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| WINNER POEM OF THE MONTH AKEEM OYALOWO |
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| WORTHY OF MENTION PIECE WINNER MRS. OYINDA FAKILE |
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| WORTHY OF MENTION TOO WINNER IJEOMA OPOKO |
I AM
GOING SOFT – POEM OF THE MONTH
As soft as the sun when it sets
Eyes on the rest
Or a trip to the west
A place where it’s about to rise
I am going soft
As soft as how a surprise turns a heart
Smiles springing forth from nowhere
Dimples telling the world, I’m now here
The hug
A communion of souls
The voice, the laughter
Tears of joy summoned from the rafter
I am going soft
As soft as a careful walk
So soft it has to be silent
When words break away from the tongue
Osundare says they become un-gatherable
So soft we abandoned words because we ran out
of sweet fables
So soft
Words unspoken delivered the message in whole
So soft, hyperbole became sin
I am going soft
As soft as eight letters and three words
I am seeing well
But cannot see the cords
Which ties and binds
And reminds a man his journey isn’t complete
without her
I am going soft
As soft as the winds
When it persuades leaves to travel with it
So soft like verses probing the soul
As soft as the river caressing the shores
So soft as the pathways to a crab’s hole
I am going soft
As soft as darkness tenderly waiting for
light
As soft as I become
When I speak into your ears
So soft, your eyeballs are telling tales of
life being easy
As soft as a bed becomes
When a day gets tired of being busy
I am going soft
A journey into the wild
A place of no return
The roundabout
Me and you
Departures
Returns
Like love for a city in which your soul is
buried
Even when asleep, your soul continues caring
I am going soft
As soft as a Friday
Wheeling you towards rest
As soft as when meeting a gaze ignites your
interest
So soft like salt dissolving in water
As soft as affections pulling the spirit
As soft as love takes sight from the eyes
As soft as the sky becomes, when you get high
As soft as a bird’s descent
So soft like a recent memory
As soft as quickened hearts in the journey
towards harmony
I am going soft
Towards harmony of minds and spirit
A submission of dreams and a merging of
ambitions
I am soft
Like flowers oozing fragrance
As soft as tears of a sinner seeking penance
As soft as the shine on a pendant
I become soft
When you ease into thought
As soft as hurt feels
As soft as water is on leaves
I am going soft
Promises are berthed often
Deliveries are not so subtle
For the less that life often settles
By you I am privileged to be subdued
To pour water on fumes
Splash laughter on feuds
Realize bliss has its perfume
I am made soft
By my eyes
As much they have seen
Which recoils a soul to not submit to tongue
I am going soft
Slow but steady as I walk
No tapes to breast because this isn’t about
speed
It is not all affections
Because life feeds on varieties
I am going soft
Conditioned by reality
Inspired by dreams…
AKEEM OYALOWO
///////////////////////////////////////////////
THE ONE THAT GIVES (worthy of note)
Maybe, maybe
it’s the arch in her smile,
bent in a
way that pulls you into an embrace
I’m thinking
that’s the reason I always feel a pull to be where she is; no matter where I
am.
To feel her
laughter brush through every strand of my hair;
every decibel,
a lounge chair on the shoreline facing the blue sea of Zanzibar.
I’m always
enamored, blown away by the way she glides;
usually it’s
more than the rhythm in her stride,
even though
I’ve never seen anyone walk more gracefully.
Its more
about the way she’s mastered,
the way she
conducts the tempo of joy, pain, love, rain, shine, come, go,
how she
folds it up and molds it into a locket
One she
drapes on her long dark shinny neck
A locket she
puts on the dresser and it unlocks into a tamed puppy.
You see, she
knows the right moment to let it loose,
to let it
run free like there are no worries in the world.
Yes, she had
no worries. Even if she did, she just locked them up in that beautiful locket.
That one
that also morphs into a puppy.
Speaking of
puppies, I’ve had many all through the years to know that,
their lack
of speech is probably the reason why they stay loyal,
each word
held back is pushed forward by a lick no matter how hard your frown is,
a paw jump
no matter how “dressed up” you are.
