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| Akeem Oyalowo (dark skinned) Winner Poem of the Month |
PEOPLE LIKE ME
Will never be like them
I have found my path
Littered with pebbles
Some of us are made from bricks
That life has christened hard
Drank from streams
With unpalatable flavors
We will never be like them
Our dreams were called fantasies
They were written in paper
That was torn in between two worlds
And the truth became that we are being made to live through endless wars
We will never be like them
Those whom we point fingers at
Hearts which do not long for kindness
Heads that had always bowed to science
Minds which seek for cadaver among the living
Hands which will make stories out of your grieving
We will never be like them
We have hands stuck in the mouth
We have teeth lusting for flesh it can sink in
We have rulers gifted to live life without thinking
We can never be like them
We are not less, they are not more
We just hope less and do nothing with our rainfall
We want to be like them
So we poured ink on thumbs
And declared our leaders to no longer wear uniforms
We wanted acceptance
So while seeking aid, we knelt in repentance
We muddied the principal, and got stuck with interest
We condense the future and called the shylocks our friends
Pictures showing that we shook hands does not mean we are mates
When we signed the deals, we sealed tomorrow and enveloped our fates
We can never be like them
We learnt to swing our waists and inherited the disease
Swept off our feet by powder, sacrificed our skins for bleach
We wanted to be like them
So we shaved our eyebrows and used pencils to draw it back
Turned our faces to drawing boards
But are scared to wholly use pens
We want blue eyes and red lips
Long hair and high heels
We want to be like them
So highlife superstars developed an accent
Started singing in tongues where our norms are absent
We want collaborations
We are dissolving right before our own eyes but declined to call it evaporation
We can never be like them
Not when our heroes are calling out their kin to come to the stage
While they in silence watch as you all take a once in a lifetime picture
We sealed today yesterday
We will continue everyday
To repay the tomorrow that we borrowed
We can be like them in our own way
Name the game and chose when to play
Paint the ship and direct where it sails
Call a spade by its name
And till the land all by ourselves without a joint venture
We will be like them, if majority carries the vote
Carrying along a minority, so nobody will sink the boat
We can be like them but not today
We have drunken of a spell and our heads are still stuck in the pail
We are being led from behind
And detest pressing play in preference for rewind
We can be like them
But not tonight
This verse came to the fore in the dark
I am brown, it’s those men from Darfur that are really black
They and the flies buzzing around their lips
Forever in love with war, so peace admits it’s too weak to maintain a grip…
Akeem Adetayo Oyalowo
///////////////////////////////////////////////////////
WONDER
MATH
Early morning flashlights
They emit rays of hope
For black men in black
clothes
With AKs and dark hearts
Before the day births the Sun
They wake
And stand behind logs
Adjoining decrepit Vans
Displaying magic
Wonder Math
The curious case of
torchlight
Being greater than multiple
head lights
A
queue
A cue
For Rickshaws
And Buses
And their clan of yellow
To dig in from yesterday
And pull out an Awo
Or take up a number and make
sure
They pay up and not pull an
AWOL on them
The men in black
Wearing darkness in starkness
Polished ticks
Performing tricks
With deft fingers
Politricks
Armed to the tongue
For persuasive words
Loquacious
Ambiguos
Contagious
Lubricious
They draw us in
And sweep us off
With broom in their hands
Then they take their brooms
And our brooms
Now we can’t even sweep their
messes
For them
The hemorrhaging
Of lady economy
So we find pads
For her to wear
Yet they steal it
And pad a gentle man
Mr budget
That jaundiced man
Suffering fecal incontinence
Than a sponged bovine
Rejected as part of dowry
By a another gentleman
Some place near Daura.
CHUKWUEMEKA
DEUS NJOKU
//////////////////////////////////////////
I
PLEDGE
I pledge to a country where
youths are future protectors
Hailing and supporting the
present situation
Hoping that one day things
will be better
Where heroes are the heritage
of the present dispensation
I see Nigeria as a country of
selfless leaders
Who will take the country to
the next level of advancement and achievement?
