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| WINNER POEM OF THE MONTH |
WE,
THE DREAMERS. – Poem of the Month
(A Declaration of Independence from Things Seen)
1.
This piece is dedicated
to the people in the Distance
who out of the box of their minds reach
for the unseen
to explore and colonize
Wonderland;
I mean, those unafraid of nightmares
So they dare to shut our eyes to things seen;
Those of us who hear voices
crying out in the wilderness of our thoughts;
And from the chaos of our meditations, we seek
a new order for the world.
So we take the plunge from the edge of reality, exploring,
laying claims on forms beyond present space and time;
We, emasculate ourselves from the obvious that we may
penetrate the unseen;
We, send in resignation letters to the present that we may
become shareholders of the future;
We, who are not afraid of nightmares
So we dare to shut our eyes to things seen
We, the dreamers.
2.
Those of us whom the world calls crazy
'cos they find us often talking...to ourselves.
We are those who jilt society, eloping on a journey of
monologues,
Then resurface as prodigals, defying the hallowed gods
of the status quo; shattering
stone tablets of convention wherever we go
Yes, we are the ones!
Misunderstood and resisted
by a system that sees us as insurgents,
Insulted and threatened by our rebellion to conformity
'cos we seek to turn the world upside down,
so we experience the uproar of the wrath of gravity;
And then, we're-criminalized-and-ostracized-for-our
convictions;
The worldview challenges our visions-
Calling us deluded, brainwashed, fanatical, mad men -
by conspiracies through the megaphones of propaganda; daily
we fight, against challenges vying for our resources
and reputation
but we press on,
knowing
that all these opposition didn't come for our oppression
they came for our convictions!
3.
Because our convictions are the detonators
for a big bang
of a brave new world:
A world where all of humanity is free
Free to think, free to speak and free to be;
A world where peace is a constant symphony
And insecurity, an echo that no longer rings.
A world of beauty without the burden of the Beast;
A world where education gives birth-
to non-conformists,
Where learned men solve real problems;
Where war does not wear religion, and love unveils
oneness;
A world where every soul is on an inspired journey
Arriving the destination as citizens of imagi-Nation,
enjoying
the fundamental rights of divinity;
A world
where man is not limited by false perceptions of self,
A world where Satan isn't god!
Terrorists- we are dubbed,
for our convictions
- are the detonators for a big bang ushering
such a brave new world!
4.
And so the principles of this world stand poised to pull
strings,
machinating against our dreams,
For our dreams are humanity's elevators
into attitudes that reach for altitudes of greatness;
So when the war of ideologies from our world
lays siege against the freedom of our imaginations
and puts a dent on the armor of our reputation
and tags us
as an amalgam of raw straw
and dud mud, we hold
our identity to the light, pure and undefiled-
because:
from the furnace of adversity,
novelty is born!
And so we will not chicken-out or cower-in,
We will not stay down nor give up: we stay in
And we scream,
as we give one more push in the labor room of contrivance!
One more sleepless night in the refinery of our day-dreams!
5.
We take one more step,
We send one more letter
Code one more programme
Teach one more student
Shoot one more video
Write one more business plan
One more manifesto,
One more election
One more song,
Preach one more sermon
Save one more soul
And dream one more dream!
Again and again, we don't stop!
This hostile world seeks to dampen the fire of our passion
but our dreaming like a phoenix rises still!
'cos we have discovered
that gold is tested in fire
And diamond, is cold flame.
6.
Joseph, was betrayed for his dreams
Mother Teresa, gave everything for her dreams
Martin Luther, assassinated for his dreams
Nelson Mandela, denied freedom for his dreams
Abraham Roland was defamed for his dreams
And even Jesus, had to die, for His dreams!
Eleanor Roosevelt it was, who said it best:
“The future belongs to those
who believe in the beauty of their dreams”
So this piece, is dedicated to
the people in the Distance
who out of the box of their minds reach
for the unseen
to explore and colonize
Wonderland;
Unafraid of nightmares
So we dare to shut our eyes to things seen;
And dreaming for more than we are offered by the status quo,
we find:
that the sky is not a limit to those who fly,
without wings.
Tolu_NeoDaniel
//////////////////////////////////////////////////////
HE SHOULDN’T HAVE CUT THE CORD (worthy of
mention)
For nine blessed months
I slept under your heart
I eavesdropped on your chats
I heard your midnight cries
I saw the world through your eyes
I breathed your own breath
I ate what you ate
I kicked when you made too much noise
I danced to the melody of your voice
Serenading me
Morning! Noon! And night
Till I longed with all my might
For the day you and I would meet
Your eyes and mine would greet!
