Oke’s Musings: Poetry, People and Places

Author: Oke Iroegbu

  • Thoughts on Friendships and Personal Autonomy

    I received several messages from close friends, complaining of the way their friends or partners treat them. I tried to see reason from different angles so that I can make an impartial judgment. Being right is not a guarantee that people will treat you well, and returning people’s favours is not ideal too. Well, we…

  • Love Challenge 3

    The swift surge of the evening air Compares not to your amazing smile Your glittering teeth, oh splendor of my soul

  • Love Challenge 2B

    I don’t care what people say I admire your soul, your drive Your spirit and how you love me I love you back, that’s what matters

  • Love Challenge 2

    Like graceful deer you walk, The soft sound of your foot thrill me, Thrills softly the drums of my heart

  • Images: Growing Up

    These images show children having fun in the African countryside. I can relate to most if not all…

  • Love Challenge 1

    Your words are sweet like honey Freshly taken from combs off tree barks And melting in my lips, like butter on fire

  • African morning

    In the morning the mild golden sun rise above the huts and hills Painting the corn fields yellow and making the streams shimmer Upon flowing rivers it glitters, till the dead end below a tree root Big fishes stay ready to strafe up to pick insects off tree barks In the hamlets, dogs chased cats,…

  • You all, my Valentine…

    You’re very special to me and I love you 💓💕😘. Happy Valentine. 💝💜💛💟💞💙💚💗

  • Your Smile

    Your smiles are good therapy, they tickle my soul It takes me to great heights of love and brings me joy When you smile, you remind me of the rose flower, The parting of your red lips, a memory to cherish In your beautiful warm smile I find unspoken love, It showed me untold and…

  • Valentine

    Hallo everyone! It’s Valentine. I wish you all a happy Lover’s Day. The essence of our humanity is love. I like to ask a favour from everyone. Can you join me to show the less privileged love today (and beyond)? Let’s give out our old cloths and furniture, anything you can think of. I will…

  • Beautiful South Africa

    Take a moment and breath… 💙💚🌺🌻 Images from I Love South Africa page…

  • Homesick rhyme

    |. I’m coming back, that’s my happiness Tell the strong boys and beautiful girls, Get the boys to gather much wood And the girls to sweep the compound I have got many stories for all, haha So get ready, our nights will be longer! Go on, run along now, and tell them ||. Tell Mama…

  • Shepherd’s Tales: King David

     The day ends with significant stress for David But to him, this was not a challenge As he walked through the hamlet and passed by an inn, ‘Hello David! Have a drink with men, Come and have some fun, will you?’ A soldier called David passed ‘Oh no, sire, I will be late for…

  • Let’s take a walk

    Let us take a walk through the pine forest, Under the cool shade which she provides, Through the path where tree leaves form a cushion And a place where squirrels make their abode Let us walk pass the dark shrubs in the hot noon, To feed our eyes on mother Nature’s wonders, Through lands where…

  • Muse: Life

    Quiet breezes roam this evening, I let my weary mind stroll with it, Walking it down these streets of life, And reflecting on life’s true meaning, Aware of seasons, of sowing and reaping, I wonder if life come in such seasons, And when stars die, if they fall off from heaven Or if there’s such…

  • February Harmattan

    Harbinger of Sahara, king of the queer dust I hail you! Your entourage of heavy sand storms and dunes Display there works of art on our glass windows and faces You give us very strange attires, ghostly ones We wonder, we make guesses of why you love the dust, Why you paint all; flowers, careless…

  • Home

    Home is where dance classes are unconventional, where meals are sumptuous and delicious no matter what. 😋 Home is cute smiles and beautiful memories and faces; green grasses and blue skies. 🙂 Home is happy hugs and pats, joyful and sometimes sad stories, when things change, we still end with it. 🤗 Home is a…

  • Health, our new Wealth

    Health is a new wealth! Here are some factors that may help us live healthily. Our psychology plays a significant role in our wellbeing. If you think healthy thoughts, you’ll be healthy. We were thinking healthy means being conscious of our internal and external environment and knowing how to maintain a proper balance. As a…

  • Dramatic sky over Kalahari

  • Reflection: Friendship

    Friendship is a beautiful gift. True friendship drives away all sort of fear and loneliness. It’s even said in myths that trees feed each other through their roots. So there are benefits to networking and keeping true friends. Note that friendship is central to human survival and that humanity thrives better in community.

