ENJOY POEMS READ AT OUR LAST POETRY READING LOUDTHOTZ POETRY OPEN READING SEASON 12 EPISODE 9 TREE

 

RICHARD OYIBO - WINNER POEM OF THE MONTH

A Tree – (Poem of the month)

 

A shoot, a root a mysterious fruit

The trunk, the bark, a giant unmasked

Displayer of colours of natural glamour

 

But before our very eyes was a mere shoot

So tender, so little, so easily fractured 

Now a plant so strong with deep grounded roots

 

Hidden secrets rise when flourished

Creepy crawlies live within unperturbed 

A giant in you seen as a source of  protection

 

Your ravenish strength a creator of habitation 

From underground slums transformed to great cities

Extended branches bringing forth love - life

 

Sturdily standing tall with its strength beneath 

Storms humbled by continuous resistance 

Monsters bow before your monstrosity 

 

Yet here was a seed, an insignificant seed now a tree, yes a tree. 

 

Richard Oyibo

 

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

EQUINOX – (Worthy of mention)

 

The northern sting is sweetest                                      

in August –                                                                        

when a stranger calls    

and the history of the world is upturned.                                                                       

Earth glides through the sun  

and at the third avenue                                                   

reckless faith buys happiness                                         

and in my soul its independence day. 

 

Lonesome crow, I go in search of peace                               

and find an inheritance in the orb of your smiles.                        

My private fortune, digital tenderness is all I crave;              

the day I met you, I met the me.             

This is no fable, in you I have found faith;

feed me to the lions,                                                                                     

        feed me to the king of wild frontiers                                                                               

                 feed me to the vipers of your bosom;                                                                                  

lead me to the grave 

of electronic dreams. 

I am longing for fire, give me night lights

place the sun in the cusp of my hand,

the crying days are over. 

 

Now is the time for crystallization

love is a solvent.  

This passion has no rules  

You’ll be Cleopatra, I’ll be the Knight        

we will ride on the tempest 

and blackmail the universe into conformity;         

we will find redemption for old ghosts.        

 

Blue sunshine 

this is our hour.

Now, the earth must stop turning,

it is time for our wanton rapture.

Rise with me, rise in the ultraviolet light.

Meet me under the giving tree,

let us make rebellious love

like cinnamons and cloves.

 

                                                 Our souls are at zero,

                                            so let us taste again

                                       the luxury of ignorance.

                   let us bath again in the cold rain

     in the sanctum of the forbidden Eden.

 

Soonest Nathaniel

 

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

 

VOW

 

As I rest my back against this bark,

Holding your hands,

Gently absorbing the rays from your smile’s glow,

Sheltered by the Canopy of the cheerful leaves above.

 

I do solemnly vow to nurture the seeds of love so planted today.

To be the shade when the weather attacks

With hysterical downpour, or ruthless sun beams

I’ll provide the shoulder for your vines to climb upon.

 

I pray for you a life much sweeter than nectar,

Stemming from a fruitful life tree,

With branches that Breathe life into luscious fruits

And sweet flowery fragrance that attract the rarest of birds.

 

As the birds take off,

time spreads its wings and flies along,

Even when your leaves become wrinkly in time,

As it happens in old age.

I’d still love you

 

As the years go by, and your leaves begin to fall,

One by one…..

My love for you would neither wilt nor wither.

 

For when your last leaf falls to the warm embrace of the earth,

I’ll lay with you,

Deeply rooted,

Where our love was first sown.

 

 

Adebayo Aluko

 

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

 

TREES

 

The trees I know are no longer in their places but for one.

The sacred tree at the back of the sacred hut has fallen to time.

The gods now take their diet naked in the full glare of the sun.

 

The neem tree at Okwere has given place to the mansion of the sweetest man in Babylon.

Children no longer get the sweet-sour taste under the udala tree,

Its roots no longer keep evil at bay for moonlight play.

 

The grape tree at the Ifelodun CAC has been displaced by a coconut tree.

Whenever father catches a branch,

It rains in all directions.

 

The coconut tree at Akindenor Street was an agenda item at the last residential association meeting.

We agreed it is hindering the line of sight of the power pole.

So we said our closing prayers and it must die by fire!

 

I have seen the boisterous girth of the mango trees at the streets of Mkar.

They bear fruit in due seasons, while the ones in Nma’s Umuoyigba farm, bear fruit out of seasons.

So, how do my childhood come to terms with the gigantic Iroko tree at Amore Street, Ikeja with no fruit?

