POEMS READ AT LOUDTHOTZ POETRY OPEN READING SEASON 6 EPISODE 4 DOUBTS

DOUBT!

Just between the pronouncement of a prayer and its adjoining amen,

the devil winked and heaven disappeared

Just between conception and the birth of a man,

a coin dropped and we have the head of a monster faced up

Before harvest, after the crop is sown,

a thought dropped in the mind of a swarm of locust to make a leveled field.

A dog is a dog is a wolf.

I have not seen any two things so close

with an unfathomable intimacy as Creation and Destruction

… each having the gene of the other.

They are the case of an egg and a hen.

Which came first and when? 

Who would have thought a sleeping chromosome at the time of rapture will make a difference as wide as the ocean breadth.

“It’s a boy!” And “that’s just a girl….”

Maybe we are not alone.

Maybe the mind is just an incubator; a womb to birth what is to come.

Maybe this time is just a gestation period…

Maybe we’re not the aim— the target, maybe we’re just the means.

Maybe Time is just a spatula with which we feed on the tasteless meal called Hope.

DARE DAN

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MASK

We are all going to die.

Somewhere in between birth and

Living we are confronted with this

Un doubtable truth

The double mystery is when and how?

If we were permitted to sit with a seer

And have our life path spelt out to us

Would we be free of doubts?

Would we be left with no uncertainty?

I doubt

Cause black and white does not suffice

To paint life

It’s never as easy as

Right or wrong

I say Baba

Will you erase some of the inequality?

Will justice reign?

With mercurial men in power

My thoughts perambulate

But my feelings are quiescent

In the labyrinth of creation

Doubt is a constant

Like change it remains

Regardless of the ebb and flow

Man whatever you do

When in doubt

Do not give your strength to woman

No, I take that back

Whether in doubt or not

Keep your strength

Woman has it all

Her strength will keep doubts at bay

And ain’t that the balance we seek.

KEMIBON

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MY OWN PERSONAL DOUBT DEM.

Me i get doubts
Plenty plenty doubts o.
My nickname na doubting thomas.
E reach one stage for the doubting game.
I begin doubt my own doubts.
This art life na my  hustle
The only thing wen i sabi do
but i doubt say e go fit put food for my table
or even fit buy that hollandis wrapper wey Mama want
I doubt say my life fit better with this my hustle
I swear I doubt.

When I turn eleven
Papa pack up im bag leave Mama
Im leave Mama heartbroken waka follow anoda woman.
I doubt say im go fit remeber my face or even know how big wey i don grow.
I doubt say me sef go fit remember im face
cos everytime i think of papa,i dey think of am for black and
white.Omehn e don too tey.
Mama don go through hell for im absence.
And i doubt say I go ever make anywoman go through the same.
My Mama na my pride,my jewel,my joy
My Mama na my all in all.
She don teach me say to be man no be only sake of say you be male.
Abi because you get carrot wey dey dangle for the middle of your yam legs.
No! she say to be man,na to dey responsible
na to dey original,na to dey strong
Na to tanda gidigba look out for your family.
My Mama say if i dey find Korrect man
make i no find am go far.
My Mama say she be man korrect man.
I swear,that one me i no doubt.

But i doubt say i go fit be man enuf
Wen my own turn reach
Man enuf for my lady
Man ebuf for my unborn seeds dem
Man enuf like my Mama
I doubt.

UGOCHUKWU EMEBIRIODO

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QUE SERA

Niagra falls is threatening

despite its beauty

Tom and Jerry's theme of nature has become violent

Joy haunts in memories

Great storytellers claim

Humans are copycats

I am one

Children do not need

Memoirs of pain

They love on play

Education feeds it beast

Beauty is best

Rocks cry

Love wastes time

No guarantee of progress

We have voted

As were asked

Computer geeks are never boring

Especially those in love with the art

Power and greed

have no creativity as one

Lilies will be lilies

Frogs will be frogs

Que sera is the word

What will, will.

OLUWEMIMO BONUOLA *APRIL 2015

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BURNING MY BOAT

They said Bonaparte once ordered his men

To burn their boats and embrace the melody of war

Of anguish or victory resonating by the door

In their quest to conquer for themselves spoils of war.

I have decided to burn mine

Leave the crucibles to sink beneath the sea

Watch its hull go in flames

And plunge legs first in this sea of strife

With no bayonets or swords but a pen as a knife

For to get ashore is a matter of life.

I can hear the clash of words

And see letters being unsheathed

From scabbards of years of learning.

I know comrades rise and fall

From summer to winter fall

And epithaps rise to the call of death.

Do not write me one

Even when the deed is done.

Remember some met their waterloo

For I have come to take of my toil

If it requires me waving my pen

Dipping it deep in the inks of my foes

For I have burnt my boats

And its ashes have made a bed of the sea.

Do not ask me why it took this long

To echoe this war song

For I have been chanting in the distance

Long before they buried my mother tongue.

Where the war is tense you shall find me

For I have taken along with me the flag of peace

Ready to be hoisted before the first shot

I have aimed not to turn my back

Without spoils from my exploit

And if providence do make me tarry

I will be glad to die fighting on.

(C) AYINLA MUYIDEEN ADELEKE 2015

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I LAUGH

Letter from a now free thinking friend.

Dude,

I have contracted Thomas’ disease,

And the pharmacy store is run out

Of Abraham’s drug,

Thus, a Sarah now within I laugh.

I laugh

For its not me in the mirror

When i stare after midnight,

Nor glance in the still waters at dawn.