They “have”
to love.
They have
to, she has to, she doesn’t know how not.
The
fierceness of it cuts through,
Every layer
of pride, rock hard thick headedness
She embraces
the mess
She kisses
the mess
Sieves off
the fuss, stress, toss, moss
Takes the
fine powder that’s left,
Mixes it
with a huge dash of red
And she
just, serves.
So like the
“awwww” of a rainbow
The
“amazing” of a shooting star and the “mushiness” of fresh love.
May I never
cease to wonder about the awe that you are,
The art,
that you’ve finely mastered.
The art of
giving.
OYINDAMOLA FAKILE
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AFAR OFF
(worthy
of note too)
Two
planets could be brought to your feet
With a feast of the rarest birds of land and air
I could pull a dragon to your doorsteps
Like an obstinate ram to the slaughter
Aware that a breath of it
Might extinguish me
I
could order you in this time
A throng of slaves through free America
Rebelling against my conscience
To please you my love
To satisfy myself in the pleasure of your smile
I would,
If
those be too extreme for you
Wake at night and stroke your hair
Call your name mid-way into conversations
Unplanned like the rain on a clear weather
I
could think good thoughts for you
Fall on my knees and pray to the universe
To order perfectly your ways
I could tickle you here and there
Brush my fingers slightly against yours in public
Rub
your palms
While holding your hand
And proudly screaming to the world
That you, my dearest, are my most beloved
Yet,
nothing will be enough for you
Not my childish folly, not my naive innocence
Not my mannerisms or choices
Not just me
And
then I could decide
To love you this much from afar
If being this close to you
Would contort your face
In ways that will contort my heart
And squeeze out what’s left of my joy
Because I feel
I only feel
I will never give enough for you
- OPOKO
PAMELA IJEOMA.
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RECURRENCE
Patterns in history,
Repeats it mystery.
Duplicating misery
The old tyrant
Said to toil the dirt
Instead of education
Like her peers.
A child at sixteen
Gives her physical features.
This mother has forgiven.
She shares her everything.
In hunger and nothing
She builds her gift
With maternal love
Poverty is the evil.
The child
bears it own
This time not so forgiving.
History repeats itself
Oluwemimo Bonuola August 2015
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HIGH LIFE AND LOW LIVES
Lives pulled through
The lowest points
Life's high and low tides
Crash into, move over
The highly placed and
Lowly
All given one chance per time
Do overs
Make rights
Questioning mirrors
Of doubt and derision
Swing high
Swing low
Don't swing
Be flung
Into the free thinker's
Corner
Giving up
Not given up by the
Highest Love
High yet low
Lower than the lowly
Given all
Yet forsaken everything.
Kemibon
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BEFORE YOU MAKE LOVE
‘Get drunk on snail semen,
And learn to do the dance of the whooping crane;
Enact the established rite
Among Staffordshire figures
And papier-mâché reveries,
With the compelling, detached formality of
nightmares
Circumcise your heathen self
And ingest your foreskin,
Cut lengthwise all the way to the scrotum,
Drip the blood over the fire of her longing,
And urinate from the underside of your penis
Not your urethra.
Always remember, in faith,
Destroying a boy’s manhood
Makes him a man.
And while you play bison in Hayden valley,
Remember,
That before the sperms erupt,
Like magma from the groin of a boiling earth,
You first must establish her cycle.
So learn to
Count her heartbeats
Till the 25th hour of the day,
Till the 8th day of the week,
The 5th week of the month,
The 13th month of the year;
Son,
never forget
that good loving
May take a light-year-of-darkness.’
SOONEST
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SHE'S YOU
She
has a heart as fine gold
She's strong and bold
Nice warm and not cold
Tender to hold
She's
got a happy countenance
A beautiful appearance
She's worth every glance
She's got sparkle of wonderful
radiance
She's affectionate
She's passionate
She's unique
She dynamic
She’s Classic
She's smart
She’s an epitome of the most
creative art.