  • Golden Savannah images

  • Muse: My Prize

    My songs are for you, Darling you’re my prize And I’ll run to the finish line

  • Humane-ity

    I arrived school with headache as I was stressed from doing many chores and sleeping less. I was a nanny, a mother, a father and a guardian, all put in one. Also, Jindu was sick and I nursed him. When my mom took my sister to the hospital, I had to prepare Jindu’s meals and…

  • Elegy to you, Peace

    I remember your smiles dear sister, Your struggle to live in this pathetic world, Your last smile and when you slept in peace I glad that your pains are no more Though I miss you and we may live alone I still see tree leaves fall from the window side, Sitted on the lawns that…

  • Tungan Maje By Michelle Basil

    Our relationship with family and friends, with our immediate environment and passion for others makes us human. Michelle Basil is my guest this beautiful and sunny morning. This is her story. Michelle believes that simple things in life matter. She is a lover of outdoors, sunshine and trees. Her favourite spot is Tungan Maje, the…

  • A shepherd’s song

    There’s a song known only to a shepherd, When evenings come and the sun light fade He sits with his sheep in the barnyard And plays the guitar through the early night Hounds howl, but his lyrics reassures his flock Stars gather across the sky to listen, he winks at them And when he retires,…

  • Tales of the Wildwood: The Beginning

    Let me tell you about this poetale which was before “Summer returns” and journey of the Ice King who traveled away from his love, the Great Mountain. Winter brought her cold blanket and all living things knew not what to make of her appearance. *** Once upon a Time It was winter And a night…

  • Tales of the Wild Woods: Summer time

    When beautiful summer came… Upon the glades and vales of the wild woods The Mountain took her position and stood quietly by the forest side, Sniffing the sweet smell come from fresh growing flower shrubs Happy birds came flying home Followed by pretty insects and the boar herd The skies tinted with blue skirmish Sometimes…

  • I’m happy motherland!

    I’m happy dear motherland, I’m happy! I’m happy to lay my head on your shoulders To sniff your wet hair that smells like cocoa butter! My feet is swift to run to the wild So I wash my feet on the stream’s slow tide I fright mambas and laugh at mating frogs All cold morning…

  • Visit Africa: Benin in Images

    Discover beautiful Benin in a few images💚💙

  • Haiku: Sunset

    Fast the sun traveled awayHappy birds fly homeWhen evening breeze came

  • Folktale: The Hen and Her Neighbors

    It is breezy here and I have a tale for the evening. Gather around, sit with me under this mango tree, warm yourself by the fire and enjoy this poetale… Ifochakpi! Waa!! Once in the animal kingdom There lived a Hen and a Cock and Their neighbors, the Rat and the Lizard One day the…

  • February Morning

    Good morning everyone. I trust we are all good. It’s a new month. To me, this means a fresh start. In West Africa, we welcome every new day, week, month or year with good wishes. So today being the first of February, I want to wish a happy new month to my followers and subscribers.…

  • Iyi Okoroafor

    As I mentioned earlier, Nigeria is blessed with many water bodies. Chief among them are the Niger and Benue rivers. There are small rivers, such as the Cross and the Argungu. Kainji Lake and Nigeria’s part of Lake Chad provide electricity and fish tourism, respectively. In Igboland, iyi refers to streams or rivers. Rivers are…

  • Lullaby

    Evening breezes are swift lullaby From the distance Burning grasses sigh Bats, owls hover above Tiny insects welcome a starry night Crickets quiz themselves While the mantis scavenge for a bite Still this airy night is very young

