Poem: “Killing Without A Sword” by Niyi Osundare

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Killing Without A Sword

My friend asked for pounded yam
I gave him pounded yam
with egusi soup whose taste
stuck the tongue to the palate

My friend asked for clothes
I fleeced the loom of bales
he spreads out in sanyan,
alabangada adorns his head

Now my friend asks me
to give him the moon
I perch on my toe
and stretch my body like rubber
but my hands never reach the sky

Tonight, I will send
a message to my friend:
our worst enemy is he
who sends us to pluck
a fruit deliciously beyond our reach

There are many ways of killing
without a sword

— Niyi Osundare

“Killing Without A Sword” by Niyi Osundare is a poem of twenty lines divided into five stanzas of varying lengths.

Glossary

• Egusi: melon
• Sanyan: expensive hand-woven cloth
• Alabangada: a kind of cap

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