Tobi: Untitled

I'm watching her
The black eyeliner
Shields her eyes
And her soul
Her face hidden beneath
An unforgiving mask
Of rich brown talc

I'm watching her
Her bare breasts heaving
Straining against the unrelenting fabric

I'm watching her
The pearly white gleam
In her smile
Hints slightly of peroxide
And calculation

I'm watching her
But she's not here
She left long ago

When the wind blew across the leaves
And the women danced
To bonfires, to chants
And to the night.

She left long ago
And sold her soul
To civilization
To lust eaters
To the new world

Where women dance now
In frenzied twists and turns
To the overdosed shouts
Of a high-strung maniac
-and mechanised beats

Where the only bonfires
Are followed by screams
Tearing through the
Hooded, masked night
Heralding,
The dreaded wailing
Of the fire trucks
And the ambulance

And the night,
She suffers the fools
The murderous
The unrepentant

And the waiting Jezebel
At the end of the road

Notes:
It is a familiar story, how depraved the world has become. This version is seen through the eyes of an onlooker into a young girl's transition from carefree, youthful and vibrant  to cynical, disillusioned and a prostitute! It is a brief map into the changing times, changing tides, changing values and a changed world.

Tobi: The Angry Face of Ants

Sleep not, child
Weep not, man
The ants are coming
And they do not know mercy

Notes:
This simply exhorts us to watch and pray. The ants could come in any form, but we, we must remain vigilant. We should also refrain from worrying about the coming but should remain alert, prepare and watch for it!

Femi: Colour Blocking: Wearing the Trend

Regular School Day

Colour Blocked Blouse

So, what does a girl do who's not really good with colours? To wear the colour block trend, remember: less is more! Never ever combine two colour blocked items!!! You don't want to be a walking rainbow. And of course, consult your basic colour block wheel:

Tips on using the wheel 1. Do use colours that complement each other. These are directly opposite each other on the wheel e.g. purple and yellow 2. Do remember the Right-Angle trick: Colours that are 90% to each other usually fit well together e.g yellow and red, blue and yellow 3. Do remember that neighbours tend to get along better. Use colours that sit side by side, or close to each other on the chart e.g orange, red-orange and red, blue and green, yellow and green, violet and blue, etc 4. Do substitute like colours:Perfect example, pink can sub red on the wheel any time! 4. Do get some spunk! Explore the T-trend: use colours that form a T-shape e.g. red, blue and violet. I did something close to this above with the pink jacket, bright blue pants and lilac wristwatch. I mellowed down with a white cami and comfy sneakers for all that "school trekking". Top Trick: Be mindful of your shape and skin tone to work bright colours. Never use colours that drown you or make your skin look sallow! Darker colors on the bottom half make pear shaped bodies less dramatic and vice versa for large bust. Potbellies hate blocks across the tummy, so be mindful. If you have a big tummy, avoid horizontal blocks across the stomach> This is great if you have an hour glass shape though; case in point, Kim K in Dubai below.

Tobi: The Cowards in the Hut

The opulence
Frightens me-
Masks of fear
Covered by rich brown talc
And designer labels

The trendy suits
Cost me-
More than a glance
More than a wish

Your fat pockets
Scare me-
A legendary sign
Of rituals, of conceit
And ignorance

Your brightly coloured hats
Blind me-
The frippery
Makes me tremble
So shallow! So shallow!

Your majestic mansions
Do not deceive me-
Inside, there's no care
Only greed
Only pain

We are not blinded by the glint
Of your diamond watch
Or the fat
In your aging bellies

We see your hearts
Full of maggots
And ambition

We are not deceived
We, hiding here in our mud huts
We are not deceived

Notes:
This poem is about how we are happy to sit idly in the face of oppression and corruption. It was inspired by a Martin Luther King Junior quote vis: "Freedom is never voluntarily given by the oppressor, it must be demanded by the oppressed'. But we, the oppressed are quite happy to wallow in our poverty and trials, while castigating the 'oppressors' in our bedrooms. We hide our voices in our mud huts, seeing - but dumb!

