The magic lipstick concocted by a local Merlin Guaranteed to turn any Prince Charming into a frog Who needs Botox any more with such an irresistible spell When the kiss of life meets the kiss of death, toads only may survive Simple frogs will dance their last dance in the frying pan Add a few […]
Waiting for transport on the roadside, a conversation goes on Locally they call it “radio-trottoir” literally meaning the kerb news Gossip and information intertwined spread like fire to the whole town Especially confidences sworn into promises of utmost secret Life is a reality-show that you can’t turn off as you please Hugh Ardoin The Niamey […]
Strolling down Chepstow the Black Adonis touts his perfect abs Starting the feud between the Aphrodites and the Persephones While he may get prematurely gored by a big red London bus Life is the replay of primeval mythologies where joy and pain meet halfway We reach the river with the baggage of our memories, we […]
Taking the hubby for a walk on the Niamey streets While he sips lukewarm water from a plastic pouch Looks like she is the first spouse leading her tamed husband In French-speaking West Africa they call her the Big Wife There is little or no peace in polygamy, it is open warfare Like the evening […]
A single sunray tore a hole in the clouds above Sending a beam of light to reflect in the golden sunglasses The young girl plays around, unaware of the sky’s choosing Just a cameo in the spotlight of the moment lost in a purple sea We carry away what we see, in the form of […]
Roaming the vast desertic spaces with his beasts A lone herder follows nature’s whims and his herd’s needs From one watering hole to the next grabbing the rare greens A long voyage to nowhere following the clouds They drift high in the sky carrying his dreams Seen from above humans are grains of sand in […]
A friendly gang of cuties strike the pose in their own way Masquerade is a rolling event like the breakers on the Pacific coast Everything comes across Oceans and has built up during a whole year Expectations are high and emotions run from wild to wildest Two days to express the one year almost endless […]
A few adobe houses and some granaries lost in the semi-desertic bushland A family farm slowly grows into a hamlet in the middle of the millet fields The millet fields are parched desert soil that become fertile at the rainy season The rest of the year it is an arid plain hardly supporting sheep and […]
Sometimes silence is more powerful than words The delight of the eyes is the soft music of a heartbeat Somewhere deep in the African jungle the drums are calling They call for the rituals and the dance around the bonfire The pombe goes to the head and the rum takes you away Memory is a […]
Some alien astronomer, light years away, looking through his telescope May wonder, like we once did, what is this large red spot on this strange planet The part of the fantasy an the call from space to discover forgotten worlds Flying in the time-warps of interstellar void, to visit the Pyramids and the great Sahara […]