I laugh

For its not my seed

Germinating in the nursery of her womb,

The report says that my O Michal is barren.

I laugh

For the naira

Shall never equal the dollar,

Even if our shame is traded in the open market.

I laugh

For i’ll never walk on water,

Nor tread bare earth over the Jordan river.

Save for when flip-flops suffice as speed boats.

I laugh

For you will never be published,

Who wants to read

Success stories told by a failure?

I laugh

For the sun will never shine at midnight,

Your papa lied to us,

Or perhaps God too play’s April fool.

I laugh

For we all can’t drown

As says the crown,

Why do we clothe fools with regal gowns?

I laugh

For the hole in those palms are sealed.

No scars, the wounds are completely healed.

I fear my loss is too much a prize for the cross.

I laugh

For sin multiplies because of grace,

And the world will never be a better place

So your holy bible says.

I laugh

For i am an optimist

With all the negative facts,

I dream only of realities.

I laugh

For all I have is the sickle of doubt,

How then do i reap the grape clausters

In the vine of faith?

 SOONEST NATHANIEL

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DOUBT (poem of the month)

its a constant knock on the mind.
A brush against the senses
It lingers and lingers until it explodes,
Its a turbulent sea that plunges you onto an abyss of bright colours
and dark corners.
It ploughs through your consciousness and lodges in your heart.
Its a thief, it robs You of moments of elation, confusing and concealing.
Its an anchor, subjecting you to the whims of the tide.
Yes. It maims,
Kills,
Steals
Complicates simplicity
Makes a coward of the brave.
Still.
It saves, makes u take a second look
It gives, gives the opportunity to tk a new turn.
Doubt is a force for choice.
Its a second chance
Even as it torments
It frees.

ABIMBOLA ABAYOMI

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WITHOUT A DOUBT

The wisdom of my ignorance

Let me ignore true wisdom

Doubting all that is true

Glorifying self-righteousness and cleverness

My dream of a world without responsibility

Without a doubt should be without freewill

Freedom to choose

To die or live

I make within every moment in time

Time without a doubt is immovable

As I journey within time

Leaving imprints

Printed on my soul

Read by other souls without a doubt

As I meet my debtors and the ones I owe

I am eternally thankful without a shadow of doubt

That I am the architect of my fate

The captain of my ship

To steer where I desire

Without a doubt  

IFEANYI OKWOSHA                APRIL 2015 

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BEYOND ALL REASONABLE DOUBT

There must be a reason why the ostrich can’t fly

Why the plural of syllabus is syllabi

 Why certain words or phrases can be misleading

To the point of some being downright deceiving

‘We rule the literary world’ the Englishman boasts

But if it is not French why call it French toast

If Arabic numerals originated in India what’s the plan?

And if a Panda bear is not a bear then please rescue man

For his ability to give names is questionable you see

To find out a Horned toad is a lizard definitely beats me

It’s no different on African Shores

For here, words tend to mean much more

Pepper

Not just a spice but the cash at hand

Levels

What you have or can achieve not the height of the land

February

Is not just a month but whether that item is complete

And if a place is becoming rowdy and you can’t stand the heat

My friend just ‘delete’

So the next time someone offers you ‘Cullen skink’

Just know it’ll turn out tastier than you may think

But if you hear an Urhobo man shout ‘ Epa!’ look around

Be rest assured you’ll find no snacks on ground

By the way have you ever heard of the ‘invisible rail’?

Well that’s just another Asian tale.

I have my doubts and you have yours

That shouldn’t mean men should become herbivores

       

ERHIO      APRIL 2015

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LAZY DOG

My days are lazy

like an over-fed dog

One second dissolves into another

then it's 7:00 pm and another day's over

My nights are hot

not because there's extra heat 

under my bed sheets, 

but because my ceiling fan 

is faulty and needs fixing.

I keep tossing and turning

waking up with a start, sweating

I dream of caterpillars

and all my valuable stuff 

they have eaten.

In my sub-conscious I win 

battle I have never fought,

but when I'm conscious again

after the  nap I am chained to this reality

like an over-hyped criminal;

like a masochist I long for escape

from this nightmare of monotony;

Freedom from this emotional slavery.

I need to run away 

to a place far far away,

a place where only the wind knows my name

Where no one else knows from where I came.

I still believe in miracles

in living precariously 

and overcoming daily obstacles

like hunger and feeding my bad habits

Except that I haven't really been living.

Everyday is a mental rehearsal

of the life I'd rather be living,

balls I'll be attending and parties 

I'll be throwing and speeches I'll be giving.

Because in the end it's never about

wealth and fame, position or power,

but about the impact we have made

in the lives of others

every lazy second and every boring hour.

An N. Amos

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NO LOVE

There is no love bro there is no love I tell you

There is . . . broken pieces of promises littered

There is hate brewing like cats litter

There is no love my sis there is no love I tell you

There are brothers killing brothers because of paper

Tell you they will be kind later

There is no love people there is no love I tell you

There are people killing people for tribe

Others killing others for bribe

There is no love I tell you there is no love

There is nerve racking evil everywhere

There is . . . no love anywhere

There is no love my little ones there is no love I tell you

There are tales to be taken with a pinch of salt . . . and pepper

There is no action only words on paper

There is no love my friends there is no love I tell you

We thought love is the foundation . . . no!

It is the decency of lies and pretense that tear secrets now

There is no love my brethren there is no love I tell you

There is only peace made of fake smiles

There is only doubts for many miles

CHISOM

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