The one that will not
embezzled the funds
I pledge to a country where
resources are relatively abundant
Working and promoting the
national integrity
Hoping that one day things
will be better
Where government are the
elective of the present controversy
I see ,Nigeria as a country of determined leaders
Who will establish the oil
refineries in order to improve the economic sectors?
The one that will not hide
the federation account
I pledge to a country where
women are nation builders
Giving and caring about the
family expansion
Hoping that one day things
will be better
Where women are not abused
and discriminated in their virginity
I see Nigeria as a country of
committed leaders
Who will transform the
country to the newest economies of the modern nations?
The one that will not
breastfeed others
I pledge to a country where
opportunities are readily available
Satisfying and providing jobs
to the youths
Hoping that one day things
will be better
Where scarcity and stagnation
are eliminated
I see Nigeria as a country of
effective leaders
Who will sanction directives
to various parastatals to curb consuming funds?
The one that will not suffer
the masses
I pledge to a country where
inflation changes to deflation
Empowering and encouraging
the industrial sectors to reduce price
Hoping that one day things
will be better
Where wholesalers and
retailers split their distributive channels to eliminate
I see Nigeria as a country of
change from suffering to shuffling of debts
(Buy the Nigerian dream
,don’t sell your country)
UBONABASI
EKPO
/////////////////////////////////////////
THE
CURSE OF EDEN
Their eyes were finally opened
And into the apron shades of leaves
They sought to conceal their nakedness.
Intelligence became their first crime
And their apotheosis the second.
Expulsion became a must
Lest they latch onto immortality.
And into the apron shades of leaves
They sought to conceal their nakedness.
Intelligence became their first crime
And their apotheosis the second.
Expulsion became a must
Lest they latch onto immortality.
Out of the garden into untilled lands
A unifying abode they set to build;
A city and a tower clutching the skies.
The collective will of mortals and mortars
Daring the heavens with rude incursions,
Expulsion became a must
Lest they turn the court of divinity into a republic.
A unifying abode they set to build;
A city and a tower clutching the skies.
The collective will of mortals and mortars
Daring the heavens with rude incursions,
Expulsion became a must
Lest they turn the court of divinity into a republic.
Scattered across the face of the earth
Each a god and a creation of himself;
The elevation of man above errors,
Armageddon a pronouncement of sentiments,
Nuclear struggle the pinnacle of might.
Expulsion becomes a must
By mortals bringing an end to themselves.
Each a god and a creation of himself;
The elevation of man above errors,
Armageddon a pronouncement of sentiments,
Nuclear struggle the pinnacle of might.
Expulsion becomes a must
By mortals bringing an end to themselves.
ADEOYE
ADETOBA
//////////////////////////////////////
MY
FOREFATHER CALLED THEM COTUMA
In name they are our guards
In deed they should be as confidants
They even call themselves friend.
I call them the classic frenemies
In deed they should be as confidants
They even call themselves friend.
I call them the classic frenemies
They take up space everywhere
Most fatter than the elephant
emblem on their foreheads.
Traits they picked up
From their filthy founding fathers.
My forefather called them Cotuma,
Now they call themselves my friend
No, they're the classic frenemies
Most fatter than the elephant
emblem on their foreheads.
Traits they picked up
From their filthy founding fathers.
My forefather called them Cotuma,
Now they call themselves my friend
No, they're the classic frenemies
Like wild cats
They walk away from you everytime
Leaving behind only their dirty,
petty, dark-heartedness.
Always in their trails
are agonies and stolen joy,
their unpleasant presence
like an uncomfortable
tatoo from teenagehood carried
helplessly into old age.
They walk away from you everytime
Leaving behind only their dirty,
petty, dark-heartedness.
Always in their trails
are agonies and stolen joy,
their unpleasant presence
like an uncomfortable
tatoo from teenagehood carried
helplessly into old age.
They make no friends
Even amongst their sisters
Everyone is a prime offender
Except the top spender.
