Okechukwu’s Musings: Poetry, People and Places

Author: Oke Iroegbu

  • Memories

    Memories are sweet or sad moments that live with us Like the gladness the rains give when we sleep at night Or the painting of da Vinci that lived past his ingenuity Memories are penned down in our hearts Throwing flowers to paths we trod once, Walking down the steps that held our homes And…

  • Color called dirt

    There’s no color called dirt but that of the earth It is the hue that gives life yet it drags on the floor It gives a humid stench when it cakes up on water And tastes man’s grief when we lose a loved one

  • Beauty

    Beauty is the painting of paths That men had never walked or seen Like the pebbles which count not their existence Beauty walks through the ranges and fjords With shadows of pines and winter trees all about And tree logs sailing quietly on the lonely waterway Beauty is the art of tranquility It is peace…

  • Dark Clouds

    It is morning, but it is still dark Well, the clouds may have gone for a procession, A procession hidden behind the heavenly firmaments Strangely, it may never storm But the town can feel the damp Soft airs play with the tree’s leaves Flying them like kites up above the sky Dark clouds hide the…

  • A Tale of Two Rats

    Gather around the fireplace Sit and have some warmth It is a cold night, is it? But we must tell this tale So listen to what I have to tell! *** Once upon a Time and Place In the great wilderness that lay away from the highway And away from much civility, lived a very…

  • Antartica

    I want to see the great Antarctica And the trail of the dunes of Sahara, Save the tales of two different places And reach out a hand to the homeless * I want to tell the tales of the sea gulls Watch the dark colored sea bulls Romance the infinite White land As the cold…

  • Muse: Setting Sun

    I wonder why you hide behind the hills and clouds Shying away from the approaching airy evening Birds fly in echelon, calling a farewell as they went Trees reflection on the waters hung like a rag on the rail As frogs resumed their croaky songs Hundreds of bass voices singing, in harmony The cream colored…

  • Loudest roar

    You told me to go ahead and roar But I must be careful where I roar Though I am a Lion, I must be careful The valley’s waters run to meet the hills Her streams feeding the long distance Of great wilderness, Twigs dried on the wet atmosphere Spread their tentacles and threaten To hold…

  • You are my Muse

    You are the lyrics in my songs, The green woods my being longs for You are the taste of sweet wine Which drops last on my tongue Memories of you are wild Like poetry you are my joy

  • Age by Pietro Polic

    What is age but a word Conveying years, so absurd. Wondering eternally coming of age Would turn us really into a sage? If that were so, the world would be populated By wise guys …. in disguise. To be honest it’s taken me ages to realize That getting older makes it harder to memorise. No…

  • Heart break

    I heard you play your guitar The song played wept in the wind So I listened, As your fingers, broken ploughed through the cords Ceaselessly, back and forth, your palms moved Tearing away the pains that clung to your soul The clouds sailed away with each tearful stroke And I hope your pain too…

  • A Whim by Pietro Polic #WPD2019

    A twinkle in Oke’s eyes Me thinks is worth a sigh ’cause love in all its facets he has shown That we all live for love and love alone * Don’t let that feeling fade away my friend Don’t let it dissolve in water and sand ’cause we all like that everlasting dream Of beauty,…

  • The Ancestors by Oke Iroegbu #WPD2019

    Boundless Sailing in the wind like a stray newspaper Casting shadows in the hearts of many Now they called you spirits Spirits of men who lived in ages past, Evil, good, angry, indifferent Spirits who gave and took And could fall out with one If you would not reverence it

  • Mandela by David Thane Cornell #WPD2019

    Arrested by the terror of the times, His faith was not belied; Daily thousands of deaths he lived, Thousands of lives he died. His fugitive dream was captured by A nation’s trusting eyes, His jailers could not see beyond Where the walls of valor rise. Confessed and blessed for giving his life, He never counted…

  • World Poetry Day by Sunil Algama #WPD2019

    Today is the World Poetry Day 2019 At dawn, I heard beautiful voices of birds Melodious and rhythmical I do not hesitate to say Yes, the chirp of birds is poetry I behold at a distance Early morning Blue scenery made me mad I fell in love Promptly with the sun Peeping through the range…

  • Becoming by Fayeampah Collins Akwetey #WPD2019

    a river flows in me; i’ve become a mangrove, but sometimes i thirst for refreshening ** Commentary: For this year’s #WorldPoetryDay2019 I have decided to publish the works of emerging and already published poets on my blog. Today and on the next few days I will be posting poetry from different poets from all parts…

