Oke’s Musings: Poetry, People and Places

Author: Oke Iroegbu

  • Folk: The Palm wine tapper

    When the palm wine tapper Goes visiting his palm trees He is very, very happy And when he climbs a tree He leans on his strong ropes “Kpom Chiki! Kpom chiki!!” He is very, very happy Commentary: The Palm wine is a natural beer derived from the Palm raffia trees. The beer is whitish in…

  • Musing: Four Poems of Oke’ Iroegbu

    (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…

  • A son of the hamlet

    I was born and bred in a big city But nought interests me More than a quiet life Which the serene hamlets give I was the king of the jungle With maidservants and menservants And a great sand house Filled with sand-made yams Commanding the mango fruit To fall for my noon delight And the…

  • Musing: Stare into my eyes

    1. I love to stare into your eyes To let you know how special you are I heave a sigh of relieve Each time, tears of grieve Dry from your pretty face Never let go of sweet memories Make them stay in your bossom Enjoy all blossoming Summers And the ice-cold Winters But never let…

  • Folk: Night falls

    The night fades slowly Cloak of darkness fall As the crickets prepare For another night song Bonfires lit the night To keep the wild dogs off The children set the stage For a moon light folktale And beneath the stars The small hamlet waits

  • Folk: The sunny Forest

    Once in a quiet sunny forest The cruel Sun starved the Earth And her little furry inhabitants Of drinking water and comfort The Owls & Wolves yawn in hunger No one was able to decipher Why the Sun brought her asunder As all was thirsty for water The forests dwellers hatched a plan One of…

  • My Love Song

    Glittering stars. The night is alive Airs of the day Fireflies of the night The grey moon; For all had gathered And to see this love They have come Waters rush in haste Upon the little tide Of the Stream And her waterfalls Sweet spring! Pulling the stubborn fern And the stray crabs The cymbals…

  • The Snail-cart

    We are riding behind the snail cart And now, we can see the wide world Truely. As she is and not what it seem With this speed my nation can see All we had left behind and forgotten All that slowed us and our speed bumps Ah! We seem not to enjoy the ride anymore…

  • Musing: Song of a Farmer

    I just picked a fruit Beautiful. Reminds me of you Grey eyes and elegant There are many fruits But this one is purely exotic A fine and pretty sight You are an amazing fruit Like the yellow Sunflower You, my boring days light You have become my fruit The sunshine after my dark My friend;…

  • The Jungle: West African Lion

    In the depths of the Savannah Where Nature prowls Strays a solitary beast- The King of the jungle Deep growls rent the night From one end of the world To another it spreads Striking horror to hearts And to those who dare To wander the unsafe night The crickets quiz But they are safe Yet…

  • Africa’s poetale

    Africa is a budding cocoon A shy, fragile and cute butterfly With shaky wings meant to fly Living, in a desperate world Africa is the gigantic tree That grows by the side of the river Shielding the lengths of the forests And feeding the lifes around it Africa is a mountain highly peaked With white…

  • Musing: Illusion

    “I compare you to this month Blessed April with blue eyes Clear as the benevolent Cloud Full of perfect but right actions And a loving stormy mouth Which glow in the quiet night And with your imaginary wand You stray thru my mind like an illusion” I wrote a poem But I forgot your name…

  • Another Tale of a Shepherd

    Nothing compares to the sweet sleep Of all good and hardworking shepherds He retires with a fine and adorable smile And to his bed of wool, he lays Tuning into the local radio station To listen to some old folk songs Nodding almost silently to the rhythm Smiling to the memories of the stressful day…

  • Heart by Obiajulu Nwodo

    A bag of emotion Trapped with a cord of many wires Beating, thuding Hoarding Wickey the foe of Goody Bridge to life and abode of diss and bliss Who could eat his? Commentary Okay, this is the second time Im publishing her. I find her work fascinating, the characters leaving and I think she has…

  • Musing: The wandering man

    “When I retire after each days work is done I don’t tell people my experiences though But I have them, do I look like someone Who is bothered? You would never know…” Once I happened upon a man Bearded. Long. Tall and bendy At first, methought he lost his mind But when he called out…

  • April

    March bears the Winter on her back And with one more nod to say bye She takes her leave to the Earths’ borders With this time of the heated sun It is even time to introduce some New flavors and dishes on the table The sun rise and the rain falls Brown earth stays everwhere…

  • Musing: For a special friend

    Can I call you my engine or engineer You steer my desires like the wheel You play the strings of my heart like the guitar You sink my sorrows like the submarine And make my heart skip beats always I race forward like the locomotive Up the hills, with force and might You train my…

  • Musing: A Lovers Tale

    “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…

  • The Birds fly away

    The birds fly happily away When the sun returns to her sleep The wind grows softer with the day As the warmth burns down deep The birds fly happily away To lands where the sunflower grows And the mushrooms grow in hay But the moists stay till the ‘morrow The birds fly happily away With…

  • Rejoice: I’m an Uncle!