 

Still, I have had the best moments of life frolicking with trees.

I have taken a still pose with the elephant tree at the Iyake suspended Lake in Iseyin.

I have taken a nap on the tree with the twisted branches at the Udogbe end of my village.

 

I have taken shelter under the dwarf almond tree at the shanties of Lekki.

I have smiled for a selfie inside the treehouse at LCC and had to learn to walk again.

I have ascended to the peak of the Erin fall through the roots of the mountain trees.

 

I have had

the best moments

of life frolicking with trees.

Still, I beg to ask, is the cursed tree that useless?

 

-Amami H.

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

 

THE TREE, THE EAGLE AND THE PIGEONS 

 

On a remote island, there is a rubber tree

which none abroad would care even if they see.

No one knows how many birds come and go

and how many times a day; I only know 

of an eagle with countless visions 

and her friends, the dreamer pigeons,

which etch in the lithy branches stories 

of sun travel and their navigation theories.

 

It is painful for the tree, which to waste bleed

its milky miracles from wounds of fruitless religions;

and for the deaf eagle and the blind pigeons!

No one hears the silent wind that shake trees

until the ground is ready to crack and nigh

to exposing slender roots. There is famine and

when the tree falls, everything will sail its kind

across the sea and say “we saw it and know why.”

 

Aduragbemi Omopariola 

 

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

 

MY TREE POEM

 

oh tree, how do you feel as your leaves drop dead?

oh, tree how do you feel as the sun shines scorching hot?

Is it a profit or a loss?

Is it a blessing or a curse?

 

Dear tree, how do you go through the wait for fruition?

Dear tree, how do you cope with the demands?

Are your whistling leaves speaking words?

Maybe if I pay attention I would hear them.

 

 

Chimenem Owuru

 

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

 

TREE

 

In The Wind

 

the wind is a blessing 

the wind is a curse

the wind brings glory

the wind brings hurt

the wind is a caress

the wind is a slap

 

the wind exists like it must with no apologies or regrets it must flow as it must and it must be still when it must only the wind knows when

 

to be one with the wind you must be a tree

I am a tree, planted by any and all sides

I would have loved the river but life is another determinant of what must be

 

I am a tree I move with the wind I read its caress and bask in its nudge 

I show you real beauty in the dance we do together

its touch brings me growth even when it causes my branches pain in all that, still, I remain

 

it comes with the rain and it comes with the heat

it comes with the sun and with the moon too

I am never bothered about its timed timeless arrivals, it only comes as it must

 

even at its worst I will still remain 

be it whole or done in by its wrath as a hurricane. 

it may leave me as I am, where I am

it may toss me in the air and plant me else where

it may break me and that would hurt 

but I always remember it has carried the smell and essence of me far and wide

 so when it breaks me up in one end

 I am sure I have my root 

deeply planted

 already at another.

 

for the wind

I am the tree 

planted at many and all sides

 

the wind is a blessing 

the wind is a curse

 

Abimbola Abayomi

 

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

VENGEANCE

 

Listen,

I am IT

Proud and strong

 

They say the gods reside in me

I say my pride roots me deeply

 

It is why I stand apart, 

Away from the others

My head, steady, communing with the highest

 

The Sap inside me is sweet nourishment that relieves your stress

 

I give you shade, through rain and shine

I fuel your warmth, with all that is mine

 

Surely no reason to cringe

but to do this, I have to cry

 

Why?

 

Well… look at me,

No wings to grace beautiful skies 

Or wave to pretty birds as they fly

This time,

You won’t just push me down or shake me

I will crack your back with every whack

 

And don’t you dare bark

Hugging my back

Scared, at the sound of thunder’s impatient clap

 

You saw it coming 

way before it got dark

 

This heavy whizz and angry sneeze from heaven’s floodgates 

are in my favor

 

Aha! 

The Gods hear me again

 

Let this bitter taste on your lips 

haunt your tongue and fingertips

as you wipe the signs of struggle off your hands 

onto your thighs

 

It, shall be your glaring reminder

That I am IT, yea She

full of bitterness against you

 

And you see these juices, 

Thick, Sticky, Icky 

Mixed with soil & muck 

Piled, all around me? 

I will sink you and leave you stuck

 

Today is not a good day for a climb, I tell you

 

This time,

my bits will travel through this storm and lodge 

deep inside you

 

Stuck,

In your throat

Right in the jugular

 

Bloody, Red, thick, nasty, slashing, gory, 

Yes

Dripping

 

You should not hit 

Be IT, a person,

or a thing

 

How does my presence trouble your existence?

