MARIAM ALAYANDE

Pain rushed down his big brown eyes, Pain with weight tears couldn't convey, Words; the expressional method, Seldomly,words ain't enough. I looked into the river in his eyes, Drowning in the waters of pain and burden, The weight straining down my heart; my spine, Cracking my ribs; one after the other. Sadness merges with my soul, Everything else eludes me, So much pain yet so much love, He's the happiest of souls, yet the saddest. -MA.TEMI PHOTO BY: MARIAM ALAYANDE MUSE: AASSIM EL BERHICHI THANK YOU FOR READING.

4TH SEPTEMBER 2017, 7:00PM FATIMA Nothing beats a late night car ride, with the air conditioner beating the heat out of your epidermis or with the side windows down just after a heavy downpour; inhaling the cold, wet, leaf scented air, together with a good conversation.  Sitting in the passenger’s side of Segun’s Range Rover, I remembered what Tade said to me a few days ago while we were chatting, he mentioned how he heard that I would only date a guy if he had a car. I was perplexed and told him it wasn't true, but right now I'm trying to face my truth. I’m not sure I would date a guy without a car but not because of financial reasons but I see no comfortability for me to be walking up and down and doing lovey dovey.  If I did own a car I probably could consider dating someone without a car but since it's one sided right now, I guess not.  It’s not a criteria but since we are all young and having fun, we might as well do it the best way possible. ‘F...

Fallen Angel, Heed not the call of thy father, Engulfed in the love of flesh, She was worth betraying my father for, Or so I thought, The devil apprehended her, Death: the messenger, Her star-like eyes never gazed upon our son, Our son: a nephilim, A nephilim and a fallen angel, A timed existence, Bloody tears rolling off the shards of my eyes, With my son’s lifeless body in my arms, A forbidden tradegy. FEEDBACKS ARE HIGHLY APPRECIATED. PLEASE DO NOT FORGET TO COMMENT,LIKE ,SHARE AND SUBSCRIBE. THANK YOU VERY MUCH! WRITTEN BY: MARIAM ALAYANDE (IG: ma.temi) ARTWORK BY: ADEFISAYO BADMUS (IG: sir_purely)

The weather that afternoon was as if hell had unleashed on earth, my wife just returned from the market with my 3 year old daughter. I had spent the entire day revising and worrying about my interview at the shell company. I was nervous, I heard only 2 people might get hired amongst thousands applying. I have always been the smart one, the top of the class but that doesn’t count when it comes to getting hired for a job. I pray 5 times daily with extra supplications, I believe God is hearing me but I really need to see his hand in my life. This is the 20th interview I will be going for, all replied with the same 'I'm sorry this,I'm sorry that......" but I can’t lose hope, not now. ‘Daddy Daddy!' My daughter, Fatima said as she jumped into my arms thereby interrupting me from my deep thoughts. ‘Oh my little princess, what did you buy at the market?’ ‘Daddy, I wanted to buy some sweets but mum kept saying 'No it would make you poop', so we only got p...

11TH JANUARY, 2016 5:20 PM ACCRA,GHANA. Everything is a barrier; religion, color, social status, ethnic group, country of origin, tribe and money. Barriers are everywhere, even age can be a barrier. When it comes to love there isn’t meant to be a barrier, the world is meant to be ruled by love, instead these barriers govern us. I look in the mirror for the 10th time, I'm meeting my fiancé’s parents today. I’m quite nervous because from time to time I've heard them make negative side comments about me. First was about my religion, ‘how do you let a muslim marry a christian?’, ‘how does it work out?’ It’s no one's business except the two involved but tell that to some africans, everything matters to them; where you come from, what your parents do, how you look, how you talk, what you do, how you compose yourself, everything matters, even your facial expressions might count, how you wear your hair counts. Today I'm walking into the lion’s den. What happens if th...

It's very easy to ask ‘why didn’t you leave?’,disregarding the sensitivity of this sentence. The increase of domestic abuse reports have suddenly risen, and the reasons are uncertain. Breaking the silence of domestic abuse is definitely what the world needs. You and I know that the society has gone a long way in ruining relationships. In the mid-1800’s, it was legal for a husband to have authority over his wife, even valid for a man to beat his wife as a way to exercise authority over the wife. This might come as a shock to you but some countries, for example: Nigeria ,has the provision of the Penal Code applicable in the Northern part of Nigeria which indirectly encourages violence against women. There are cultural believes in some countries that it is socially acceptable to hit a woman in the name of discipline. Physical abuse isn’t the only type of abuse, it can be emotional, verbal, economic, sexual and religious. Who is to blame for domestic abuse? It started...

