Maale na mama wey be papa.
Na she dey get up wake fowl
Make e begin hala say
day don brek.
Heaven no dey shine torch
Bifor maale dey enta road
Maale enta labor room
But na only one pikin she fit drop
Pikin wen dem condem
Say e dey bend dan piss
Say e no go fit cari name
Onli maale bigin hawk di struggle
Girlie don grow turn woman
Don bigin dey clean water
Wen maale dey drop tey tey.
Evun maale confam say
this her one eye na okpolo
Maale teeth don bi laik sun
Oh, how maale go do
Her only eye dey road
Road to go count worm.
We bin no plan am lik dis
But be lik I don dey go
God, who go luk maale
Na as maale born me
Nayim I bin wan born pesin
I bin Neva wan go
But pikin no wan stay
Na e carry me folo bodi

Esemuede, Cynthia Elohor is a final year student of the Department of English and Literary
Studies at the University of Nigeria, Nsukka. Apart from maintaining the ‘Waffi’ reputation by deftly critiquing the use of pidgin from fellow Nigerians. She has been featured on the 2019 edition of The Boys Are Not Stones anthology, the 2020 Nigerian Pigin Worldwide Collection and elsewhere.