Like a
diamond she glitters
Her sincere laughter
She's always willing to share
With so much love and care
She's
gives such great smiles
That’s worth while
She's
a princess
She's
priceless
She's
industrious
She's
precious
She’s
courageous
She's
intelligent
She's diligent
As
well as confident
She's
awesome
She
gleesome
She’s
pretty and winsome
And
she deserves always the best!
Amara
Ayozie
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"THE
SUN VEILED HER COUNTENANCE"
The day had long since dawned
Despite the still present music
Blessing
my ears by the Opera of Crickets
And the now-resuming Avian Choirs
All as if reluctant to wait for
The Sun's awakening that was due
The
Dogs had begun their mischief
Barking at the passing of familiar strangers
Already here and there a litter
Now in search of a play thing in the thickets
One
needs not wait to play
On a day that has dawned without the Sun.
The
Snail went about it's business
Was it a he or a she, I do not know
But slowly, meticulously, it moved and wriggled
Beating itself a path amidst the slushy grass
It
isn't hot now; enjoy the weather
Dew tarries as the Sun tarries
Juicy
scents of guava and graviola
Hang heavily off the branch of trees
As if to choke one with too much sweetness
A fragrance scintillating and titillating the senses
The Wind
awaits the Sun's beckon
Though impatient, it remains obedient to its cue
Humming
and buzzing, says one bee
To another as they dance around the ixora
Now the red, then the orange and on and on
To the yellow, then the pink and now red
Nectar,
nectar, sweet nectar of the earth
Nourish me as the Sun did you
The
anthurium, and the cock's comb
The hydrangeas and certainly, the sunflowers
Awaited patiently the teasing whispers
Of a friend absconded through the night
That
they may open doors to a familiar stranger
Bearing gifts of bright Sun droplets
The
Clouds sailed slowly, grudgingly
As if propped by the stagnancy of doldrums
Sadly, the many layers lying in queue formed
A curtain that became an unwilling accomplice
Granted
a cloak of feathered mists
The Sun veiled her countenance
She
was like a bride on her wedding night
Yes, shy! And perhaps a little coy
Tarried awhile in her much awaited entry
As if to guarantee a grand appearance
Now
even more beautiful with the satin clouds
The Sun veiled her countenance
But,
How does one salvage the situation, of
A performer left without an audience
A speaker bereft of a beloved listener
An artist's, never to see the light of day
Sadly,
as if in disappointment
The Sun veiled her countenance
Anticipate
all you want for respite
The heart that is broken can scarce be mended
Differ not the mourning over times lost
Nor the ache brought by unrequited love
Teary-eyed,
in mournful anger
The Sun veiled her countenance
Fury,
that windy furry nimble lad
Received her call, an impromptu cue
The trees began an involuntary dance
To music by rustling grass blades and startled animals
The
Storm he brews for her consolation, as
The Sun veiled her countenance
Soon
the dogs bark at the lot raised in Fury's stead
Scuttled in search of shelter, all awaits in the eye of
The Storm to tend to the heart of the Sun
She wept and wept for all that was lost
This
time, with many grey and black blankets
The Sun veiled her countenance
IFEANYI
MBAH
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POEMS!!!!.
Unseasoned with age
Fumed with rage
Yet I must fill this page
Or my thoughts I shall lock up in a cage
Until I become of age
Its appalling or rather amazing wisdom does not
wait on age
But comes to whomever him summons
The beauty of thoughts put in writing
Yet its ugliness many see
Shall I hence be surprised
If my lines be tossed back at me ?
Though society may not accept all I have to say
Yet the price of hearing it, a dime they must
pay
And if my lines be thrown out or at me
This fountain of rhymes never cease to be
Many more shall flow from hither
and never shall it wither
For until I am no more
You shall be given even more.