Outcasts honoured with
This mamoth authority they wield
Like non-chokers causing
commotions, injuries and deaths.
And they call themselves friend
I call them the classic frenemies.
Even amongst their sisters
Everyone is a prime offender
Except the top spender.
Outcasts honoured with
This mamoth authority they wield
Like non-chokers causing
commotions, injuries and deaths.
And they call themselves friend
I call them the classic frenemies.
Abuse them
Cajole them
The more they exhibit hate ecstasy
No show of concern
But for the notes they craved
Yet they call themselves your friend
No, they're the classic frenemies.
Cajole them
The more they exhibit hate ecstasy
No show of concern
But for the notes they craved
Yet they call themselves your friend
No, they're the classic frenemies.
Chris ' N'
John
///////////////////////////////
PACKAGE
IT!
On a ship to be sold at the super bowl
why? Its thickness makes you growl
Yes, come off your pride and howl
About how sweetly our colors mix on an owl.
Measure it!
The length of your dread
for my hair locks in dread
I knew not yours was birthed red
so in its envy at the salon was mine bled
Clearly forgetting what I read
about life not being a rosebed
until your colored potions left my hair dead.
KUNLE AJAYI
/////////////////////////////////////////
THEM
DAYS SHALL SOON BE OVER
Dis na for them
All Dis kpomo men
Wey donate their pikin future for tachere currency
Dis poem dey reach una from my frequency.
All Dis kpomo men
Wey donate their pikin future for tachere currency
Dis poem dey reach una from my frequency.
Yeye politrickcians
Election time una go form magicians
Buy we Mama conscience with oils for gallons
Our popsy dem with cheap brukutu for foreign cartons
We sisters with Dubia shopping plus karrets of diamonds
Dash we brodas guns turn dem to warlords
Election time una go form magicians
Buy we Mama conscience with oils for gallons
Our popsy dem with cheap brukutu for foreign cartons
We sisters with Dubia shopping plus karrets of diamonds
Dash we brodas guns turn dem to warlords
Uncle B this your change get K leg o
E be like say na suffer seed we sow for that ballot o
Abi na African China write your manifesto??
Food nor dey
Water nor dey
What about we NEPA pipo we nor get light.
E be like say na suffer seed we sow for that ballot o
Abi na African China write your manifesto??
Food nor dey
Water nor dey
What about we NEPA pipo we nor get light.
Now the day is over
Night is drawing nigh
Fuel queue all the evening
Mass cursing across the evening Sky
For me my fuel tank is empty
All I can do is sigh
The black market I can't even buy
Why?
Because my wage is yet to be paid
Night is drawing nigh
Fuel queue all the evening
Mass cursing across the evening Sky
For me my fuel tank is empty
All I can do is sigh
The black market I can't even buy
Why?
Because my wage is yet to be paid
Now the darkness gathers,
Generators begin to Weep,
Heat and mosquitoes and tears
Soon will be in full swing.
Generators begin to Weep,
Heat and mosquitoes and tears
Soon will be in full swing.
Comfort every sufferer
Watching late in pain;
Those who plan some evil
From their sin restrain.
Watching late in pain;
Those who plan some evil
From their sin restrain.
Through the long night-watches
May Thine angels come
Their white wings above me,
Fan me till I am dry
This heat is a thing of legend
May Thine angels come
Their white wings above me,
Fan me till I am dry
This heat is a thing of legend
When the morning wakens,
Then may I arise
Pure and fresh and rashless
In dusting powder pain I shall not bask.
Then may I arise
Pure and fresh and rashless
In dusting powder pain I shall not bask.