  • Melancholy: My Cup of Muse by Deborah Udochukwu Nnagbo #WPD2019

    As I staggered down a crooked trail With a cup of sadness! Collected in the vicious darkness Of loneliness… Battering my concave vessel Spurn by natures paw,in solitary! To skink the world of my genteel muse. There,in the ambiance of this demonize trail stood I in awe! Gaping and gazing at the mountain of thoughts…

  • Black Race by Donatus Oluchi Tombra #WPD2019

    We aren’t a turn up world With no postcode envy We are a race of diamond Held together by rigid covalent bond So hard, that hate ain’t for us We crave togetherness And When attainable All attacks we resist ** Commentary: For this year’s #WorldPoetryDay2019 I have decided to publish the works of emerging and…

  • I asked

    First I asked for rain, and you gave me a storm. I asked for a companion, and you gave me a heart. The storm made me see why I needed another’s warmth, and the heart taught me that love goes beyond self.

  • Songs of a Shepherd: Come, dear evening

    Come to me dear evening… Let your long airy arms sooth away my stress Bind my wounds, heal the sore on my sandals And let my head rest in my pillow of fine wool Come sing for me, sing like the Nightingale That live by my window side Trace my spines with your fluffy fingers…

  • I’m coming home, with Deborah Nnagbo

  • When it starts to rain

    When it’s about to rain, and the heavens rumble, the white clouds turn heavy and black. But then, this is just morning, and… A poet would hide behind the cover of his book and ink, scribbling words that make his soul glad. Now, the rain brings the day some lazy thoughts, pushing the cold to…

  • Tears

    Tears are diamonds mined from the heart. They are testimonies of memories past. Honest tears come from the deepest chamber of the heart. And when they flow, they reveal the pains of being loved.

  • Muse: Wild Eyes

    When I stare at the mirror, the sight of you startle me Gracing in the shape you gave my face I wonder Shy to stand before men, to let them behold themselves Through the mirror God had cast in my colorful eyes Now to you pretty, wild acquaintance I salute, I hail, I solemnly greet…

  • The first rain

    1 When the first rains fall, the play arena is set… The lightning snap, the wind howl and here came the heavy rain! With shrieks of joy and happiness the village children and pets will run Pushing to be the first to embrace the rain Now the rain will beckon to all with reduced tempo…

  • Muse: Love

    First, meeting you was a play of fate On the straight road, which drove West Then you were my companion But now you are my destination

  • A Tale of the Wildwoods

    Once upon a Time It was winter And a night of bitter cold The snow lay thick upon the ground And upon the branches of the trees Two Woodcutters made their way home And when they came to the Mountain She was hanging motionless in the air For the Ice King had kissed her So…

  • Don’t mock the humble life

  • Like a butterfly for Ma Lucille Dowell

    Like a butterfly, you flew Painting the skies with your love, With your kind beauty In the darkest of nights, You shone… Illuminating the dark Making your light a pathfinder * Now you have given us the path And will only watch us spread the light **** Commentary I learned of my friends passing. I…

  • Retelling a Troubadour’s Story

    I traveled through northern Nigeria, rushing through forests that hid caves and tall hills. I watched the clouds and the sun sail across the fading sky. Evening made the cakes sour, while bananas ripened under the blazing sun. The wind was lively, blowing fine dust and gathering soot from distant burning bushes. Sometimes, we met…

  • Try

    I thought about not trying because others failed what I intend trying I compared my style, my methods with the others’ and found theirs better And if I was better than any of them, it was not significant in any way So, I think I am the class bottom However, I must try I must…

  • Night before Christmas

    It was the night before Christmas, Not a thing was heard or seen at first For the cold night was at its worst But three woodcutters walked through the forest Marching joyfully towards home It was cold, terribly cold that no one could make sense of it So the woodcutters held their lamps close to…

  • A Shepherds Song

    I see the golden sun rise far away, Waking the countryside, painting the day The clouds glitter, no amount of gold can define this: The smell of dew on dry clay and the life all around me The Earth is awake and alive, and we must keep her so It is time to march the…

  • Madagascar

     Tell me of the land where the sands meet the waters, Where forests paint the beautiful landscape light green Tell me of the blue skies that illuminate the ocean As birds sing on the soft cloudless horizon!  Tell me the songs that warm the hearts of the villagers, Teach me the folk about…