And the peculiar distance
That kept us
Near yet far
Would come to an end
As our lives began a new trend!
But on that fateful day
From the moment the warm air hit me
After the squeezing bit me
It didn’t take me long
To know something was wrong
Even before he cut the chord
As I wriggled through gore and blood
And I heard your fading voice
Say - save her first, that is my choice!
I knew the plot had changed
My life had been rearranged
And a different type of distance
Had been created in that instant
When one left so one would stay
And one wept but couldn’t pray!
So yes, a straight line may simply be
The shortest distance between two points
But the longest distance upon the earth
Is made when a mother dies at her child's
birth!
Marilyn Maduka
////////////////////////////////////////////////////////
MO(U)RNING
AFTER
Don't get put off just yet
Squeeze this witch of a tit once again
Yes
this left cold leech
That won't stop at sucking life off me
Let twigs be the feather that will knock me off
I won't struggle to get up
Gently squeeze my neck
I have no use of it
Since it won't hold my head up
It won't stop me from going to where I ought not
to
Squeeze it till my eyes shed blood
Till I sleep off after taking the last air in
Like a peacock my tail will spread and in glory
send out poo,
Red blood, and spittle
I'll spit if you allow me
So don't allow me any breath!
Yes
Red,fine, smooth,alluring blood
On the floor and eased into a map
What glory and beauty
This will only happen if you with might and a
heavy swing let a sharp machete get stuck in the divide in my skull
Send me victorious
Happy and glorious
Make your enemies fall
Me first
Then see how much honour it will bring you
You are allowed to kiss me
Make my muse dang
Routinely divide my butt cheeks with your little
finger
Top to bottom the distance is not so far
Shout the Arabic scale
Across the rising of the sun
Don't waste petrol
You alone are enough
Yes
You are
Make a painting move
Make a statue cry
Make a tree bow
No
You won't believe
that's the distance between us
MacTaiwo Oluyomi
////////////////////////////////////////////////
THE
INSTITUTION
Saying all is well
Is like the tortoise
denying the existence of its shell
We meet
We greet
Yet it's all fake hugs
Pretentious smiles
White teeth and cold eyes
An emotional world
A twirling
Rumbling
Bubbling void
Texts read and ignored
Calls missed never returned
Blame the screen
Blame the phone
Blame the network
Blame the home
Just don't blame me
For the distance in-between
For the silence generated
Maintained
And replicated
Conflicted friendships
Numerous situation-ships
Relationships intact
Yet detached
Diplomacy at its peak
Stronger with each new week
It's one thing to walk through those doors
Meet a crowd of three scores
Then realize the real ones are just four
No retorts or explanations
Just a babble of meaningless conversation
It is well.
Erhio
////////////////////////////////////////
WHEN I SEE YOU
AGAIN SOON
Every Mile
away I think of you
When temptation comes, you always call
All the hours that lie between us,
Separation,
Not a virtue that willed us onboard
To a place of isolation
Such Mercy comes abundance of love
Which you didn't apply for
But a sacrifice of my love held you close,
Until we meet again
You've gone for too long
Is being a long wait since we began
I will tell you all about it
When I see you again
It's being a long day when I see you again
Who knows what will happen to you
Because we have come a long way in this relationship
Looking at the big picture
Now that we are talking about families and friends
When will I see you again
Since our Friendship have turned to Bonds
Our Bonds into eternal Relationship
Because earth will tear us from this part
Seeing you again
Tragedy tares us apart
Without limits of recognition
Those were the days we use to be together
When will I see you again soon
Because our love can't be broken
This is another part, which I can't face
Issues in our lives made us who we are
But since the moment you left me
Things never remained the same
What will I do without your physique
Your picture is a millennium miles to reach you
The things we use to do when we were young
Hope that you will remember this moment
Because I can stand it anymore
Those were the days when hardwork use to pay
Though we were bosom friends
Until marriage and integrity stud us apart
Only time and reasons will gave us satisfaction
Hold the light, everywhere you go
Because we are in a better place of fulfillment (assured)
When I see you again
I truly regret the absence of your touch
Because I can't hold onto your submission
Thinking you will be coming back to me
But I couldn't trace your footprint
I will tell you all about it
When I see you again
Now seeing you in a better place
Hoping you will (be) cope with the new reality
I can't have it anymore with you
Best of your life dreams
Goodbye
Ubong
Abasi
/////////////////////////////////////////////////
BUILDING
DISTANCE:
This is not about distance between people.