Glory to the Uncle B
Glory to the Oshi Vp,
And to Thee, blest former ruler of the rivers,
While all ages run
May the speed of "them" own be doubled
For of what use is change if it leaves my pocket empty
With no damn change
Glory to the Oshi Vp,
And to Thee, blest former ruler of the rivers,
While all ages run
May the speed of "them" own be doubled
For of what use is change if it leaves my pocket empty
With no damn change
HITCH
UGOCHUKWU
/////////////////////////////////////////
YOU KNOW THEM
If I dare to show them my thoughts
The world would surely retort
If I dare tell them what is on my mind
The world would say I'm not being kind
If I dare do to them what I feel
The world would surely appeal
And so I ask
Who else wants this task?
let it not be recorded in history
That the blind couldn't see
That the lame couldn't walk
And the dumb couldn't talk
The world clamors for peace
Yet no one trusts the police
We all keep silent
So the perpetrators are unrepentant
Indifferent
Somewhat arrogant
Insolent
Can't they hear the cries of the innocent
Can't anyone mete out judgment
Justice has become impotent
There's growing resentment
But no complaint
No living Saints
I wish I could tell them what's on my mind
But mankind
Isn't ready
Not with this present psyche
One day they'll see
Real authority
Real activity
Unity
Till then
Let them count their tens
And play in their dens
We are watching them with our pens
Even on weekends
Clucking hens
If I dare to show them my thoughts
The world would surely retort
If I dare tell them what is on my mind
The world would say I'm not being kind
If I dare do to them what I feel
The world would surely appeal
And so I ask
Who else wants this task?
let it not be recorded in history
That the blind couldn't see
That the lame couldn't walk
And the dumb couldn't talk
The world clamors for peace
Yet no one trusts the police
We all keep silent
So the perpetrators are unrepentant
Indifferent
Somewhat arrogant
Insolent
Can't they hear the cries of the innocent
Can't anyone mete out judgment
Justice has become impotent
There's growing resentment
But no complaint
No living Saints
I wish I could tell them what's on my mind
But mankind
Isn't ready
Not with this present psyche
One day they'll see
Real authority
Real activity
Unity
Till then
Let them count their tens
And play in their dens
We are watching them with our pens
Even on weekends
Clucking hens
ERHIO
//////////////////////////
THEY
ALWAYS KNEW HER
It was as though they could
perceive her
Sniff her out in a crowd no
matter how mammoth
Of course she never failed to
see them
Yet it was ever puzzling
That they could identify her
She was one of the few left
KEMIBON
///////////////////////////////////
THEM
Ronsons
adventures with terrorists
Engagements
with conspiracy theorist
Them- the
other; the others that rule the world
The
controlling powers behind the headlines
The men
of shadows in the shadows of Platos cave
Except
that by all accounts there relationships are not platonic
Them or
they, with us and with their cohort
Them- if
Icke is to be believed they are in control
The rise
and fall of Nations and Governments
I thought
that was God
Who puts
one up and another down
In whose
hands are the hearts of Kings anfd Princes
Evidently
I thought wrong
Them;
they; the other
Fully in
control
Determining
Presidencies; overthrowing Governments
Fixing
rates of interest
There I
was thinking it was the People or the Military
The
Central Banks of the various Nations
Not
Reptillian Avatars from old Europe
Them-
always the other
My
brother, my sister, even my mother
Standing
in the need of prayer
It was
the woman you gave me
It was
the serpent
It was
the people, the gold, the fire
Then this
calf polished for worship showed up
It was
the iron that burned the clothes
It was
Jonathan and the Jonathanians
Never me;
always Them
Forgetting
in the fix the first rule of fixing
Fix the
problem, not the blame
If it is
to be it is up to you and not down to Them
Or as Stephen
said be responsible!
ANDREW
WHYTE
/////////////////////////////////
THEM
Their stories, True stories,
Segregating them
One of them;
A She,
Wrote out a letter
With them standing
Over her shoulder
The letter to a He
She wrote;
“I am sorry yet,
Who am I to ask for
forgiveness?
And who are you to grant it?
Yours”
She paused,
“lovingly, Cynthia.”
The letter was complete,
She told them,
Who eyed the light
Yet fragile piece
Of modern papyrus
sorrowful, love
emoticons
running over the page.
The mirror in her room
Which had seen
their caresses,
their kisses,
their hugs and wishes,
Also witnessed the
end
of her freedom,
Freedom from pressure,
Pressure built by them,
They who are her parents
Parents who had flaws.