    You have the bright eyes of a young deer Tender, I wonder what you think Each time your eyes happen upon me This same pretty eyes that let tears fall Innocent, lovely and specially gives hope You pull my hair when I lift you up Do you think they were your play tendrils? Your hands…

  • Musing: Easter

    Greater love has no one than this, that someone lay down his life for his friends… John 15.13 WorldEnglishBible Easter signifies love and care The festivities rent the airs And now we all love and share For Christ came and died for man Bringing mercies unknown to men From Divine stores, made in Heaven To…

  • Wanderer by Obiajulu Nwodo

    Wander-man, Tiger-man moves; sipping from different fountains overflowing with milk of life and death He hops; From Jagua Nana to Annan Wanger Never satisfied with his own wife and life Hannah Who Kisses empty sheets Droops and sags in Jeans Eating Bullshit Wander-man, Bat-man Fly! While Hannah cries High five! Wine! While Hannah dies You…

  • Rhetorics: The bridge, friends, rain, family and love

    What is better than bringing two worlds together, Bringing life and earth over a body of water? What is better than true friendship When it’s all about companionship? What is better than the scent of the rain When it brings the reign of droughts to end? What is better than the smiles of loved ones…

  • Sun rising

    Hail the sun rises from the East From the back of the houses and hills Up the skies, just above the green forests On the faces of the glittering waters And the rugged patches of the dusty earth The sun rises upon all little hamlets And on all busy streets of the towns, On the…

  • Peace & War

    “…Once we knew peace And then a brother raised His hand upon the other The world was never the same again” We wake to the sound Of the buzzing bee And the fine sight Of green and clean fields Loved ones smile and roll On the sweet smelling turf The airs blow freely And all…

  • The Painter

    Once I met a painter A fine and petit young man At the corner of the street he lived Working away, minding his business And living so solitary, that I wondered “Hallo sir! What do you really paint?” I must have sounded sheepish For who won’t call a pen, a writer When you know the…

  • Musing: Made for you

    “Come, come closer… Keep your palms on mine Look into my eyes See how much you mean to me” 1 Come and feel my steel shine Call me your gladiator Your defender, your shield, your man I am your shepherd 2 Have you seen my birds cackle? Call me your farmer I will press the…

  • Lullaby: Moonlight

    The grey moon smiles always And to know that he sleeps all day Looks absurd, but that is his little way He is not strange, not unkind and not gay But his manners leaves us with nought to say

  • In you I see Gods beauty

    Have I told you how beautiful you look tonight How your pretty curly hair fall before my sight? You look like the fine immaculate white snow Massaging the breadths of the grey mountain, Just that now you stand not before a mirror But before my very gaze, my very own! Your mocking eyes twinkle like…

  • Poetale: The old man and the Garden

    Once upon my little hamlet When the mornings are quiet And the villagers all move out Some to the farms, some to the rivulets, Even though it rained the previous night I went to the garden in the morning The clouds were bright and sunny The wasps and bees were out hunting I saw an…

  • Psalm: The Stream flows…

    ” The Lord made the Heavens and Earth And all the creatures that walk on it He sends the airs and her comfort To my weary self, each dark night ” The hills above the ground The grasses grow upon it The Eagles whine up the sky And the blues paint the clouds Where the…

  • I am: Three poems of Okechukwu Iroegbu

    (1.) Hail the sun rises! Down from the hidden hills And up to the white clouds The rains have come upon us , And Mother Nature’s romance has begun. (2.) I am a rainmaker For the days are stuffy and hot And to the cold rains we must go I am a painter For each…

  • The Lords doing

    Who understands the Lords doings? Who can decipher all He can do? Man made money God made bees that made honey Man made electricity But Jehovah gave the light of the day Man made fans God made the winds and the storm Man made the torchlight Jehovah made the moon for the night Man solve…

  • Imaginations

    Imaginations… …Soars the skies With the fine Eagles …Paints the winds Red and sky blue …Watches the rising sun As she wakes fron the East …Tastes the grapes Along the green orchard …Dream a dream And believes in that dream …Rides the Wildebeest Across the Savannah …Fly kites Which turn out to be air planes…

