‘Lo! Kumbe ni’ under 18

Photo:Courtesy

Part of my extra-curricular activities these days includes going with PEN to local schools and colleges weekends to give talks on writing to students and scholars. Sometimes we are given snippets of these young folks’ artistic works to offer feedback to the school.

I recently got a stapled sheaf of papers from a 16 or 17-year-old we will call ‘Eugenia’ (and in a minute, you will see why she has to operate under an alibi) that I assumed was a collection of loose poems. ‘Kumbe’ it is a missive from the heart! I have severely truncated it. It reminded me of the song ‘Dear Stan’ by Eminem (yes, Youtube it, with lyrics).