Flaws refusing to be
strengths,
Flaws that negate good
people,
Flaws that should bind,
But never did.
She put it in the mail.
She had just waited,
To pick up the pieces,
And sweep out,
What was left
Of the love
That could not be,
“Her status was too high,
She is way over his league”,
She convinced herself.
The next thing
she
took out
was the mirror
She was over,
And they made it happen.
ABIOLA
BONUOLA
////////////////////////////////////
THE
SON OF OROKU
It was at the time of the
third moon that it happened
The son of Oroku who was only
a man dominated
Humans and spirits as if he
was a god
The one who drank up the
former Nile came to
Drink Iyiala the birthright
of Oroku
The son of Oroku stood on
that mount that was never named and
Shouted at the one who drank
up the former Nile.
The forests shook in fear,
humans quivered
Spirits ran in fear, only the
son of Oroku stood
On that day on that mount
that was never named
And decided to wrestle the
one who drank up the former Nile.
There arose at that time the
Others
Who were appalled at the
existence of the son of Oroku
They stood in defiance to his
courage
Without knowing they are only
digging their graves.
Heeeeeeeee! Who will save the
sons of Others
Who will sell sense to them
that fight?
Who will nail their
selfishness to the cross of their ignorance?
Who will tell them that it
will be their annihilation?
Let them know that the cock
no longer crows thrice
Let them know that the
morning breath can never compete with the noon breathe
Let them know that the son of
Oroku fears nothing
He is only fulfilling the
predestinated laws of Ala.
CHISOM
/////////
ME
AND THEM
I wonder the road of inner discovery
Making detours and losing focus at times
Every now and then wondering if I’m making progress
Mastering the act of self control was difficult
Yesterday’s experiences to colour today’s decisions
So I win some and lose some
Eagerly scrutinizing and sometimes judging
Life my hope, my dream and all
For living without them will not be living
All I have is within
Not what you see
Do not judge me for you do not know me
To you my neighbours
Having leaved with you from times gone by
Experiences have thought me not to judge you if I can help
it
My fellow travelers
IFEANYI
OKWOSHA
//////////////////////////////////////
THEM
Gone like the passing wind
And the settling dust
Above the frolicking time
Of great memories
Of illuminating lights
Beyond the eyes of the Atupa.
Names we shall
Leave upon the threshold
Of once upon a time
When being human wasn’t a crime
And beyond their eyes a nation unfolds.
It is different now
For the dead shouldn’t
Ask the living “How?”
How his house ended
In the hands of his enemies,
And his wives in the hands of his friends?
It is different now
Like sons have grown
To ignore the genesis of their existence.
Let the dead question,
Why is place of rest-
Now has a brothel as its roof?
Let him question why his six-feet
Mansion now serves as the lavatory of the Kalokalo house
And not what has become of Princes
Who sold their birth rights for Naira notes.
We speak a language now
A language we pride out
Of the stranger we are fast becoming.
We speak in a tongue
Of which every right means wrong.
We still recall those days
Which we never saw with our eyes
Moments you lived when right was right
And greed wasn’t a creed.
Those you left us in their hands
We saw nothing wrong in following them.
MUYIDEEN AYINLA
///////////////////////////
THE
LAST MAN BOOKER
If
they ask you, tell them…
If they ask you
the Finkler question
just as you walk down Wolf hall,
tell them;
tell them it’s the year of the gathering,
and we must return from sea
to get our own inheritance of loss.
Tell them we live a life of pi
and only hope
on the gods of small things
to give the last orders.
If they say
the depths of our minds
are way too shallow,
stressing the need
for precise axioms and definitions
to capture the ghost of departed quantities,
then tell them;
tell them we solve the differential of our
existence
by counting small stones,
and need not their almighty formula
to solve the equation of our utter confusion.
Tell them we can fix our stochastic systems,
and can find the roots of our own identity.
If they say
we must go offshore
sailing on Schindler’s ark;
tell them;
tell them we are staying on
though we’ve heard of the siege of Krishnapur.
