Okechukwu’s Musings: Poetry, People and Places

Author: Oke Iroegbu

  • Let us dance

    Let us dance while the moon shine As we swerve about together To see the stars as they glitter Let us dance under the baobab Besides the termites castle And the grazing field for the cattle When we dance under the baobab And the moon light up the cloud is bright All beautiful memories come…

  • Be there for you

    When love is taken to the moon And for many, numerous reasons The lines of your teary eyes Grow dim as your love deepen Your hug drives me crazy It transforms my view of the world A dance of the flickering flight On the black eyes that watch my lips As you peer into my…

  • By the Window side on the Harmattan

    Once by the window side One can see the greenfields The tulips and the sweet smelling Rose And the little spider crawling about in her net The golden sun shines forth Bringing her warmth through the window And the birds twitter on the tree Which live near the windowside Sometimes squirrels come bounding in Throwing…

  • God is Reading

    Now write of the falling leaves From tree tops and heights As they fall in solemn circles And as the wind rock them about Write about the mountains and hills About the hollow sound made When the birds hover over them Painting silhouettes upon the ground Write about the trees And their sweet awesomeness The…

  • Musing: Longing for thee

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

  • When the Sky Fall

    Will you look upon this weary face When it all ends some coming day – When the volcanoes erupt And the sky fall Or will this face be saddened With sudden human twist of betrayal? Will there be your shoulder to lean on Will there be your care and pats, When tears cloud the blue…

  • The sunset

    The sun set slowly The grey dusts of time Sink as the dark come As the birds fly away The winds become softer It lets the moons sign Come upon the clouds as a print The smell of burning grass rent the air The golden color of the wheat Which stays when the sun shine…

  • Airy Night

    The evening is cold The airs are mild It blows very sweet Into the eyes of all Burnt ashes fly about Even as the evening is dull And people lay yawning The wind continue to blow

  • The Leopard Man

    Once, deep in the heart of the hamlet A terror strikes in the dead of the night Tears, blood trails, and fresh paw marks After the moonlight comes a deep roar From the forests that live with the hamlet A terror descends upon the quietness Two small balls of light ravage the village In the…

  • Umudinja

    Tonight, reminds me of thee motherland Thee land of great forests and men! Of streams and vast farmlands! The home of the Cashew and the Palm The scenery of Mother Natures beauty A painted work, done only by Nature herself Great hills and vales surround thee Oh how love flows when you are remembered All…

  • Worthy Is The Lamb

    Holy is the Lord The mighty One of valor He rules over all the Earth He commands all nature And holds the Heavens With pillars we see not He is seated upon the throne In the heaven of Heavens Praise be to You, Jehovah! Worthy is the lamb of God

  • Musing: Besides the Waterfall

    I stand before the rocks On the edge were waters fall Through the block were ferns grow And the white crystals drop solemnly And I call out to thee Hear me, dear mother Nature Though I am confused and shy I come to ask of thee something All about me, I fear greatly I fear…

  • Natures Fury

    Even as your shadow fall upon me But in the midst of the grim darkness I see a ray of light, I see hope You summon the wind with your mind Scattering the tree leaves all about You drive the wild cattle away from the field As the clouds separate the blue from the white…

  • My Lover

    The wind let my ship rock But you commandeered my heart My sails are up in the sky The flag of love flies desperately Now you lay beside my weak bones Cuddling me, through my shyness We whisper and talk slowly While the woods sigh in the chimney In the waking morning You are my…

  • Fantasy: “I Am”

    I am a mist Covering the green woods In the early hours of the morning Descending upon the streets a mirage I am a shadow Hiding in the quiet streets Following lights wherever it goes Swerving about in the lights flicker I am a rainmaker One who invokes the rain One who calls upon the…

  • Musing: Sun Rising in Africa

    When the sun rises upon the quiet hamlet There is joy, there are smiles and laughter The curtains are thrown open for light The golden rays of the sun swing in Hopes are high, answers to prayers come The children roll out their bicycles As their dogs follow them, fast The little ones stay behind,…

  • A short Psalm

    When I found Your light amidst the darkness, it made my life so beautiful Up the mountains, down the valleys, in the hamlets and in towns The nights bring her blanket upon me, making my heart faint The cold feast upon my flesh, making me shiver and cry out But Your Providence surpasses all my…

