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| KEMIBON WINNER POEM OF THE MONTH |
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| LOLADE AJAYI WINNER WORTHY OF NOTE POEM |
WHEN FEAR
WALKED IN (POEM OF THE MONTH)
Fear walked in and
Hatred followed closely at its heels
Many fell in love with these two Brothers
Welcomed them warmly
They made room for them
Furnished it with contempt
Draped cruelty across the windows
And put pride at the door
Hatred gained many followers
Fear was the first to sign them up
While compassion looked for vacant hearts
To reside
Love covered its eyes in pity
Blind justice saw it all
There'll be no hiding place
For them
But for Corrie and Betsie
There's a place In the
Hollow of His Hands
KEMIBON
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GAINING (WORTHY OF NOTE)
Ever
since mother made her choice
I knew I would never be born
Oh how I tried to please her
When I glimpsed her placards screaming: Pro-choice!!!
I tried to do myself in
Foetal limbs curved in kick mode style
As I chewed slowly our umbilical cord
But she pays no attention to this body language
For She's newly gained a voice
And speak she must
Against 'fenemists'
The enemy of everything feminine
And to gain herself a crowd
She spread ideas around
Thoughts, that no man would buy for free.
So out I came into the hands
Of the freedom fighters.
Black, on a cold White slab
Which earned me a quote from mother
"The beautiful ones are unborn"
It's already dark in paradise
And I was never here!!
I knew I would never be born
Oh how I tried to please her
When I glimpsed her placards screaming: Pro-choice!!!
I tried to do myself in
Foetal limbs curved in kick mode style
As I chewed slowly our umbilical cord
But she pays no attention to this body language
For She's newly gained a voice
And speak she must
Against 'fenemists'
The enemy of everything feminine
And to gain herself a crowd
She spread ideas around
Thoughts, that no man would buy for free.
So out I came into the hands
Of the freedom fighters.
Black, on a cold White slab
Which earned me a quote from mother
"The beautiful ones are unborn"
It's already dark in paradise
And I was never here!!
OLOLADE AJAYI
/////////////////////
LOVE, WAR AND FAIRNESS
If all is fair in love being likened to war
Then the heart is a complex playground
The battlefield for emotional Mussolinis
With fascist sentimentality
Gaining and loosing territories
Advancing, retreating, strategizing
Philosophical cannons and bullets of words
Till poetry is born
Love is war… all is fair in both
Poetry is the fair ammunition of conquest
And even heartless men seek to conquer heart
Playing spy games and creating alliances
To tear down the Berlin wall caused by cold wars
Appointed securities put up to hide our insecurities and
disappointments
Love is both socialism and democracy
Both parties losing and gaining identities
Yet both can fail resulting into anarchy
Like war all is fair in love
So we fight for it
But is love always fair?
OLAMIDE
SANTOS
///////////////////////////////////////////
GAINS
To
live- Christ
To
die- gain
Not
as religious expression
But
as lived out reality
Not
the virtual/parallel reality
where
the loser is the biggest gainer!
Gains-
the Angelos network
Gaining
weight
Gaining
influence
Gaining
traction
Generating
acclaim
Gaining
territory
From
Santana- Texas.
Alaska,
the Louisiana compact
Losing
Bakassi
The
whole Of the South Cameroon's
Losing
for gain-
South
Sudan, Djibouti
Somaliland
Unshackling
Stalin's union
Loosening
Tito's grip
Gaining
Singapore- a coastland
without
a hinterland
Losing
Singapore.
The
geography of the world
a
study in gainful losing
Losing
gains made by historical annexation
Gaining
poetic/prosaic wisdom
from
historical association and allusion
Moving
on from gains- modern, post modern, amodern
Every
expression, a value addition
Using
the language of Business to express the poetry of hearts
Celebrating
our gains from the graininess , grime and graft of
our
joy-filled existence!
ANDREW WHYTE
//////////////////////////////////////
I WILL
ALWAYS BE ME
When I was young
Life was slow
Growing old was a craving more than chocolate
Adding one feather after another
Being able to sit in the car and look out of the window
Shows the progress made
Life began to pick up speed
The adventures of youth, independence
And experiences
Added to the mixed feeling of responsibility
The baffling reality
More real than rocks and water
Time seem to get shorter
That old man
Observing
With sunken eyes
That old woman
Acting her age
As decreed by unwritten rules
Is forever young
Look me in the eye
And see me
This cloak is deceptive
Yes I have gained in so many ways
No matter how many times I change my cloak
I will always be me
IFEANYI
OKWOSHA
///////////////////////////////
GAINING
Gaining my freedom from poverty
Is like gaining my health to wealth
Breaking the spirit of idleness
In my heart was promise flaming
Just as the shinning coral of gold
Gaining my freedom from
death
Was the disaster I could not control?