You, lack the essence of a good thing

 

Isioma Anbrose

 

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

 

A WOMAN'S BODY IS A TREE

 

A woman's body is a tree,

A lofty bough of divinity, 

Arms stretching to the heavens every

 moment, 

praying life into her seeds-  offering strength.

 

A woman's body is a tree,  

her colourful striations revealing a psychedelic beauty, 

Her flamboyant branches opening up

like ornamental garlands.

Such graceful-ness!

 

A woman's body is a tree,

swaying, singing, calming,

Casting her canopy-like shadows 

over the young- offering warmth.

 

A woman's body is a tree,  

standing even when the moon pulls the tide- persistent and thick-skinned,

Her presence impossible to ignore.

 

A woman's body is a tree, 

a bristlecone pine- snarled, old, aged,

Burnt-out, bent, broken,

yet thriving in spite of these 

catastrophic wildfires.

 

Priscilla Ahaiwe 

 

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

TREE

 

You cackle as you remember 
'you are not a tree, move'
an over flogged line deliberately meant to set fire on fatigued emotions 
'move, you are not a tree'
'you are not a tree, move'
you cackle again as your thoughts flip and swing,
how can the tree be this thing that's embedded in stagnancy and yet a free thing that's synonymous with growth
A sigh escapes from the sides of your saucer-shaped mouth 
would you want to be more like the tree?
never in any kind of denial of your resourcefulness
confidently backed by your bark
the very stem of life
would you want to be in conversations with all the elements of nature?
not afraid to be erased by the fury of all that is meant to hold you together
would you want to be more like the tree?
have parts of you reach places you only dream of while still rooted in the familiar?
Be free and still bound
Unsteady yet immobile
Bloom but wither

you are cackling again, because do you really want to be everything and nothing at all?

 

 

 

ANITA OGUNI

 

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

 

WE ARE TREES 

 

We have walked most of the earth standing still

Moving imperceptibly under and above the terra firma

Whether coniferous, espalier, deciduous or evergreen 

We are made for different seasons

For different reasons 

Our life force is energy 

And we give energy in different forms

 

We watch and record the passage of time

Our pages are there for everyone who speaks our language 

 

We have representatives for all the virtues

Benevolent and true 

And yet some have been taken by the dark side

 

Our life spans from a whisper to booming millennia  

Like earth and water

Air and fire

The balance of life is intrinsically within our DNA

 

We are trees 

We have walked most of the earth standing still

Our journey continues

 

Ifeanyi Okwosha    September 2021

 

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

Expression of interest

A wandering fruit

I was bruised with my emptiness

I told my grudges ,my grudges multiplied

I was bruised with my iniquities

I told it not ,my grudges exploded

 

And I wandered in my own fears

Dawn and dusk slept with my years

And I summoned courage with brevity

And soften my heart to bear emnity

 

And it emerges both branches and fruits

Till the storm ponders through its root

And my iniquities burrow through its stem 

Waiting for my fruitless thought of thine

 

And into my guardian's tomb

Walking through the swamp and Savannah

Bare no Unforbidden troops of leaves

With an outstretched arm beneath us

A wandering mind is an unhappy mind

 

Wondering in my deepest thought

Comes mediocrity ,integrity and curiosity

Along the height of my inner mind

Becoming a sexual Megan

Holding me to my diffused state

 

Bleeding in my endless vision

People worship at my own throne

Without experiencing loneliness

But inheriting ancient deities

 

Ubong Abasi

 

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

 

THE PICTURE

 

The grand old tree

Stood where it had always been

Right there at that location

Today though it caught my attention

Some of it's roots were above the ground

As kids that's where we could be found

Either digging or peeling

Or just sitting and singing

It's branches spread out like a canopy

Of luscious leaves in three shades of green

It's trunk 

Thick, dark brown, 

Tough, rough and hard

I remember trying to hug it

It was so wide my fingers never met

I couldn't reach both sides

(I might now if I try)

The hugs stopped, to avoid the itch

And the ants that climbed on my skin

Yeah

That cool tree had heard most of our secrets

Hidden us from searching eyes

Shielded us on sunny days

Sometimes even from the rain

I'm sure it knew all our names.

Today as always

It stood elegant and tall 

I decided to capture it all

So I could save the memory

For all eternity

 

Erhieyovwe