September 15th, 2025
Socially Engaged Poetry Contest #13 – First Place
(For the women who tally grief in naira notes)
by Adenekan Olanrewaju (Oamlad)
Today, my tomatoes blush with shame –
each rot a dirge for the naira's freefall.
I price them in tears now:
One basket: three days' hunger,
Two baskets: a child's school fee,
Three: a coffin's down payment.
The market whispers its cruel arithmetic:
A litre of fuel = two hours' prayer,
a bag of rice = a daughter's dowry,
a president's speech = the wind's empty purse.
Even the flies haggle over my grief,
their buzz a taunt: Na who die no dey sick?
Last week, I sold my gold earrings –
heirlooms from Mama's defiance in '78.
The jeweler paid me in mutters:
Gold no shine again for this economy,
na only gunmen get glitter now.
I bought half a sack of garri*,
its grit a language of surrender.
At Mile 12, we trade futures like curses:
Next month, pepper go cost your kidney,
next year, salt go taste of your sweat.
The men in agbada** sip pepper soup,
laughing as our stalls collapse like old naira notes.
Market forces! they croak,
their bellies full of our stillborn plans.
I wrap my wares at dusk,
count coins that shrink like hope.
My daughter's math homework mocks me:
If Mama earns ₦2000 daily and bread costs ₦5000,
how many hours will she kneel at the grindstone?
I answer in silence,
my hands etching a new curriculum:
Survival = (Anger × Hunger) ÷ Fear.
*Garri – cassava flour
**Agbada – a flowing robe
About the Poet
Adenekan Olanrewaju (Oamlad) resides in Abeokuta, Ogun, Nigeria.
Read the poet's biography and Wax Poetry and Art publications
on Adenekan Olanrewaju (Oamlad)'s Artist Page.
Next in Wax Mag #8:
Minneapolis-St. Paul
Haiku Suite by Guohua Li
Back to Wax Mag #8
Wax Poetry and Art Magazine is part of the Wax Poetry and Art Network.
- Visit the main Wax Poetry and Art Submissions Page to see all opportunities.
- Visit the Wax Poetry and Art Library.
- This website and all contents ©Kirk Ramdath and specified artists.
- AI Training on this webpage is not permitted under any circumstance.
- AI Training on this website and partner websites is not permitted under any circumstance.
(Advertisements)