A Tale of Three Cities
In Àkúré, They cheered to better times on a Friday night,
In Ìbàdàn, we see the two brothers holding hatchets, facing the other.
One dumps his cutlass in the soil and declares the land his,
The other points and smacks his fingers.
That was long ago,
Today, none is alive to see the road searing through the land.
Not the buried cutlass or its owner, not the pointed fingers,
nor the passersby watching the duel.
Instead,
Today, at the family home in Adó-Èkìtì,
I have four cousins with no memory
Of why their hatchets are drawn.
Tomi Ojo-Fakuade
Tomi Ojo-Fakuade writes from Ile-ife, Nigeria. His works have appeared or are forthcoming in Brittle Paper, Obindo Magazine, Made from Midnight Anthology and elsewhere. He tweets @Tomi_loluwa.
Why this Knocked Taylor Out:
The more I read this poem, the more I feel curious about it. As perhaps a deeply outsider reading this, I feel curious about the potential implications of inherited family trauma, colonial histories, and how anger persists. I think this poem manages to tell a compelling story in a pretty small space, and what ~isn't~ said feels just as crucial as what is. As someone who’s personal family history also has connection to polygamy (read the interview!!) I was also prepped to feel an understanding of the poem. Even if the story isn’t mine, I can put myself there.
I also saw a few versions of this poem and appreciated Tomi’s ability to revise toward a more centered narrative and more cohesive poem. I think this is a poem to be really curious about, to spend some time googling, or if you are already aware, to spend some time contemplating.
Interview:
Why did you choose Team Taylor for this poem?
I read a number of past pieces published on BRAWL and poems that I found more enjoyable were largely selected by Taylor. Besides, Team Taylor's description was more appealing to me.
Is this a poem that you'd like to provide more background for readers, to perhaps pull the curtain back a bit? If not, is there anything readers ~need~ to know about this poem?
Land feud is a notable cause of dispute within a number of Nigerian families. For the older generation who largely hail from polygamous households, inheritance was often problematic since there was little or no formal will. Over time, disputes stemming from this divided families into lasting factions, even after the original conflict is lost to memory. I wrote this poem in an attempt to address the larger issue of inherited feud, to capture its weight not just as a social reality but as a kind of intergenerational trauma that lingers in the background of family life.
Some of our writers are perhaps unfamiliar with the incredible poetry being written by Nigerian writers right now, if you were going to point readers toward other Nigerian writers right now to get them started, who would you suggest?
Pamilerin Jacob, Samuel A. Adeyemi, Isaiah Adepoju, Rahmah Jimoh, Adesiyan Pelumi, Joel Oyeleke, Onyekachi Iloh, Flourish Joshua, Abasi-Maenyin Esebre and Marvellous Igwe are some Nigerian writers whose works I thoroughly enjoy. I think that's a good place to start.