That kind of distance comes not by building but by atrophy;
by neglect!
This is building distance- the poem,
from disparately beautiful quotations, which as Disraeli says,
contain the wisdoms of the world.
It's about poetry as poema-
a beautiful creation.
An exquisitely constructed work of art, with line upon beautiful
line and precept upon elevating precept, until the story is told or the
chemical equation and physical formula of the words is worked out
It is that kind of building!
Alone in the universe
Coupled with others
Knowing that alone even with God
and distant from people is not an untrammeled good.
Time, not geography makes for greater distance in the alchemy of
love.
It is true is it not?
that
L. O. V. E. is properly spelt T. I. M. E.
or the end of that conundrum is Distance
Built distance.
As Sparks tells us in his romance,
The Notebook (and where else can we learn this but in a romance)
The scariest thing about distance
is that you don't know whether they'll miss you or forget you.
In Building distance, we must sometimes give them the sign of
infinity- taking on distance and the separation it brings
in order to prove you can survive without them.
Better in my view to prove it to yourself than to show you are
proving something to them!
On this singular matter you must be guided!
Distance can express as a not so Pacific ocean of silence,
between parties across which a line, a white line, which is also painted on the
sand and into which the parties fall and begin to practice the very simple,
understated act of drowning
Distance can do that!
That said, it must further be said
that the power of love is immeasurable
That true love can endure any circumstance and reach across any
distance.....any distance
Maraboli said that
I agree!
Distance sometimes helps you know who is worth keeping and who
is worth letting go.
It is useful that way.
And our final building block in building distance is that
sometimes there are things that are felt that can be best expressed over time
and geographical distance
A space where words sometimes do not exist,
only something;
something that you know;
Something beyond time,
geography, distance
Something worth keeping!
Andrew whyte
///////////////////////////////////////////
DISTANCING
Distancing
an allusion
Created
in our minds
Unknown
to us yet known
Distance
can be transversed
Without
physical movement
A
journey undertaken within a space of time
Covering
life experiences in one minute
Distance
A
mind player
I
figured you out
I
learnt to control you
Mind
over matter
Distance
a game of mind
Orchestrated
by events
Keep
distance
Maintain
distance
Build
distance
Shorten
distance
A
point to distance is a catalyst of events to follow
Fear,
bold steps, happiness, adventure.
All
are participants
Distance
Counterbalance
illusion with reality
Capture
the essence of it all
Keep
each at its place
Watch
as it melts away
Giving
that feeling of distance
In
all distance is a mind game.
Chika Nnamani
/////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////
DISTANCE
How
much Love, from my heart to yours
Distance
As
in that space between you and I
filled
with lies and hopes and regrets and lost love
Distance
as
in how long it took to get the truth from your lips
it
was not that you didn't love me
it
would only have been better in a different time
it
was good enough for her
from
her side to yours,
the
distance was just right
Distance
for
how long my heart bled hopelessly
torn
to the core
piling
up with gore
the
kind that is only found in the purest forms of unwholesomeness
a
mix of all the things I no longer want to do or be but cant stop
imagining
Distance
as
in how long till I am able to stop regretting and hating you
no
matter how many times I am stuck inside and outside this room
Distance
As
in love lost with time
and
I no longer have to listen to brandy singing "Long Distance" to nurse
an aching heart
Distance
the
length of time until this want ends and I come to terms
Distance
until
I get a new beginning and another chance
ISIOMA AMBROSE
///////////////////////////////////////
DISTANCE
Distance:
Its
meaning depends on the instance.
For
distance makes the hearts of lovers grow fonder,
Filled
full with the hunger for another embrace.
But,
distance from the truth makes the heart sink
In
helpless misery, arisen by anger.
Distance,
Like
swallowing the truth with an inglorious white paper,
Masticating
the facts, sipping full on our tears.
In
the end, exuding a stinking lie.
We
would march the grounds for peace,
Hoisting
our voices in one accord,
If
the very grounds we were to march,
Weren’t
built on our comrades’ pain
Distance,
We
are ready to walk, if justice would be served in this instance.
Bayo Babafemi
/////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////
FROM A DISTANCE,
I
see me,
Living
the 'frosh life
Having
no bills to pay
And
no worries to think of.
From
a distance,
I
see me,
Living
the 'fun life
Spending
this hard earned money
On
enjoyment and merriment.