  • Make love, not war

    I pray for the day Christians and muslims, blacks, whites, Pray together in the opens and the closet I pray for Syria and Yemen, and all innocent souls, That die for causes that is not of their making I pray for the day we throw flowers and not bombs Of a day that we learn…

  • Fantasia 2: A muse

    There’s a land that reminds me of my lover, Of the abundant joy and bliss she brought to me There’s a land full of green parks and hoppers From the tents one can hear the waters fall joyfully There’s a land that floats on the slow-sail river, Traveling with fallen tree leaves, logs and duck…

  • The Light

    There is a light that glows from the inside, wetting the soul with her warmth And from afar the flares burn like sulphur but close to it, it is only very soft Call it whatever you like, it travels in everyone and advocates for the Earth It reminds us all of how dangerous our activities…

  • Dream away

    Your voice wakes the wild nature in me You sing and your lyrics touch my soul I love the moments you looked over your shoulder To catch my stare; as you danced and laughed *** You dress like the rare tulips that grow on our farmyard Fresh and delicate as pink, lively as the green…

  • Love muse

    Loving you feels like the touch of the calm sweet night breeze, Blowing on the open green fields where wild roses grow Loving you feels like a voyage through the wide blue sea, Where dolphins, drift with the wind and whistle their songs Loving you will be a blissful dream come true Such that we…

  • The Rains lullaby

    I can feel your presence each time you flash through the skies Blowing raindrops on my window panes The rain drops beat the drums, you sang wordlessly in support Now I see you draw images behind my cottoned curtains; Sketching trees sometimes and a phantom with huge pitchforks With the rains you came, searching our…

  • Evening of tales under the Mango tree

    Mild breezes welcome the evening As clouds sail, birds fly away No one is happier than the hamlet children For them, it was a time to travel, Time to travel through stories, Time to see places And time to put the days burden off *** Pile of tree leaves serve as seats Children go about,…

  • Muse: Starry Night

    There’s a star, on a traveling adventure, Sailing through the cloud like a phantom Without arms, she sailed against the wind Stopping when she saw men gaze at her Maybe when she stopped, it was to hide herself But the glittering cloud, held many as her So no one could pick her location exactly ***…

  • A lovers song

    I will hype you everyday Twist your curly hair, Sing quietly even when you sleep Write my poetry with my fingers On your bare naked back I will tell you my imaginations, my tales And when we elope… It shall be to the countryside Far away from any town or village Far away from peoples…

  • The Silent Hill

    There’s a point where the earth touch the clouds Twists, turns, the land thrusts up to meet the sky By the sides, vegetation stood guard From there the airs will whisper, As the clouds watch quietly When the wind pass in silence

  • Africa!

    The vision I see of your rising, great motherland, It gets me excited and hopeful! Your children spread like that tentacle of the Octopus But one day, some day, You must gather them together As dew clings to the leaves of trees in the morning So do my hope, my faith in you, Africa You…

  • Musing: What if?

    What if the hills in the countryside moved when it wills, What if? What if the waters from the ocean shone like gold, What if? What if men could fly like the wild night bats, What if? What if beneath a painting there was a quiet monster, What if? And what if love was the…

  • A tale of the WildWoods 3: Summer arrives

    When summer finally came, a lot had changed The last snow melted and the sad land woke Grasses started growing, covering the outer earth So those who burrow scrambled out from the dust Soft airs and tidings surround the mountainside Sending sweet emissaries around the valley below Vines, myrrhs, mistletoes and pines sprout happily In…

  • Life: A Walk in the Park

    Life is like a walk in the wooded green park Where strange fine flowers and plants grow, And pests; rodents, bunnies and insects abound On the roadside will be mistletoes, thorny roses, even cactuses With so much of harmless weed plants sprouting all about They hurt if one touch them and won’t If one will…

  • A lovers song

    “I will love you even when the tree leaves fall In the winters cold and summers heat I will love you even when the days are gone And when the nights grow even darkest” I submit to you All I have and own I am your servant But I am your lover The nights must…

  • Life in African tropics

    In the beginning, life in the tropical forests made more sense without man’s interest When man was afraid to bother the endless mass of green with fearful bugs and insects ** Strange as it seem, but the green tropical forest is a wonderland So much activity go on here, such that it is a distinct…