Femi: Ankara Dress - Casual Chic

Tobi: Me Through the Greats

I am Pocahontas 
Running through the restless trees 
My olive skin gleaming in the sun 
I am Rapunzel 
Eyes full of hope and restless desires 
My gold-filled hair swaying in the cool morning breeze 
I am Snow White 
A heart full of love and a smile to heal all wounds 
My ivory skin reflecting the light 
On this glass coffin you built. 
I am Aurora 
My soulful face set in the everlasting smile of idle sleep 
As Maleficent laughs her evil laugh 
And plots to take my kingdom. 
I am Eva 
Calling Wall-E with every breath 
All around this crowded room 
Of shallow minded drones. 
I am Goldilocks 
Reaching into unknown mines 
And making allies of the aliens in them 
I am Anastasia 
Watching my dreams come true 
As I watched them float away 
I am Evangeline 
Shining on my Ray all night 
As his butt twinkles to my starry spark 
I am Ariel 
Giving all for an uncertain love 
And a chance to stand on my own feet 
I am all the great love stories 
I am all the legends 
I am reality. 
I am today. 
I am me.


Notes:
I have a passion for cartoons. I am addicted, truly. They are just so fresh, so clean, so beautiful. I wonder if anyone can figure out which ones I drew my references from here...

Dami: Fabric Trend in Jewelry Design - Ankara and Lace

Femi: School Style

Tobi: You of the Twilight Here

By Me

Stands a headless viper

By Me

Binoculars drawn out to the blinding sun

Reflections of love, shadows of betrayal

Headless, I say

Powerless and Deadly

Did I ask?

Did I ask?

Why do you answer?

Why?

You of the Che shirts

And Cuban cigars

You of the immoral, you of the amoral

Stinking of vice and wine

Rat-infested hearts lost in the wilderness of right here

Tropic princesses of doom and tailored suits

You!

Sunlight streams through grime smeared shutters

Mortal enemy of the thirsty bed bugs

Are you still here?

Miss Cleopatra of the fake name, fake address?

Are you still here?

I thought I lost you in the throes of mystic waves

Waves urelenting, passion cries. Waves unrelenting?

Yet you remain.

Here in the landmine of woes.

Yet you stay.

Sweet twilight, mine.


Notes:
Here's a man living a life of vice. He wants to leave, I think, but the twilight keeps deceiving him, and the brief pleasures are hard to let go of. He remembers a betrayal that shaped his path, and is unable to step out of the poverty-stricken existence he is living in. He wallows in endless sensual pursuits and brief trysts. He isn't happy with his life and dreams of a brighter, better day, but he can't seem to take the step out - which will pull him out of this one!

Tobi: These Girls

See....
Hats flowery and bold
Shoes bright and whimsical
Girls vibrant and strong
Youth glowing on polished skin
Step up, step up
Hop step, hop step.
Alliances formed in the thick of the night
Whisper, whisper.

Long legs, endless
These girls don't play fair!
Smirks, cheers, hoots
These girls don't play fair!
Polka dots and stripes billowing in the wind
Its the statement of the times
These girls don't play fair!

Some wiry old man
Leathered and beaten
Awkward gait on bent canes
A parade of fools and lechers
These girls do not play nice.

No, these girls play life!

08:53am
Saturday, March 10 2012


Notes:
It is very easy to judge people based on where we find them in life and the choices they have made. I think life throws all of us a couple of lemons and  we all have to decide what to do with them. Our decisions form our path and make us no better than the next person, in truth. "These girls" is about the girls who chose to use what they had to get what they needed. It is about the choices life forced them to make, and the choices they were to weak to make. These girls are stylish. These girls are easy. These girls are on to all the trends. These girls are vicious!