1ST APRIL NARRATOR Zoya sometimes wondered what brought about April fools day. Apparently, someone thought foolishness should be acknowledged and ended up infecting the world with this unfunny funny endeavor. Why did she pick that day to break through the uterus of her mother? She learnt to find the fun in accepting pranks as birthday gifts. What’s better than having the entire world celebrate with you. Zoya never imagined life being amazing and fulfilling at 21. Everything was perfect, too perfect it sometimes scared her. She had everything she wanted, or rather she was satisfied with everything she had. Final year, aeronautics has been hard on her but understanding that NASA was a knock away was enough motivation. That morning she had a project to present in school. Zoya was running late when she realized the present weather made dressing quite annoying. She didn’t want to risk freezing up, it should be spring already but for some reason o...

I have always disliked walking alone at night. The bus dropped me at a different junction, leaving me with no other choice than to take this path home. The only times I ever took this path was during the day,even then it still sent chills down my spine with its obscure serenity. As I walked down the path, wide enough to take about seven people at once. The forest that embodies this path was moderately thick, thick enough for someone to hide without been noticed. I couldn't help but wonder what dirty deeds goes on in there. Rituals and the likes. I kept distracting myself with beautiful thoughts but it didn't help, I was trying so hard to save myself from a panic attack. There was a full moon, it was beautiful but it didn’t hesitate to remind me of the possibility of werewolves been real. I kept on walking, trying to focus on the sweet scent of the night. Suddenly ,I heard voices ahead, male voices. My heart sank as goose bumps rose all over my body. I was scared. ...

Tiptoed into the red room, The silence was grave, Tick-tock, tick-tock; even that alarmed me, Resembling the exact structure of a human heart- the clock, This ticks, definitely a language, I believed, So much so obsolete, I slid into the corridor, There awaited the spy again, Tick-tock; I was being expected, Tick-tock; with each louder and stronger than the last, This language I don't speak, So I made it my nest, The spies became family, As the sun rose and set, As an eclipse graced us, Tick-tock; a tick was less, Tick-tock; a spy had been made, With my tender hands I grabbed the spy, It held on to me, The burning sensation was beyond expression, Tick-tock; now going crazy like an army charging in battle, Tick-tock; rising and waning ever so intense, They got up, wrapped me up, Boom! They blew up all at once, Leaving me with scars, That's how loving you was... Scars, Abrasions over Fractures, What's left of a fragile me after my nightmare...

It’s all a conspiracy! Most of the things you see around you, the things you have allowed to be imprinted right in the dark canoes of your heart. Now you think I am making all this up yeah? Just because you can’t handle the idea of the very things the society deems as normal, what you get to eat, what you watch, what you wear, what you see, even some things that you believe, everything is planned for you. And to what end? Only to control the very thing, no one has the access to- your mind! TWO WEEKS BEFORE I sat right across the room, not any room, the club. I sat at a corner observing, listening and drinking. Alone at my table, I just got fired earlier that week, so yes I am here to blow off the steam. If I keep feeling the same I do right now, I am just going to jump over the nearest bridge, and I mean it. I don't even know if there is anything left in this world for me but I was searching for something. I could not really tell the exact thing I was looki...

'Paint it blue' had been on replay for the last hour as I reflected with a glass of red wine. My phone rang for the hundredth time that evening. All these people calling, they all want one thing or the other. Without processing, I picked up phone ,pulled my sim card and headed straight for the toilet, dropped and flushed. That was suppose to make it stop, but it didn't. The messages didn't stop popping in, I picked my phone up again and this time I put it on airplane mode. The night ended up in tears, tears for the emotions I kept bottling up, tears for this pathetic world and tears for absolutely nothing. THE MORNING AFTER I woke up on the couch, clearly I didn't make it to the bed last night. I searched for my phone which I found somewhere under the couch. It was almost 9:00am. It's a Sunday and I have the whole day to myself. I smiled as I made an attempt to stretch out , just at that moment I remembered I promised to see Yemi to...