Oke’s Musings: Poetry, People and Places

Author: Oke Iroegbu

  • Anatomy of Actions Challenge: Day 13

    The important thing is not to stop questioning… Never lose a holy curiosity – Albert Einstein Today is the thirteenth day of challenge and we will focus on Staying Curious. A document shared by Anderson University detailed why it is important to stay curious. Intellectual curiosity is so important! We see that most clearly in…

  • A Grateful African Poem

    Now gather by the fireside While we wait on yams to roast, Drying our hands in the warmth This quiet evening, cold and mild We wait to dream A fluffy pillow beckoning, The day tales also waiting, A joyful evening it seems The sweet fellowship Of Nature’s trick and craft Upon the retreat fell, to…

  • Anatomy of Actions Challenge: Day 12

    Today is the twelfth day of the challenge, and the topic focuses on Energy Positive Homes. Positive Energy Homes are zero energy homes that are so efficient they produce more energy than they consume, leaving you with extra energy to use in other ways such as powering your mobile devices, power tools, or even your…

  • Plant A Tree…

    The little pic story below portrays what happens to man and animals when we exploit natural resources without considering the environmental impact. The picture tells a lot of stories, and I hope we can make meaning from it. Let’s plant trees and be heroes.

  • Quote On Hope

    We’ve to understand we are a lot stronger than we anticipate that we are. We’re a lot stronger than we believe we are. Believing in yourself, you can overcome the darkest moments. I can’t make up for the past, of course, but I just want to have a healthy future – Mike Tyson

  • Anatomy of Actions Challenge: Day 11

    Today is the eleventh day in our challenge, and we are focusing on divestment as means to help our environment. Divesting from fossil fuels makes sense environmentally and financially. The purpose of divesting from fossil fuels seeks to protect the planet from severe climate change, which coincides with the United Nations Global Goals.

  • Anatomy of Actions Challenge: Day 10

    It’s Day 10 of Anatomy Of Action, and today, we focus on Ethical Investing. We can use our principles to guide investing, considering socially and environmentally responsible options. Lakshay believes that “socially responsible investing, social investment, sustainable socially conscious, “green” or ethical investing is any investment strategy that seeks to consider both financial return and…

  • Anatomy of Actions Challenge: Day 9

    Green is Clean Today is the ninth day of the challenge, and we are focused on Going Cleaner. We need to reconsider our energy options. As the world is changing, people seek green energy options like solar, sonar, and wind as alternative sources to generate electricity. These renewable sources do not have significant impacts on…

  • Reflection: Keeping The Right Company

    Don’t let the world dim your lights. I was just a teenager when I realized that the kind of friends and acquaintances you keep can either help you grow or hold you back. It took me many years to accept that I can’t support anyone who doesn’t want my genuine help, and that life is…

  • Anatomy of Actions Challenge: Day 8

    Today is the eight day of the challenge, and our focus is on Sharing Your Ride. Sharing our ride can reduce much carbon emissions, resulting from having many cars on the road. We can also walk or cycle as this can be beneficial to our health.

  • Anatomy of Actions Challenge: Day 7

    Today being the seventh day of our challenge, focuses on exercising our body by Keeping Active. There are so many ways to work out. Find the best exercises that give you flexibility for work and family/personal time.

  • “I Bless The Rains Down in Africa!”

    In 2015, Paich, one of the singers, explained that the song Africa is about a man’s love of a continent, rather than just a personal romance. Lyrics of the song “Africa” by Toto I hear the drums echoing tonight But she hears only whispers of some quiet conversation She’s coming in twelve-thirty flight Her moonlit…

  • Night Poem: Hope

    Hope are stars glowing, Lined up dotted heavens It’s gold hidden in the cloak Only to wait to be unveiled

  • Anatomy of Actions Challenge: Day 6

  • Anatomy of Actions Challenge: Day 5

  • Anatomy of Actions Challenge: Day 4

    The 4th day of the Anatomy Of Action challenge and today’s action point is Beyond Buying. Today’s impression is from a friend, Ghanshyam Bhattarai. Did you know that some reports indicate we consume twice as many material goods today as we did years ago? We believe possessions will make us secure and happy, and the…

