Benita Oseremi Obajuobalo – MOWAA Listening Sessions Call and Response

Poem Title:
The Museum of My Becoming 

Poem Description:
This poem is a museum of self — a room built from memory, body, culture, and becoming.So I gathered mine: objects, scents, feelings, small truths. The quiet things that go unnoticed until you look closely.

Emerging from a workshop held during the Inua Ellams residency programme designed by MOWAA, this poem grew from an exercise where emerging poets were asked to gather the things they love and listen to what those objects and memories reveal about them. It poses a simple question: if we could archive ourselves honestly, without fear or shame, what would we choose to keep — and what would we finally allow to be seen?

Benita Oseremi Obajuobalo is a Nigerian multidisciplinary writer and performance poet who brings a unique perspective to every piece of writing.

Her works have been published in magazines and journals such as Brittle Paper, Boompoetry and West Africa on Point Magazine.

She has curated and executed several performance poetry and written poetry works with Kapital FM, Alaghodaro, PoetsInNigeria (for the anthology of Wole Soyinka), and the Department of Theatre Arts, University of Benin.

She is a lover of creativity, arts and literature.

This contributor is a member of The Onoma Creative Circle, a poetry collective in Benin City brought froth through a workshop by Inua Ellams during his residency at MOWAA.