  • Thoughts on the State of Leadership in Africa

    No one can fully explain why we – Africans, are so poor amid plenty. I will try to explain why. There’s a lot of greed and grief in African leadership. When leaders are greedy, citizens stagger in distress. We still don’t know how the dust hit us between the eyes. And while we researched answers,…

  • The Waterfall: Sounds of Water

    I stand to listen to you, sounds of water, When birds fly above the green shroud And small fish glide in the green current When the waterfall sing a proud song Mother Nature sings and wash her garments on rocks, Happy girls and boys wash and sang along Pigeons, egrets, partridges and wild ducks All…

  • Thoughts on Life 1

    I believe that life goes beyond what we see and what we see teach us a lot about our existence. I have met people with black, brown, yellow and white hair. I see blue clouds, sometimes grey, other times white. I have seen big oceans, small rivers and little creeks, lived in big cities and…

  • Four Poems

    (i.) The Moon The Moon is following me And with her light I see Wherever I walk she stalks; Behind my shadow she follows And how she sweeps the land Looking for me in the quiet clan (ii.) Village Square The nights dancing festival Brings all, big and small The farmer, the wine tapper The…

  • Cat Poem by John Hollander

    I saw this and thought I should share it. Cat Poem by John Hollander, first published in 1984.

  • Noisy Weekend

    Ah. It’s a hot noon here. Dry harmattan wind made it even worse as it brought hot air. I’m back from work and quietly sitted, looking out the window. I could be less bored in a natural environment but all I see here are buildings, electricity poles and people. There are little or no trees…

  • Tropics

    The taste of coconut oil is on my lips Sunset surf the evening wind The cloud is blue, tree leaves green The sand is warm, sea water cold Up the skies, birds fly away happy And on the beach crabs walk Out on the sea, blue whales horn Beauty is our tropical songs For her…

  • Amuse: Three Things

    Three things still baffle me: a crab, the walk like that of an undecided drunk, tip to left and then like a call back to its senses, an effort to the right, a herd of goats or sheep, chewing and giving a familiar stare one might think they knew me from somewhere, an ant, wise…

  • Green

    Green is the color of life,Of dew descent upon tree leavesAnd branches,Of forests blessed with floral thingsAnd many beings that fly on wingsAnd plumages

  • Two Poems: By the Poolside and The Shepherd’s Muse

    1. By the Poolside By the pool that stills my soul I watch the slow tide drift by My song goes high pitch When a catfish disturb my tranquillity 2. The Shepherd’s Muse Glad that the night brought pleasant airs The shepherd lay to recall the day’s stress Crickets chirp, the night is very young…

  • Africa: My Idea of Love

    You are my idea of love The sun rising behind these hills My morning dew and muse, The songs I sing in my heart And my secret joy and happiness You are an elixir to my bones, The unseen muscle behind When I lay unsure of myself You play strings of my heart To make…

  • The King’s Messenger: Town Crier

    Kokookoroko kokorokoro A greeting called from afar The children ran out excited As if this message was for them But then who knows? Heads up, listen attentively Komkom korookom Another beat rang out Pushing the mild hit Into the ears of even the heaviest village sleeper ‘Oh how cute, it is one of the King’s…

  • Bad phone

    Hi guys! I’ve a bad phone and this is affecting my writing. I won’t be regular as usual. Later…

  • My Soul Longs for Thee

    My soul longs for thee, dear motherland To run the patched dusty red muds And to swim in the rivers crisscrossing all over you Let me climb the trees of your forests And drink from the shallow streams My soul longs to nibble the tender pumpkin seeds Freshly cut from hilly farms To dance with…

  • Family is Energy

    For more than a week, the waters of our creek Oko’pia have been chalky. Villagers say each time this happened, an animal (Atah – Alligator) is digging away at the source. I don’t know where the source is and honestly if I knew I wouldn’t go. 😐 Our farm lies further away from the village,…