  • Anatomy of Action Challenge: Day 3

    Today is the 3rd day of the Anatomy Of Action challenge, and today’s action is to grow your food. Backyard Garden A friend recommended that buying food locally grown from your farmer’s market or local grocer is a great way to minimize our environmental impact, but growing your food takes it to the next level.…

  • Love Poem: Drifting Stars

    You remind me of drifting stars, Of sops ripening in the sunrise, I’ll cling to your arms as a child For you have become my world

  • Anatomy of Action Challenge: Day 2

    It is the 2nd day of the Anatomy Of Action challenge, and today’s action point is focused on using all our food. So I’m going to talk about how we can use all our food to avoid waste. Part-time farmer I spent half of last year’s yuletide holidays on the farm. The farm is more…

  • Fantasy: On My Word

    My heart drums a familiar beat Each time my pen starts to work All nature gather at my feet, Little crickets swishing for more space, Shadows of ants behind the candlelight, And light-craving moths that crouch on my touch Cold wind makes me restless It flirts with my candlelight, Which dance wildly in a waltz…

  • Anatomy of Action Challenge: Day 1

    The Anatomy of Action Hi guys, There’s an exciting challenge among the youth globally, organized by the UNEPMGCY – United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) Major Group for Children and Youth (MGCY). While the youth is the main actor in this challenge, everyone is encouraged to get involved. The general theme focus on the food we…

  • Quote on Leadership

    A visionary leader is one who looks beyond present circumstances, someone who dreams and dares.

  • Beauty and Stones

    Hills covered in green Towering over valleys, Stories of man’s invention; Iron snakes and rickety wheels Sunshine is colour of ripe wheat Children play in the prairie fields Morning air swing up tall trees Beauty is seen all over the land There is so much beauty around But stones in the hearts of many men

  • Black and White

    Black and white That’s just colours Of birds, cliffs or streams Black is a word A cloudy sky or a tuft of hair Both are colours of nature: Black talons of hawks White feathers of swans None of these guys cares Taste the sweet coke Ever awe over why it is coloured Or why skies…

  • Twist and Turns

    Twist and turns; the song of life, Walk or run, up or down the cliffs, Vigor may come as a dream or wife

  • The Importance of Folklore In Igboland (Uru akụkọ ifo baara n’ala Igbo)

    The Igbo Storytelling Tradition Before the coming of the white man, the Igbo cultural society educated themselves through folktales. Storytelling was a revered tradition used to pass the wisdom of ancestors to the younger generation. It is assumed that anyone who can tell a good story is wise. The Igbo people believe in a supernatural…

  • Quote for The Week: Kindness

    A true selfless act always sparks another – without fail ~ Klaus

  • Life’s Flow by Robin Bliss

    Going with the flow of life Or Rather starting to do so Just as water flows naturally To form runnels, streamlets To join the rivers which Also, flow to meet the ocean So our life’s flow onwards Never backward To join the great sea of eternity The marvelous oneness of which We are all part…

  • Martin Luther King Jr Day

    Today is Martin Luther King Jr Day. To celebrate this icon I decided to post some of his quotes. 1. Injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere. 2. Darkness cannot drive out darkness; only light can do that. Hate cannot drive out hate; only love can do that. 3. The time is always right…

  • You are Your Thoughts

    Know that whatever you will become is a function of your thoughts. We are what we think. With our thoughts, we make our world. What you picture in your mind, your mind will accomplish for you. Consider the image above. While the world saw a cat, the cat saw himself a Lion! We could be…

  • African Proverb: On The Chameleon

    Proverb: A chameleon that wants to survive from the burning bush must abandon the majestic walk of its ancestors. Origin: When there’s a fire in the bush, all living things around there fly, crawl, run for dear lives. Even the slowest among them will make a drastic effort to escape the fire. Chameleons are slow-walking…

  • Reflection and Short Poem on Global Warming

    Global Warming Is Real If you are in West Africa, you’ll notice that the harmattan winds didn’t blow this past year. Growing up, it was normal to witness dry, intense storms that blew in the morning, noon, and evening. Then, exposed body parts would turn white unless you used a particular type of oil pomade.…

  • Night Poem: A Shepherd’s Dream

    The distant twinkling stars are his friends, The sweet, mild breeze his companion, Day may end with sleep full of pleasant dreams

  • Hurricane by Nicole Coventry

    I read this excellent piece, and I fell in love with it. I should share it with you. This is from Nicole Coventry’s poetry book The Chaos of Letting Go. I had mistaken you For the sea For sunshine And soft sand But you ended up Being the hurricane That destroyed me

  • Quote on Love

    Affection to loved ones is half the journey; the rest is learning to recognize the pain of others.

