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| JOY CHIME WROTE THE POEM OF THE MONTH |
I PREFER MADNESS – POEM OF THE MONTH
.
"You no dey shame?," she asked.
"I prefer madness," I replied, with a
half-smile.
Attractive magical madness
That calls out to you like a siren's song
Enchanting
Convincing you to let go
To swim out onto its hot and tormenting shores
Glorious unrelenting madness
Unapologetic in its expression
Demanding release
Like a caged bird
Like a nympho's desire
And in this,
there is no shame
only satisfaction
ripe and
free and
complete and
filling,
like ice-cream from Coldstone.
.
JOY CHIME
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HURRICANE INANE - –(NOTE WORTHY)
Consumed by flames of ignorance
Coconuts receive awards for their brains
Rats play the tune for the pipers to dance
While our young voices scream in vain
Consumed by flames of foolishness
We build rails but acquire no trains
Drowning in rivers of hopelessness
We place baskets in the rain
Is it fear? Caution? Or just fate?
Someone please explain
For when dirt is heaped on our plates
We sing and complain in refrains
Consumed by flames of rage
Our deeds are recorded with pain
Humanity stumbles into a new age
With a world laden with Cains
Consumed by flames of blind faith
We count material riches as gains
With muddled up feelings of love and hate
We burn again and again and again
What a strain!
ERHIO
October 2015
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DARK WATERS –(NOTE
WORTHY TOO)
Death drifted stealthily, below the waters
Rearing its head now and then.
Minions in every globule seep through the earth
Smothering all life in a suffocating embrace.
This dark gold that is our poison.
Twas by our greed that death came to us.
We awakened the dragon in the belly of the earth.
We bit his tail, but he spewed not fire
Even worse this murky, black water.
We let it run wild
It cloaked the sea from the light of the Sun
It drowned the fishes and crashed the birds
Into leaves and veins it crept, lurking
Dealing in its wake a final death blow
To prey and predator alike, sparing none
Yet we built for it a monument
A high tower as chimney
There we dedicated a bonfire
That burned to no end a sinister red flame
Looming over us like the Eye of Sauron
Vapour punctured earth's shield till it frayed.
Metamorphosing into drops, formed a deluge
That drenched us in a barrage of acid
Thus becoming one with the waters
To be drunk again as diluted smoke
Earth shivers in raging fever
And It will rage, as it did once in Kuwait
That out of the ashes a Phoenix may rise
And with it, sisters Flora and Fauna
To breath on earth a new sigh
When a tree, sprung from today's udala seed
Delights a child with its very last fruit
Amidst a sea of flowers unending
These dark waters will cease to be
And like Noah's ark, shall become history
IFEANYI MBAH
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LIFE ON WHEELS
Have you got to make me
this angry to get your attention?
You allow your mind free
flow in the middle of our conversations.
Getting ready to take off
any minute
but the keys in your hand
are mine
I own the vehicle you so
much need
Your absence of my
attention makes me constipate them
Yes, the few who love my
attention to much it's sickening
They choke on the fumes of
my love but you don't
If you only share my
attention with them few all would be healthier
Because you are as sick as
they are: you just don't know it.
lose that favourite word,
it doesn't suit you
That word, can I get; it,
that, him right now!
I know you are young, impatient
but please be patient Patience.
Your strength and wealth I
would be if you please
The vehicle doesn't own
me, I own it.
My strength is in your
attention, the loss of it burns me out.
Though you make me shine,
I make you complete.
DORIS KOMLA
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BURNING THROUGH TO BEAUTY
Beat the drums
For truth is born
In you is truth personified
You are burning through to beauty
Beat the drums
For wisdom is here
With humility its' companion
You are burning through to beauty
Arise, sing, dance
For nature has turned
All shades like a Chameleon
You are burning through to beauty
Arise, sing, dance
For love has defied all seals
The harbour is stronger than strong
You are burning through to beauty.
CHRIS 'N' JOHN
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I BURN
I burn..
I burn…
Not the one that torches
house
But that which touches the
soul
I burn
Yes I burn
Burn for the will to move
And mow all thorns
blocking the way
The ones hell bent on
letting innocent blood
I burn.
I burn..
I burn…
I burn with the will to
hit the bucolic abodes
And make them more
habitable
I burn with an unending
Urge to end the lives of
those weasels
Feeding on the ignorance
of my people
I burn to see the day
That the castles they
built crash down like a pack of cards
Like my friend who is
currently crying her eyes sore
After bleeding our oil
reserves sour
I burn for the third eye
To see beyond the souls of
those mamparas
Who think we all are
boneheads
So I can cut their souls
short
No, I won’t terminate
their lives
I will spare them
To participate in the joy
of suffering
An excess of it, they sure
will get
Oh!
I burn!