  • Musing: Airy Night

    “I hear the wind come behind me As I sit, backing my open windows I hear the wind summon the rains And this time, night has fallen upon all” The wind tickles my true fancy It plays flutes like the Arabians Who try to wake a sleeping adder The nights grow quiet, I feel the…

  • My Momi’s day

    “I stand under the guava tree And dance my funny dance With one leg I hop like a mantis…” It is a beautiful morning, mother And today is a special one for you I remember the waters and lather When you washed me as a child The nights are always cold Even now I outgrown…

  • Musing: I wonder

    I wonder if it was a crime to love Or yet a sin to even try at all; But then memories sift into time Amazed to the worlds littleness, The world seeks after lust A shrug I must to this vanity To love oneself is true happiness But as the nights turn to days And…

  • The African mist

    1. The mists still settle upon the hamlet The hills, the vales and the green forests All is treacherously hidden in it One must tread very carefully, lest You step on a stray scorpion or serpent Or fall into a ditch or a fast flowing rivulet The morning took the place of the night And…

  • March’s Night Rain

    “Oh goodness it rains! The windows clap about And the curtains dance To the wooing songs Of the sweet airy Night” And I can feel the rain drops through the window And the smell of the new rain upon the dusty roof The curtains blow up and down my weary face All is cold, all…

  • Yesu, my love

    ”The sweet fragrances of the morning Has come to my nose and face Yesu masoyina, You made this possible! Even when I lay like a log of wood You came to wake my slumber Lord…” Now the mornings has come It is still dark but very warm With the morning, Divine providence I hear the…

  • Oke’s Poetale: The Duck Tale

    Once upon a blue quiet lake Beside a green florishing forest Lived a Duck and her chicks All day they waddle about Enjoying the peaceful serenity But a day came and the Duck Brought her chicks all around her ‘Quack quack Daak’ she began Turning to the nearest chick ‘You have been friends With the…

  • Musing: The Cricket and I

    “Weet weet weet… Weet weet!” I hear the screeching of the little cricket Calling to the quietness in my heart 1. As the light of the lamp fade slowly Then time brought back my memories For in my sweet and lonely reverie A desire come to me for some poetry 2. Left with the screeching…

  • March

    After the rains… The white clouds come forth The wetness settle on all Behind the quiet little huts Pots are filled with the waters Which the rain has brought And still the rain drops fall From the vertex of rooftops Whose head hung proudly The roads are muddy and slippery, Fine sand particles washed away,…

  • Tradition: The Rainmaker

    “I ask for the strength of the rain… Bring down the dark heavy cauldrons With all the gross, stalky condiments Maka agam eme ka miri zo n’ebe tata! (For I am about to conjure up a rain today!)” Chukwu Nnam… I want to make some rain today That is why I call upon Your Name!…

  • The First Rains

    “Tap-tap tap, tap tap… Tap! I hear the pat-pattering of the first rain drops As they fall in quiet, indifferent but solemn grace … From the comfort of my warm dear bed…” The heavy wind blew up the curtains Sending papers and nylons flying high The skies are grossly dark and faceless The wind blew…

  • The Violins of the Nights

    Now let’s have some evening breeze And with it let a tale about it be told Always the night is cold but noisy Creatures of the dark and creepy places Move about, bothering the peace of men The sounds of the night is strange But to some, it is a great acquaintance A reunion of…

  • Muse: Nature Inspired

    Life is all about finding what gives you happiness Fortunate for me, I found these in Natures embrace I love to live my life with what gives me abundant joy. Seeing live animals around and green plants upon the soil Watching the golden sun rise above the grey hills And the joyful memories that come…

  • Brothers with Fonuoha and Ciroegbu

    (i.) Laughter is a sweet wine She goes into the eyes Burning the desires of men Family is a nice paradise (ii.) Friendship is like a flying Eagle Flying above quiet blue waters In love there is no need for struggle Nothing like a sister or brother (iii.) Sometimes things and people change But nothing…

  • A Muse: The Locust and the Ant

    Now the Locust played about The comely sunny Summer, he minded not The Ant gathers leaves, grains and nuts For the clouds slowly but steadily go South The Snow Queen and all hue turn bright, All the land then become immaculately white No more grain, no more fun, no tall and sweet green grass to…

  • Wait for the Morning

    Wait for the morning It comes a little while The night was long and creepy But the morning must surely come Wait for the rising sun Hear the birds twitter Upon the trees that stay around Let Heavens airs touch you Throw the curtains open Watch the sun rays fall On the waters of the…