Claiming my life back to eternity
Is still the boredom of loneliness?
Just as the barren land of famine
Gaining my freedom from terrorism
Was the moment the girls were captured?
Changing the political dreams to conflict
Which was the enjoy of parenthood
Just as setting the captives free
Gaining my freedom from xenophobia
Was my greatest regret of hatred?
Failing my promises of patriotism
Which was the misfortune of death?
Just as the scavengers of greatness
Gaining my freedom to marriage
Was the heritage of unborn generations?
Dating the mysteries of
immorality
In an unknown territory of waste
Just as the genetics of king Solomon
Gaining my freedom from diseases
Was the worst thing I ever committed?
Faking my skin to varnishing spores
In the circuit of incurable
syndrome
Just as facing the consequences of it
Gaining my freedom from the
Dead Sea
Was the border of unloosed waves?
Splashing the streams to revenge
As dawning of a mermaid quest
Just as the stories of folk tales
Gaining my freedom from sin
Was the sacrifice I made to love?
Flashing my past to the present
UBONABASI
EKPO
/////////////////////////////////////////////
WE CURSED IT.
One Dollar is 400 Naira, sometimes higher and all depends on the
seller. Blame the fragile misogynist all you can. “Puedo harcerlo mejor” I can do better, my Spanish friend will say.
He has torn our economy into shreds, there is nothing left of it. PIOUS, seated
under the bridge and expecting his turn to load, caught a glimpse of a 2016
IVM, he retort “Nonsense, wish kian moto bi dis sef” and just then a 2005 DODGE
CHALLENGER come past; same PIOUS exclaims “ Ah! See moto. God! Abeg skata dis
wold mek wi stat afresh” and looks on until it fade.
Ojo complains bitterly how he has been shortchanged by a bureau de
change while furiously demanding his change at one of SHOPRITE counters, but
before he could leave, throws a jab at a supervisor: please OGA! Nigerians need
KEELOGG’S not NASCO CORNFLAKES; take note, we got swag. But I can’t believe I
spent all this money on few groceries; Aa! Naira no get valu egen o. Muttering
under his breath.
I rather spend a thousand five at GENESIS DELUX crunching my
popcorn and soda not quite excited about the much talked about SMURFS: THE LOST
VILLAGE than pay five hundred Naira on LOTANNA featuring: LIZ BENSON, BIMBO
MANUEL, JIDE KOSOKO and CHRIS ATTOR. Just on leaving THE PALMS I over hear
someone say: “the Dollar is now 450 Naira o!” I shrug and unconsciously
screamed: aa! aa! wish kian contry bi dis sef? Oooo yells a little boy “You
CAUSED IT”, you just made me spilt my ice-cream.
IGWE HENRY
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I HAD LIGHTS
I had sunshine,
She smiled at me
On a cold Thursday afternoon
She had no words to say
but who needed words
When she had eyes
That told me
I was strong
I had moonlight,
She winked at me
On a hot Friday
She was sorry
I was about to sleep
She told me
I was ready for work
And miracles
And I believe her
I had starlight
He danced this way
And that
On a cool Saturday night
He was glad
I could stay up
So he twinkled, twinkled
And I dreamt of stories in time
I had earthlight
He was fierce and crude
On a hot Sunday night
He hardly visits me
You see
But when he does
Just like Branch
He brings good tidings
So naturally
I felt I was Poppy
ABIOLA
BONUOLA
//////////////////////////////////////////
A TROUBLED
MIND
Nothing murders sleep like a troubled mind
It makes the heart a mined field left to die
It kills and leaves you to die like a bruised flower
It gropes the soul like principalities and powers
Maims the man like dainty angels with might
It feels like words spoken in love
That brought fire on the hearers
It feels like things touched in darkness
Revealed in light
Then hid in shame
It is like brothers who bother
And haters who inspire
It is like sour hearts bruised by love
Like things forgotten that hound the mind
Like fears that pound the heart
Like lost hopes that found lights
Like bleak hopes given long ropes to spark
Believe me it seems grief finds home in every age
But as long as the bruised heart beats
It still lives
Even though bleak hope flickers like a candle in the wind
It may never die
But this you can be sure
Whether we die or live
We are still gaining
CHISOM