  • Muse: Morning Poem

    As the golden day breaks, It gave scented fog of hope When the lovely sun of joy rise So ina murna – I’m delighted, When you look at me each morning To share this unerring, loving smile To admit that you love me like bread loves butter

  • Poem: Let Dry Bones Receive Life

    Heed my call, dear wind Listen and let your strength On every dry land and life Gather turf, swoop down Upon the vale and hills Let my voice echo down valley Provoke dry bones to receive life Let it be quiet upon the still fogs Early when night battled dawn Let this life-giver wind restore…

  • Video: Meet the Hyena Men of Northern Nigeria

    Some men possess magical abilities to control wild animals. Watch the Hyena men from the rural parts of Northern Nigeria perform in the streets of Lagos. These men mastered this roadside circus from a tender age. I’ve caught a glimpse of their live-action once. I confirm that their performances are phenomenal and not for the…

  • Video: Umqobothi by Yvonne Chaka Chaka

    It’s Friday! What better way to spend the sunny weekend but to enjoy the refreshing African magic beer? Observe the excitement on the faces of laborers when they remember home and the waiting beer.

  • Quote: Dream The Impossible

    Nature loves the courageous. Dream the impossible and the world will not grind you under; it will lift you – Oke Iroegbu.

  • Poem: Listen To Nature

    Pace alongside cassava stalks On a bright, sunny day, Let the wind blow hot air When masquerades stomp Hear the hawk call out Watch her float up the sky, Stay off from the untamed bush Urge the wind to wait till sunset Nudge the funny crabs away Soak in the ecstatic springs Drink her life-giving…

  • Quote on Compassion

    There are two ways of spreading light: to be the candle or the mirror that reflects it – Edith Wharton

  • Quote on Hope

    When I got enough confidence, the stage was gone. When I was sure of losing, I won. When I needed people the most, they left me. When I learnt to dry my tears, I found a shoulder to cry on. When I mastered the skill of hating, someone started loving me to the core of…

  • Thought for the Week: Patience and Perseverance

    Patience and perseverance have a magical effect before which difficulties disappear, and obstacles vanish – John Quincy Adams These two virtues distinguish success from failure, achievement from disappointment. If one can adopt them, then they can conquer the world. Reflect on this.

  • Many Tongues, One People

    I wrote this poem on January 2, 2017, upon my return from Northern Nigeria. Before this, I have always viewed people from other tribes suspiciously. This is because of the bitterness and rivalry amongst Nigeria’s tribes. But having had experience living in several parts of Nigeria, things took a spin, and I started seeing the…

  • Video: The African Problem

  • Far Away

    My heart dances & lives to laugh, Under this beautiful moonshine, With my troubadour & cheerful strength, This heart remains in my hometown Even as dreams live in another country I follow these dreams far away To return to this heart someday

  • When Tree Leaves Drop

    When tree leaves drop That’s nature trying to teach a man, A lesson on the audacity of hope – Reason to live, trust and love again

  • Happy New Year 2021

    A new year is like a blank book, and the pen is in our hands. It is a chance to write a beautiful story for ourselves. Happy New Year. It’s midnight West African Time, and January 1st, 2021, is finally here. Let me start by wishing you that is reading a Happy New Year. Amid…

  • What 2020 Taught Me

    Failure Is Not Final “What did you learn in 2020?” That is the big question for everyone. So I’m going to share a bit of what 2020 taught me and how I have evolved into a resilient individual. Indeed a lot had transpired this year; wars, disasters, locust infestation, Brexit – EU trade issues, MAGA,…