ELENORA PAUL
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I WILL DANCE WITH YOU
Priceless was the day we met
Rekindling some distant memories
Encompassed within this beautiful moment
Cherishing the everlasting give and take
I stood in awe
Of all I was to dance with you
Unassuming each step is taken
Sure and steady
Cherishing every experience like a dog welcoming his
master
Here where the sun shines within
In this place our fortress and foundation
No grudge will live or survive
As we dance life’s music
Surrounded by its challenges
All in harmony and rhythm as off beats are tackled one at
a time
On a journey
Life
Unbiased umpire
With precision
All is taken care of
To hope, to leave
Only giving the very best
Surviving
In this labyrinth
As we dance to the music of life
Keeping our heads above the waves
In its ever surging movement
No time to waste
Your step steady and sure
Ever reassuring
My support
I will dance with you
IFEANYI
OKWOSHA
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GIVING
All of me is on offer
For the good of all men
Only if they know of what use to
put me
Would you rather put me to use as
a pawn
For war or the propagation of
peace
Either ways
I will do your bidding
For I cannot afford to leave you
out of my race
Even in the face of your
indifference
I will still give the best of me
Do not take me for a fool
For it may mean your misgiving
I may yet give you that which may
never be palatable
No matter how well dressed the
table
No matter how hard the test or
trial
In the end, I would have given
the world my best
For there are two sides to a coin
And both are good
If you have the right perspective
ILUPEJU
/////////////////////////////////////////////////////////
THE CANDLE LIGHT PROCESSION
And there they go
Walking in files
With the burning candle
Fading helplessly in their grip.
Someone has fallen
A comrade is gone.
Death is dark
The wailer's cloth must be dark
The dark night must bear the grief
And doused with the wailer's tears.
Let's cry for the dead
Borne out of concealment
For the fate that awaits us
Or for the presumed love for the fallen.
After all the tears
What is left of us?
What is left of the procession
That has cursed death in the night before?
Of cause just the walking dead
Waiting to be the cause of tomorrow's procession
Where death mocks, holding his invisible candle
Ready to witness another comrade's fall
Another of his victim from yesterday's call.
After the unrest
Of yesterday's tribute
Paid to the dead
While tears of pretence wet the bed
And the ullulation fades in the chambers of confusion
Maybe the dead can snore soundly
While we try to grapple with what shall befall us.
Back to the bars as usual
Back to the wailing trumphets of immoralities
Back to business as usual
Back on the street to cheat
Back to the daily news of a thousand dead
Back to our story till our chapters close
With nothing to learn from the message of death
And to the erasure of a fallen one
From our minds at dawn.
I shake my head in pity.
AYINLA MUYIDEEN ADELEKE
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THE CALL
Here we sit, a waiting
the call,
the call that would change it all
While we wait.
We do nothing but
Dream.
We dream of the sunny days
that we await.
The comfortable times
we hope to have,
when the call comes.
While we wait , we do
nothing,
we do nothing but
chatter away.
We chatter on about the
treasures that we hope
to acquire,
when the call comes.
We sit, in wait
We squat, in wait
We bend, in wait
We forget
To stand, in wait
To walk, in wait
To work, in wait.
For ‘’the call’
never comes
Unless the channels
to us are accessible
Unclogged
Active
Receptive.
--NNEOMA
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SHE ALWAYS GIVES!!!
She tells you all
about her fears
So you could wipe away her tears
She calls you her darling and honey
So you can give her some money
She cooks your favorite meal
So you could both strike a deal
She encroaches on your space
So she could gaze at your face
She always has a ready smile
To ask for an inch and take ten miles
I laugh...for when the matter is on full display
She is the one giving so much away
The world may never record it in any book
But you would see it if you take a closer look.
ERHIO
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NEVER BE BROKEN
Don’t forget the rains who made you
Don’t forget those drops that suckled you
Raised you from the ground like a wraith
And in . . . . Wrath
Ushered you into the rites of youth
Look into the face of fear oh little dragon
Don’t be ever broken again
Don’t let any knight in shining amour
Pierce your wings again
Shine like a brilliant star ever blazing
Rise like a phoenix from the fire of despair
Be as strong like the Valyrian steel
Giving in the face of fear
Giving in the face of untellable cruelty
Giving when it’s not tenable
Giving when it’s not available
For fairy tales will lie to you and that’s
the truth
CHISOM