Say we know there is a rate of change
and can tell the circle is bound in continuity.
Tell them that amid life’s heat and dust,
we have learnt to play the conservationist.
And if they ask
why all the patriotism?
then tell them;
tell them
for too long we have plied the ghost road
where the phantom of Paddy Clarke silently screams.
Tell them we’ve been caressed daily by hunger
on this famished road plied by old devils and bone people;
savoring the remains of the day.
Yes tell them,
tell them we are satisfied with dearth and death
in our possession;
for we are midnight’s children,
observing the rites of passage.
Oh tell them,
tell them we are poised
to cover the erotic distance between dreams and reality
when speed and time share a sweet romance.
Oh tell them,
tell them we are natives of trouble
just seeking a good name for bad sleep.
NATHANIEL
SOONEST
//////////////////////////
TELL
THEM
And when you
Get back to earth
Tomorrow,
Let them
Know that a woman
Killed him.
Tell them
'I drowned in the
Pool of her love',
Where I went
For a swim.
Tell them
'I was trapped
In her web and
Served for her
As kerb.
O! tell them
To hush their cries
And wipe-dry
The spring of their eyes,
That I died in bliss
And smiles.
Tell them
I've gone to paradise,
And that right now
I tread
Upon Eden's aisles.
Tell them
I fell in the battle
At the valley of her laps,
Trapped
In the alley of the
Claps of her thighs.
Please tell them,
'I'm doing fine'
Make them know
That this choice
Was all mine,
That I decided on
This ecstaciously
Dangerous
Journey to cloud
Nine.
Tell them
That if I ever
Return,
It will still be
At her bossom
That I'll find my death,
And frankly;
I have no regret.
And when you
Get back to earth
Tomorrow,
Let them
Know that a woman
Killed him.
Tell them
'I drowned in the
Pool of her love',
Where I went
For a swim.
Tell them
'I was trapped
In her web and
Served for her
As kerb.
O! tell them
To hush their cries
And wipe-dry
The spring of their eyes,
That I died in bliss
And smiles.
Tell them
I've gone to paradise,
And that right now
I tread
Upon Eden's aisles.
Tell them
I fell in the battle
At the valley of her laps,
Trapped
In the alley of the
Claps of her thighs.
Please tell them,
'I'm doing fine'
Make them know
That this choice
Was all mine,
That I decided on
This ecstaciously
Dangerous
Journey to cloud
Nine.
Tell them
That if I ever
Return,
It will still be
At her bossom
That I'll find my death,
And frankly;
I have no regret.
INCREASE NATHANIEL
///////////////////////////////
THEM
Them,
Them,
na objects and subjects.
people, men and women
of different tribe and types,
ethni-relics and sophists,
sets and continents.
Them!
na the many, many dreams
and correct thins wey I reason that year.
Say I arrange Mercedes Benz before I nak thirty years.
Say me, my woman and pikin them they flex.
But na dissapointment and vex.
Vex! Sake of say
all na inside my head and on top my bed
na him man fit get all them things wey him count as best.
Them!
Is when Ignoble men set themselves with themselves,
To select for themselves, from themselves, by themselves,
that which the malady of the flesh suggests to them as
best
for the uninteresting interest of the voiceless rest..
When! Men and women of integrity's wantonness ,
who lucid at polls did cast their votes for tempo's
lavish fete in expense of tomorrow's generations'
blessedness..
Then point their fingers in guise of forgetfulness
and part parched lips only to add to lamentations lament,
and cry yet again......our leaders them!
Them!
Is when in my country,
democracy
beaten and left helpless
is impelled to sit on its head.
Where political theories only exists in texts,
cause incomprehensible manifests defile its test
and ideas are forced to live and die on ceremonial desks.
When the wise trek endless treks
and the unwise are chauffeured
on luxuriant cars.
And non entities lord
over globally eulogized sophist and academics.
I leave you
with all of my thoughts.
All of them!!
Fabian C. Ugbechie
Great to be here and share
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