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Anatomy of Boys, Men and Others BANSI III | ANATOMY OF BOYS, MEN AND OTHERS Page 1 of 210 BANSI III | ANATOMY OF BOYS, MEN AND OTHERS © March 2021 Boys Are Not Stones III ANATOMY OF BOYS, MEN AND OTHERS ISBN: 978-978-58560-2-6 All Rights Reserved. No part of this publication may be stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording or otherwise without the permission of the publisher. For information about permission to reproduce selections from this book, write to [email protected] Published in Nigeria by: Aba, Abia State, Nigeria. Tel: (+234)7064982214 http://poemifypublishers.com/ Page 2 of 210 BANSI III | ANATOMY OF BOYS, MEN AND OTHERS ANATOMY OF BOYS, MEN AND OTHERS Edited By: Jaachi Anyatonwu, Jamiu Ahmed, John Chizoba Vincent, Ebubechukwu Nwagbo & Opia-Enwemuche Maxwell Onyemaechi Page 3 of 210 BANSI III | ANATOMY OF BOYS, MEN AND OTHERS TABLE OF CONTENTS FLAWED GOD: BOYS ARE NOT STONES, A FOREWORD _____ 8 INTRODUCTION: BOYS ARE NOT STONES ANTHOLOGY III __ 11 BECAUSE I AM JOHN CHIZOBA VINCENT ________________ 14 WRONG SIGNALS __________________________________ 19 BURNING OCEAN __________________________________ 21 FOR BOYS WHO KNOW THEY ARE _____________________ 24 THESE BOYS YOU CALL STONES ARE NOT (A LESSON FOR ALL) _________________________________________________ 26 DEATH WAS HERE __________________________________ 33 I'LL DIE FOR YOU ___________________________________ 34 THE CONFIGURATION OF STAYING AFLOAT _____________ 36 FOR THE BOY CHILD WHO WEARS A RAINBOW FULL OF STORIES __________________________________________ 37 THE WAR WAS MEANT FOR YOU ______________________ 39 BECAUSE WE ARE BOYS _____________________________ 40 WHEN EVIL BECOMES TRADITION _____________________ 42 HE IS JUST A BOY __________________________________ 45 BOYS DON’T CRY __________________________________ 47 BY BEING HUMAN _________________________________ 49 THE PLATE BOY ____________________________________ 51 Page 4 of 210 BANSI III | ANATOMY OF BOYS, MEN AND OTHERS FOR BOYS ________________________________________ 53 OF BOYS & MEN DREAMING OF NAMES ________________ 54 CATHARSIS _______________________________________ 55 A SEPTEMBER TO REMEMBER ________________________ 57 A BOY IS A COUNTRY _______________________________ 67 A LION NEED NOT DIE ON THE ARMS OF SAMSON ________ 68 THE BOY _________________________________________ 70 BUTTERFLY BOYS __________________________________ 72 BUSY BODIES _____________________________________ 75 ON SUCH DAYS ____________________________________ 77 GIRLS' STUFF AND MEN'S THINGS _____________________ 83 WE HAVE BEEN BOYS _______________________________ 85 SHAME ON HER ___________________________________ 87 MAN ____________________________________________ 88 GIRLS {GET} TOGETHER IS NOT A BOY'S PARTY __________ 89 JEZEBELS _________________________________________ 91 NIGHTS THAT DROWN THE SOUL _____________________ 92 MAN'S PLIGHT ____________________________________ 93 TO THE BOYS WE PUT IN CAGES ______________________ 95 FOR BOYS WHO RETURNED HOME AS BREAKING NEWS ___ 97 Page 5 of 210 BANSI III | ANATOMY OF BOYS, MEN AND OTHERS CHANGING THE NARRATIVE; THE SILENCE OF THE BOY CHILD ________________________________________________ 101 BOYS ARE NOT STONES ____________________________ 103 MASCULINITY ____________________________________ 104 FOR BOYS WHO TURNED TO ASHES __________________ 105 FROM BOY TO MAN: THE MAKING ___________________ 106 BOYS ARE NOT STONES ____________________________ 108 WE ARE BODIES IN READINESS TO CHEW BOMBS _______ 115 SHARDS _________________________________________ 117 WHEN BROKENNESS CLAIMS A BOY __________________ 123 THE WISH FOR FEWER DAYS ________________________ 125 WE BURY SADNESS IN OUR SMILES ___________________ 132 WHITE LIE _______________________________________ 134 DEAD INSIDE _____________________________________ 135 FOR THE BOY CHILD: I AM BECAUSE YOU ARE __________ 137 THE PRAYER OF A POOR BOY ________________________ 141 EMPOWER THE BOYCHILD __________________________ 143 SUNRISE CAME LATE ______________________________ 151 DEAD MEN / HOW TO LIVE _________________________ 153 POEM IN WHICH YOU ARE __________________________ 155 THE BOY CRIES ___________________________________ 156 Page 6 of 210 BANSI III | ANATOMY OF BOYS, MEN AND OTHERS ECHOES _________________________________________ 159 TIMS ___________________________________________ 161 HOW TO BREATHE LIKE A BOY IN A COFFIN ____________ 164 BOYS WHO BURN FROM INSIDE _____________________ 172 SELF-PORTRAIT OF A BOY WITH TINY JOYSTICK _________ 174 I AM THAT WRETCHED SON _________________________ 176 A REVIEW OF LAGBAJA BY PERUZZI AND ITS SIGNIFICANCE ON FALSE ACCUSATION AGAINST MEN ___________________ 178 FOR BOYS WHOSE EYES ARE OCEAN'S BANK ___________ 183 A GOD FROM THE MIDDLE WORLD ___________________ 184 MONSTARNATION ________________________________ 186 HOW TO NAME A BOY _____________________________ 187 BOYS ARE NOT STONES ____________________________ 189 BECOMING MEN __________________________________ 190 YOU’RE HUMAN __________________________________ 193 THE OTHER SIDE OF A PAMPERED TALE _______________ 195 HOW TO CREATE A BOY ____________________________ 196 THE PORTRAIT BOY DARES TO DANCE _________________ 197 FOR BOYS WHO BEG FOR AN OUNCE OF SMILE _________ 199 BOYS ARE CHAMELEONS OF UNPLEASANT THINGS ______ 201 OTHER BOOKS BY POEMIFY PUBLISHERS ______________ 204 Page 7 of 210 BANSI III | ANATOMY OF BOYS, MEN AND OTHERS FLAWED GOD: BOYS ARE NOT STONES, A FOREWORD The male child in an African home is as a diamond, an heir - the definition of permanence. And this is where the pressure begins. He is born into idealistic responsibilities thrust on him by a culture that keeps passing on the mythical baton of misery. This cruel cycle is what Anatomy of Boys, Men and Others set out to break. Ironically, the boy child is clay. Expectations mould him. Abuse breaks him. Societal storms discard him. His perceived strength is a weakness — his extravagant ego, his undoing. A boy is a flawed god! He is constantly trying to fit into pigeonholes and illusive casts— trying to become, impress. Sadly, he keeps failing the identity test. He is lost and the noise in his head will not wane. He keeps groping for self but the light keeps eluding. You would probably think of this anthology as a broken record but the curators are dedicated to telling stories the world is not ready to listen to — and they are dogged about it. Aren’t the things we talk about regularly the things we are passionate about, perhaps to the point of obsession? Page 8 of 210 BANSI III | ANATOMY OF BOYS, MEN AND OTHERS Boys Are Not Stones series have become an avenue to speak of the fears, doubts and manias of the male gender—they are open doors to explore the mysteries of their makeup. The boy is a tale of neglect, rejection, abandonment and silence—and this anthology is set to amplify these liabilities, sort through the confusion, the displaced identities and misplaced values. Like Ajibade Abdullahi Adewale says in his essay, the silence of the boy child is a danger to society. And to bolster his point, that the male child is not a symbol of perfection, Jaachi Anyatonwu paints the image of a boy crumbling under the weight of appearances: i know boys who go to the gym, build bodies, but their souls are shards floating in the mercy of winds [Jaachi Anyatonwu, For Boys Who Know They Are Beneath the bones and muscles that seem to have formed our delineation of maleness is a softness that is rarely talked about. Yes, masculinity is celebrated for strength but a boy feels too. And to quote from one of the poems in the collection, The boy is strong, made of flesh, a body that feels The boy isn’t made of mahogany [Finum Isaac, The Boy] There is a longing in the boy child, a longing to be loved. A longing that is not satisfied. Thus, he runs back into himself. He Page 9 of 210 BANSI III | ANATOMY OF BOYS, MEN AND OTHERS thinks he’s not normal, he thinks his cravings are weird. He shrinks back into himself—that’s his coping mechanism, his survival strategy. There is a city in my body, one who hasn't sighted a vehicle of love. I grow large with desires & shrink after, at the unrealistic realism of my cravings. [Emmanuel Ojeikhodion, When Brokenness Claims a Body] However, in embracing and being expressive of his vulnerabilities, the boy child has gradually become less competitive as Enyi Christiana Chijioke notes in her short essay about finding balance, paying equal attention to children of both genders. For me, this propels a thought, disruptive but true—as much as both genders are complementary beings, there will always be a need for one to be strong when the other is down. I will wrap up this brief introduction to this amazing body of work with Christian Odinaka’s idea of achieving balance in nurturing the male child: Show him pictures of war; and a girl. Jide Badmus Author, Paradox of Little Fires Page 10 of 210 BANSI III | ANATOMY OF BOYS, MEN AND OTHERS INTRODUCTION: BOYS ARE NOT STONES ANTHOLOGY III Dear Friends and Readers, It’s a privilege to be working with you on a non-profit initiative that is committed to a cause. And that cause at “Boys Are Not Stones Initiative” is you —boys, men and others. We thank you for following us over the years and trusting us with your experiences and stories. We will continue to project them and we invite you as always, to invite others to join us. This is because we believe that responsible boys and men are everybody’s responsibility. Even as their irresponsibility affects us all. I know you have heard that hundreds of boys were kidnapped in Katsina State? Now we are saying "bring back our boys" too, just as we have been saying "bring back our girls". The truth is, everyone needs bringing back and everyone has to help bring back the other. So instead of fight, and build walls between boys, men and others, let us build bridges and hold out supportive hands to one another. It's been three years thus far, but “Boys Are Not Stones Initiative” is far from becoming what we desire it to be. This does not mean Page 11 of 210 BANSI III | ANATOMY OF BOYS, MEN AND OTHERS that we do not appreciate how far we have gone. But we wish we could go further.
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