is indeed a master of the art that thankfully started young.

Abubakar Esther

24/11/2022 09:40:08 pm

I agree with you Ruth!

Njikonye Charles Nnamdi

9/11/2022 01:10:32 pm

The lines of this poem are very lyrical. I enjoy how it talks about old age, using different concepts. I enjoy the way the poet made use of plants and other natural elements to describe the feeling of aging.

The poem made me a little sad because it made me very conscious of the fact that I will surely age, & someday, my bones will be brittle. Well, that's life.

I also like the poem's arrangement & format. It made it an easy & interesting read. The poet is young and very talented.

Rahma

19/11/2022 09:22:07 am

This poem is so beautifully written. The composition is amazing and exquisitely structured.

Old age isn't talked about much and this is the first piece I have ever read that captures it in such a beautiful way that I almost want to grow old now.
Really old age is a lot of feelings, and a loss of feelings. It's a phase some want to experience and some don't get the chance to experience.

This piece should be read by as many people as possible because of its topic and because Sunday is such an amazing creative.

Debbie link

19/11/2022 01:08:27 pm

This is quite detailed and captivating. Brilliant 💯!!

Ugochukwu Anadị

20/11/2022 09:12:26 am

Saheed's opening line brings to fore, for me, my obsession with the opening lines of literary works. Look at the opening line:

old age doesn’t wear us off
our beauty

This is at once an introduction, the summary and the totality of this poem. Had he stopped at that line, we would still have left with the full pleasure good poetry gives. More luckily for us, he, Sunday, decided to add more.

A book whose opening paragraph is an epitome of this technique is "Things Fall Apart" by Chinua Achebe. For anyone familiar with the culture of the place where the story was set, its opening paragraph: “Okonkwo was well known throughout the nine villages and even beyond. His fame rested on solid personal achievements. As a young man of eighteen, he brought honour to his village by throwing Amalinze the Cat. Amalinze was the great wrestler who for seven years had remained unbeaten from Umuofia to Mbaano. He was called the Cat because his back would never touch the earth. It was this man that Okonkwo threw in a fight which the old men of the village agreed is one of the fiercest since the founder of the village engaged a spirit of the wild for seven nights and seven days” is the summation of TFA. There's no analysis, no reading, no critique one can do on TFA without paying attention to this paragraph.

In a like manner, Saheed has made his opening line the pivot and pillar of his poem: that beauty and old age and not mutually exclusive, beauty meaning the plethora of things it has always meant. The poet though doesn't fail to recognize the beauty and advantage of youthfulness as a continuum and path to old age. “At the twentieth step, the earth/ waters/ every/ trail. A FALL IS EASY”(emphasis mine), an advice the poet himself has taken by starting off early, at a time when he can fall and still be able to straighten his bones. If we forgive the looseness of its language, which we must, this poem becomes a feast of metaphors and imageries that insists that we must reflect on aging and how we want to age.

Solomon Hamza link

20/11/2022 08:58:51 pm

For a writer this young, I consider Sunday Saheed's dexterity and craftsmanship appalling and unique. I mean here is a poem filled with metaphors and strong imageries with a more sacrosanct theme.
The poet begins this beautiful poem the forgetfulness assicassoc with old age and how ageing is a phase we must pass through. We becoming old doesn't mean we have lost our beauty. In fact, we are even more filled with certain wisdom associated with old age. The writer also talks about what follows next; the graying of hairs, the reduced strength of gums and the slight slouch in gaits.
In the second stanza, having lived through series of experiences, regrets, happiness, and pains it would seem like a myth when the older ones tell the younger generation their stories. The writer made us to understand old age is a phase we have to pass through. From the stage of teenageood to adulthood is the most difficult stage in life where when we fall, we must pick ourselves up and keep trying until we have gotten enough experiences unto oldage. But unfortunately, not everyone would be fortunate to even witness it.
The imagery that strikes me most is in the second stanza. The eureka part. Eureka here means a great discovery. In line 25 where the poet stated ," plant a bulb in every step. The writer is admonishing for creating trailblazer, leaving legacies behind for the newer generation to follow. At the 20th step, which means our youthfulness, it is very easy to make mistakes because one is treading on slioosli ground and unsure of what lies In the future. At the 40th step, that is when we must have been more wiser with age, a fall is as disastrous as a flood. You have to be gentle or else you would live the rest of your old age in regret.
This is altogether a lovely, well penned poem. Kudos to the writer.

Oladele Babajamu link

20/11/2022 11:28:01 pm

In Biology class in the secondary, we were taught that one of characteristics Of any living thing is growth. The Poet has just reminded us of the final stage of the life ycle of every human beings. People should not see old age has a disease particularly women. He used a lot of picture and imageryfor a quick nderstanding of the topic. The poem is full of imagination and realism. A highly impressive and commendable effort.

24/11/2022 09:48:00 pm

One of the things I love about visiting here is;
One: reading the amazing works and;
Two: reading the comments of others!
Today is no different, I totally agree with everyone here. The young shall surely grow old🌅

WRIGGLED BONES

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WRIGGLED BONES

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Copyright @SprinNG​

Copyright @SprinNG