YELF ARTIST OF THE MONTH. JANUARY 2021

Hajaarh Muhammad Bashar lives in Minna, Niger State where she writes from. She holds a degree in Microbiology from Al-Hikmah University Ilorin, Nigeria. She is presently undergoing her Masters Degree in the Federal University of Technology Minna where she studies Medical
Microbiology. Her works appeared in Gold dust Magazine, Art-muse fair, Voice of the aspirant’s anthology, Art and Nature anthology of Free poetic Universe, Late night blues anthology of PIN poetry chapbook series, SETU’Mar19 anthology of women, power and creativity, Amaravati
Poetic Prism, ANA Review 2019, Weight of Years Anthology of Afroanthology creative nonfiction 2020, Isele Magazine 2020, and other literary sites. She emerged the winner of the weekly poetry planet contest themed ‘Coffee’. She was both shortlisted and Longlisted for
the JB Afenfia flash fiction and poetry contest 2018. She was also longlisted for the Syncity Anniversary anthology prize 2019. She emerged as the first runner-up in the Sevhage Short Story Prize 2019 and the second runner up in the Poetically Written prose contest 2019. Hajaarh was a participant in the Art-muse fair creative writing workshop and the MinnaBaf workshop for Nonfiction. Some of her works and interviews can be traced online. She is a lover of cats and nature.

Social Media handles:
Facebook: Hajaarh Muhammad Bashar
Instagram: Naturebeay, & hajaarhmb_stories
Twitter: @UmmyHajaar
LinkedIn: Hajaarh Muhammad Bashar

POEMS

1) ONE SEED, ONE HOME.

i.

Scraps of umbilical cords

tie the flesh of our being

as the sole of our existence.

We are seeds

We germinate with prosperity

   with the mark of time and truce.

      For years, the soil that holds our stands

        is stained by blood of clans

          by the fury of masses in Kaduna

             the scorn that comes from the mobs

               in zamfara and Jos, and the bleeding pond of Edu

                  Their toys are sources of brother’s wails and death

And those who have fallen are the dead seeds from the country’s poor harvests.

 ii.

Let’s overthrow corruption

She’s a troll who deserves our wrath

  Her scent is a stench to our soil

    She’s a glutton, she fills her belly

       with the food from our sweats

           and leaves us to the whispers of

poverty and starvation.

iii.

We seek to dwell

under a roof of hope

  that’s painted with amity

    In a house built with blocks of love and trust

       Let’s build a skyscraper that will raise high

          and wear around it a necklace of clouds

for our coexistence.

iv.

I dreamt of a country

 whose canopy is an array of bleached sky.

     Where two heads become one,

         and a group of seeds birth a tree.

            A home where oneness is our identity.

               Tradition and religion remain just a norm but peace

will be our  flag.

For the children whose bones are still unmade

and hearts still free of stain.

Let’s bond our roots once more and become one.

One seed, one home.

2)  I SHALL TELL YOU

I shall tell you of those

They, whose feet cracks underneath

Lips quiver in search of their feed

Rumbling bellies with silent wails

Searching for home and a heavenly roof

 Those

Whose voices ring with thirst

Deserted and alone in the midst of strife

Surrounded by howls and threatening sights

And argot song of death upon their ears

Those

Whose bowls hang around their necks

And days of hunger strikes a blow

Leaving them to seek and cry alow

Under the face of hungry days

Those

Whose fleshes shrink

And hide behind their bones

And eyes shed pain

Their hopes are washed by rain

That shower upon them with pain

Merry days gone, replaced by storm

With a hurricane of death

And the songs of war