an urban contradiction

of the sane and insane

coexisting in an asylum

called city by name

 

of a concatenation of smells

expensive perfumes fighting sosorobia¹

body odor hiding beneath

the aroma from mamaput¹²

 

factories belching pollution

competing with paraga³-drinking drunkards-

staggering is the odor that emanates

from the gutters and no one bothers

Who send you?

 

this is my Lagos-

Africa’s heartbeat and heartthrob

swagger of a kind born

and bred on the streets.

sidewalks steeped in sex and sleaze

Waka pass⁴ if you don’t know the way.

 

skyscrapers straining against one another

beside mud dwellings looking for a fight

nothing’s new, this is Lagos

 

yellow ‘danfo’ buses so ubiquitous

and their conductors with yellowing teeth

armed with arsenals of cuss words

and little education

 

here’s where affluence sleeps with penury,

wake up the next day and table’s turned

there’s no line dividing us-

we’re Lagos and Lagos is us

This is Lagos.

 

¹cheap locally made body spray

²streetside eatery usually selling cheap foods and low on hygiene

³locally made gin

⁴another phrase for ‘just move on or out of the way’