From
a distance,
I
see me,
Living
the 'woke life
Forgetting
my years of pain and struggles
Letting
go of baggages that slow my pace.
From
a distance,
I
see me,
Living
the 'good life
Though
not there yet
It's
only a matter of time.
Esther Okekwuo
//////////////////////////////////////////////////////
THE
TRIP
We
journey through the never ending movement governed by time
Within
this beautiful orb
Where
day and night chase each other
With
each passing season
One
seem to gain the upper hand
Only
to lose it again
The
balancing art of Nature’ wisdom
There
is a bus station in every moment in time
Where
we make our entrance and exit
At
every curtain call
We
are reminded of this reality
Do
not go where I cannot follow
Most
times is the unspoken emotion
We
experience each season within
As
the seasons go by
Some
may be in summer in winter
The
flourish of spring in autumn
As
the tropical side of life marches on
Some
experience few seasons
While
others experience many seasons
While
there are many possibilities
There
are some things quite impossible
Like
the unbridgeable distance between parallel lines
Ifeanyi
Okwosha
///////////////////////////////////////////////////
BEYOND
THE LINES
The night bellowed
contemptuously as it engulfed everything
I could barely see the faces as they darted by to a destination
Leaving the street with even more sanity as they slowly faded out of sight.
Bored from this incorruptible pattern of a clangorous meddling of distant
chatter and the flamboyant honking by motorist and bikers as they hurried by
My mind drifted to serenity, but only for few minutes as I began to wonder why
the day has become too short and frail that It can no longer betide dreams...
Amar Basil.
/////////////////////////////////////////////////////
IT’S TIME
I think
To
let my bed go
My
bed and I have seen too much of each other
His
bed really
Not
mine
That
one who turned his face towards the sea and never turned back
Its
time to let his bed go
This
bed that became mine
By
choice
By
marriage
The
bed I inherited
When
he became dead to me
Its
time to put a distance between us
His
bed
Now
mine
But
all too familiar
I
think its time to separate from this
Lumpy
Back
aching bed of inheritance
This
bed that has seen all of me
My
deep seated sorrows
Poured
out like libation
In
big ugly trembling sobs
My
silent tears
The
ones that come unbidden
Those
ones that crawl
Down
the cheeks slowly
Dropping
on the sheets
Untouched
Unstopped
I
believe we must part ways
Draw
the curtains on this chapter
The
time is ripe to let go
Of
my bed
This
bed
Keeper
of all my whispered wishes
And
secrets
And
thoughts
I’m
letting you go
Goodbye
Kemibon
///////////////////////////////////
DISTANCE
A stretch of energy,
full of detachments unknown
Locked within,
withdrawn, removed or thrown
The scale of emptiness
surrounds the terrain
A territory created, a
missed, unseen domain
My range now rage,
measured by mental divergence
Controlled by depths of
uncontained variance
An extension of scope
now ultimately forgotten
Personified as retreat,
receded; completely ignored
An altitude unconceived,
with volumes unmeasured
Imbalance attitudes
locked in extended voids
Wondering within width,
widening without worries
Conforming to an
amplitude of ambiguity unseen
Am I, in an escaped
fortress of obvious oblivion?
Repudiated by my very
kind as I rise to heights below
Withdrawn to remoteness,
pulled in by a vacant mind
Confined to solitude, to
liberate my competence
Where am I?
Richard Oyibo
///////////////////////////////////////////
DISTANCE.
Years
ago you were here to stay and pray,
Tall
and strong much more so my lovely friend,
As
years went by growing Ill frail and grey.
You
took the vow of love and chastity,
Loving
your spouse in humility true,
You
became a husband to your city!
You
began the journey of fatherhood,
A
father to yours and them and many,
Filling
in gaps that even breaks the hood!
The
distance between this world and yonder,
Makes
us miss your sainthood now and ponder...
Terza
Rima.
Lucy Akata.
//////////////////////////
THE DISTANCE
What
malevolent spirit conscripted us to this?
Lured
us with sweet words like sell-swords sell their prowess
We
caged fear in our souls
And
in the dark recesses of our minds
And
prayed they don’t strangle our visions
We
work the distance wielding pride like a bulwark
Like
foolish people who fight other foolish people who choose to fight them for
foolish causes.
Dragged
our words to the jagged edges of nowhere
Cast
them from the highest point of inspiration
And
hope they find a fertile land
And
serve as salves to troubled minds, and halve doubled pains
Build
a statue of our dreams in people’s heart now and forevermore.
chisom
