POEMS READ AT LOUDTHOTZ POETRY OPEN READING SEASON 11 EPISODE 03 WANE

FOR THE ONES WHO NEVER RETURNED - (Poem of the Month)

I.

Some see things, yet they are no prophets,

hear things their peers never could.

Sometimes, they perceive their foes'

plots without their nose(s)

and

sing songs

other tongues

couldn't fathom,

but now their hearts feel things

that their skins never could.

II.

And by the quills

that kill.

They have slaughtered more with their words

than they ever had with their swords

and

many lives were lost to their puns,

none to their guns.

Sapiens awe at yarns

they spin

to the ugly and the beautiful. 

III.

And by the quills

that kill.

Their pens

serve as dens

and

havens they visit

to remind themselves of their vanishment

and banishment

from the minds of wo-mankind.

They are the ones who never returned.

Olaitan Humble

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Wax and Wane

There, He cried.

A little child, snatched away.

Dwindled from the bosom of his mother.

Ready to strive,

Ready to work.

He never let 'no one see but the joy'

An extrovert,

Yet!

so introverted to himself .

Many, have come and gone.

Words, waxed and waned.

 Promises, made and broken.

He searches for happiness in the dark,

His enthusiasm for the course is waning

But He will continue,

Cos as these wise men once said

Life goes On,

And there might just be,

A light at the end of the tunnel.

AMAMI  JOSEPH

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A CHANGE AFTER MY HEART

When my mother was twenty_four,

the absent parliament were melodies of abstract entities,

it was the ark for the war,

not as the law in heirarchical cothurnus,

the skeletons of social justice didn't peep 

at any Emir's agbada ocha.

How old are you?

Oh Mr. Khakii !

When my mother had the Unity of command,

when all naked heads bowed to Henry Fayol's principles,

I will not tell of their non_dramatic decrees,

no exordium, having all the dialects apart,

million states had their gratified territories.

How old are you ?

I think the heaven got mad last night,

looking at the surreal of sinking legs,

I will not speak of Tadishar,

a valley love watches my straight legs at dawns,

and I failed to turn back on the soaked nested Obadore leaves...

' Ah my leg ! '

' Are you all right ? '

The main lesson is to sit up, don't just write,

speak until she discovers her weeping age.

AJAKAYE RASHIDAT OLAMIDAYO.

//////////////////////////////////////

FADED LILY

The beautiful

lily fades at noon...

Petrified,

we call out your name

and a silent echo return,

our eyes bud tears,

too heavy for the soul,

too heavy for your lost,

too daunting for the heart to bear.

Wake up

or wake us

from this dream,

this long night at dawn

alas, a cold morning

to our grieving hearts.

Hold on

to the Sun

should it shine

at the other side,

for we seize consolation

with the memory of your

sun shines in our hearts.

You are,

a taste of salt

that ceases not

in our mouth.

The beautiful lilies

of our morning.

The moon

will glow again,

and we shall embrace again

at the break of dawn.

-Amami H.

////////////////////////////////////

 Wane of witches

I belong in the kitchen

Why not? I am a pastry chef

 I’m all over the place

Why not ? I am an event planner

I belong to your family 

Why not? A mother of dreams

I am the breast weaned

Why not ? I am the breadfruit

I ‘m dramatic

Why not ? I am an actor

I ‘m a fashionista

Why not ? I am a cat woman

I ‘m very attractive

Why not? I ‘m a beautiful damsel

I’m part of your culture

Why not? I am your mother tongue

I’m part of your heritage

Why not ? I am your princess

I ‘m the mother of the earth

Why not ? I am mother nature

I ‘m too emotional

Why not ? I ‘m a teacher

I ‘m too industrious

Why not ? I am a professional

I ‘m a homemaker

Why not ? I’m an interior decorator

UBONG ABASI

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AN ERRAND SOUL

here a giant’s on the wane

lachrymation, lamentation all my bane

the roses of love is pain

and the thorns are gain.

from the womb of the dust

i grovel down the tomb of dusk

as a prowling errand soul

in search of his heart’s sole.

the night is my day

and all day long i lay

lowly. lonely. dejected

for want of a mate rejected. 

should a wish become a reality

we shall live immortality 

for true love doesn’t die

nor a beating heart does lie

i sit in the belly of the sun

and cast hope as a primus son

that someday i will acquire

the mate i so much desire. 

Ikechukwu Ogbu

//////////////////////////////////////////

AS THE MOONLIGHT WANES

Eye in the sky, how do you perceive me?
Like the devious trail of the wind at midnight
That flutters aimlessly with no defined course?
Like a pendulum that meddles in the rights and lefts
With shallow measure of intensity and then
Settles in the effortless space of no profundity?
I have scooped too much from the plate of anxiety
Tasting out my abhorrence against my desperation
That my thick coated faith is scraped and gradually
White-washed to a stricken imitation of a child of light.

On this entrapping miry ground that swallows
My vigor and beats my heart to brokenness
Lend me a hand to stand Oh Saviour!
When my flame of faith is snuffed out, reach into the dark
And softly blow on my smouldering embers.
When untruth encroaches upon my conscience
And begins to bear fruit of peaceful normalcy
Fix my eyes upon Your Cross of blood and sweat.
When the earth becomes too tough to yield
Walk me upon the waters where every fear drowns.

                                                                      -Amar Basil

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BLANK SPACES

I have looked at this blank space

Trying to change the perception of this "empty" space

I have started several lines 

And sent them back to unknown lands 

Where they will be picked up by others

Once upon several times

Ideas so rich that will drown the sahara

Bearing offsprings of lush green that will make

The rain forest a garden

Flowed like the rays of the sun

Satires and ode to love

Bloomed like flowers during spring time

The most powerful spaces are blank

Where everything is possible 

As I dent this space

And you read this

Erase it

So it will be great again

For future dent

Until one day

A befitting dent

Will honour this space. 

Ifeanyi Okwosha

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FAULT IN OUR STARS

I think the curse is on our stars

Because we were made for each other

We fit like gears, we had no tears

You looked like harmattan

Spoke like the tropical rains

Danced like a storm

I was the quiet storm

And together we bred envy

Like a fertile pig

And we were perfect

But like nature nothing is perfect

We began to wear and tear like an overused gear

We began to wane like the seasons

There was no reason

We never knew the reason

I think the fault is in our stars

Chisom

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Wane ke?

What is Sunshine without rain

What is victory without pain

We smile though tears

Swallow our fears

And plan fate with faith

We move in circles

Ignoring the cycles

The cycles are too wide

So behind ignorance we hide

But ignorance is painful

Like wise fools

We bear the pain 

Looking painfully vain

It's amazing to find

If what may come is taken

We will cry and use our tears 

To water our hope 

Our hope must survive

Our positivity must thrive

Our jokes must never die

Every loss is a gain

Come sunshine come rain

We dey!

Nothing dey wane!!

Erhio