ILUPEJU ADEBAYO
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MARTIN
Wind
Patting the heads of
mountains
Wind
Lending strength to coal
charred short of strength
The strength it dies to
have
To burn
To feel alive
To see that red
That leaves the shade of night
Coal longing to catch fire
The fire yet sapping it
Making ashes of a trunk
resisting the blows of axe
Like Martin
The hardly Lutheran King
Sapped by the kindle and
rekindle
Of the essence making him
Keeping him alive
Stealing yet his breath
He dies in the dearth of
air
Of wind beyond the
mountains
When he stops marching he
dies
Short of the grave
The march sapping him
Scaring him
Yet making him
To march is to risk his
life
Not to march is not to
live
Not to be
Not to exist
His heart in his palm he
rallies yet his squad
Rebels with a cause
Warring without weapons
Singing songs scorching
hearts of stone
Hearts aiming bullets to
the heart of King
For the end of all
His brethren
His dreams
His time is short
The temporal life of
burning coal
Of an eagle
Making last flights
He spreads his wings as
could
Aided by a wind
His ambition
Like coal
Given force by a blower
A confidant in his
distress
Harry Belafonte
Raising wind
For Martin to take flight
©CHUKWUEMEKA NJOKU OCTOBER 5, 2015
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NO BE ME O
What
is it that goes in the mind of men?
What
is it that pokes at men to commit evil,
But
to done the cape of innocence when exposed?
I
am scared of even letting my toddler out of sight
Or
send my young girl to a neighbour’s house.
“No
be me o
I
no no as he take happen
I
no rape the small pikin
Na
call I call am come collect chinchin
I
beg una na the devil o”
But
the deed has been done
A
small girl had lost her innocence
Laid
bare on the bed of irresponsibility
Old
enough to be her grand- father.
“No
be me o
No
be me o.”
But
the deed has been done.
Will
she be able to trust men again?
Will
she be able to rise to her dignity?
Now
that she is an object of ridicule
Taken
before she could dream of her man
Shamed
because she was too young to know.
What
hatred do you harbour?
That
burns deep in your heart
Kindled
with revenge?
A
man died by your hand
A
woman just lost a husband
Through
your evil way.
“No
be me o
Na
the devil o
Na
play I dey play with am
Before
I mistakenly stab am.”
Now
you have committed crime
Ready
to spend time
Or
visit the hangman’s rope,
Now
your life is sliding down the slope.
“I
am burning with rage
Like
a lion in its cage
I
yearn to destroy
Destroy
the world
For
my failures it had brought”
So
you went on a killing spree
Throwing
bullets at the market place
Destroying
all that came your way.
“Na
be me do am
Na
juju dem use for me
I
swear I no do am
The
gun be like catapult for my hand,
Na
the devil cause am.”
The
deed has been done
Someone
is missing the one they love,
A
love destroyed by your hands
And
tears you squeezed from people’s eyes
Won’t
yield to your innocence.
“No
be me o
Oga
olopa no be me.”
Before
you are being dragged
And
made to pay for your crime
Think
deep and seek out time
To
weigh the consequence of your actions.
Na
me o,
Na
me,
Oga
you see this verse,
na
me write am.
©
AYINLA MUYIDEEN ADELEKE
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A NEW WORD
It was written unblemished and pure
And noble heroes fought for virtues
Now our house is on fire
We have pushed ignorance to new heights
We need a new word to describe our reality
Blood moon, a visitor with known antecedents
And yet some celebrate
Celebration of squirrel’s shamelessness
I will return the ransom if given the opportunity
A promise made to the palm tree
And a glorious opportunity not to be missed
Give rabbit the carrot
And monkey the banana for safe keeping
When surprise is surprised by the new reality
We need a new word to support surprise
Hate and its fellow vices are feeling insecure
For they feel inadequate to describe humanity
This is just the beginning
We will burn to ashes
To prepare the land
Protect your seed
For the new planting season
IFEANYI OKWOSHA October
2015
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FIREMAN’S LAMENT
Ice is hot
So you drop it,
I'm sweating in the snow
Heaven burns.
Saturday nights
No longer give
Sunday mornings,
We are at the end of the circle.
After the bomb
A moment's pause,
The shepherd boy
Sings in the choir of the burning lights,
They croon a pagan love song,
We are all children of the firehouse.
The world is waiting for the sunrise,
Monkey brains;
The end is where we begin,
Look past the scars.
Yesterday
I gave my last broadcast,
Still the world didn't end in sulphur.
I'm on a Lagos bus,
The journey
Feels like a jail sentence,
Infernal noises
Like sounds of saints
Singing from hell;
They say we are going home,
There were the devil's spotless feet
Once did roam.
Who will save Rome
From herself?
This generation is thirsty,
Yet, fresh fountains flow
From the old library shelf.
We will build monuments
With the little hands of concrete,
Doubt is the womb
From which the fetus of faith
Was aborted;
Curiosity denied
She killed the cat.
I too love the wild uncertainties
Of life,
But love to be specific
On certain things
Like;
When does this romance end,
I want to be invited to my funeral.
Soonest NATHANIEL
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THIS THING OF OURS
I found out that this thing of ours is just for us
This our world is bigger than life itself
Nobody really likes us except for us
In this thing of ours
Yet they will uproot hell itself
And plant it in heaven to be a part of it
They thought we would quit
But they could as well say goodbye to goodbyes
Hot hate cooked so well
That it gives life to death
Our words hit like the son of krypton
And their words like the sissy we picked on
See we are writing memories
We are re-writing destinies
We are unveiling mysteries
And this fire we carry?
It burrrrns!
Not like theirs as hot as ice
Not like theirs weak where it lies
Our has been burning
Been burning since the beginning
Dug from the depths of the soul
Evacuated from the pits of imagination
Poured into this world they call theirs.
CHISOM