  • A tale: The Boar and The Tortoise

    Once in a land far, far away… The Tortoise and the Boar made friends. There friendship was known all over the land. The two families were very close. One day the Tortoise asked the Boar to lend him some money. Out of the old friendship which existed between the two families, the Boar lent out…

  • Kpe’re in the Harmattan

    Now real love feels like Standing on a rocky land Surrounded by bamboo trees On a very hot sunny day By the side of a flowing stream Filled with children playing In the coldness of the waters And watching the hovering hawks Circle the area like a scout As each burst of Heavenly air Shakes…

  • Flowers from the front

    Dear, I found a flower on a dirt patch This morning, as the sun rose It looked a little sickly It’s redness almost lost And it shivered on the morning breeze It told me about the dying world And I had pity on it The world is dying dear Man and machines are helping her…

  • Umukwu: In Cold Mornings

  • Musing: If Love

    If love is a fruit it will be an orange If love was up the firmaments, it will be the sunshine If love was a poetale, it will be the tale of the Giraffe and how he ate the sickly moon half If love was a color, it will be many hues mixed together without…

  • Tears

    1. When life smiles, smile back But most times, life never smiles Then pain becomes a part of it all But do not let that rule you 2. Have you seen dying infants Starving of bread and milk? But somewhere, somehow Grains are refined to make fuel Wit asks, Food or Fuel? Why are we…

  • Verses of December

    THE MIST The morning is filled with the mist The pathways are treacherous Filled with stray serpents and scorpions Come to land to get some warmth HARMATTAN The heat burns the flesh Dried skin and teary eyes The wind is merciless pushing away All that dared to stand before her BURNING GRASSES Burnt grasses give…

  • Love Life

    Sometimes life is dry and brown The green leaves of trees mean a little The sight of snails crawling gives no fun And all about there is no color or joy The firmaments seem to be grey The rain that falls tickles painfully And the scorching sun so annoying Isolation from Natures cruelty comes But…

  • My Sunshine

    I call you sunshine in the morning Because when the golden sun rises Thoughts of you come to me Like clouds gathering to give the rain Throw the curtains open Watch the sunshine filter in Thro the windows, painting gold Upon all it touches as it wakes Now there is no star in the morning…

  • Glittering Stars and the Surging Wind

    Do you see the stars shining up the skies Winking quietly as we stare up? Do you feel the winds surging about the hamlet Pushing all on its way, to and fro? Now the stars are mild, taciturn and free And they shine tonight with wooing airs The quietness that come with the night Confirm…

  • Alherin

    When the clouds are dark with the rain imminent And the banks overflow with abundance When the scorching sun dries the mud into cakes And leaves the land barren with no fruit The grace of the Lord leads us ahead Bringing us all manner of good tidings Let the Lions roar up the rocks and…

  • What do you see in Poetry?

    Every morning comes the fever The fever for an adventure Come from writing and love Waltzing blue inked pen, full of life * And when poetry was first made God sent it down to Linguists Saying “What do you see?” They raised their brows quietly Mincing words, struggling to find the description Poetry was then…

  • Muse: A love poem

    Your love sinqs for my heart It shoves and kisses my hair in sleep Blowinq sweet fragrance into my eyes Smiling in a pout when my eyes open Your love brightens my dark nights It plays on my muse all day And draws my curtain from its place To let the golden sun rays flush…

  • Two Poems for love

    .1. The night stars shine gleefully Through the windows I watch them Thinking, wishing and praying Feeling the airs of the moment Now I stare at a lonely star Up, up those black skies The lights coming from this star Was very bright and lively I wondered as I looked through this window I realized…

  • Burning Grass

    It is the time of the year When the grasses are burned And the fumes dance happily Up to meet the blue skies The hawks and kites circle The fire hunting stray rodents Men beat the bush about Minding the farm crops nearby The smell of the fume Spreads about the place Pushing the acrid…

  • Amazing she

    To you beautiful one I have many a word to say But tonight I shall be brief and absolute Do you know how beautiful you are When the morning sun shine on your face? You wear a graceful apparition Bringing warmth to mens’ heart You stride upon the pathway Like a proud Peacock surveying its…

  • Paris

    Tonight, we moan For love that is alien to Earth For the pain you bear We cry for you Paris For love, we weep For thee mother Earth For men’s ruthlessness And the hatred that stays Bombs, hate and anger Humanity in taste for vengeance Destroys the efforts of centuries past And innocent souls made…

  • Musing: Love

    Sometimes love comes to us How we care for those Who have no feelings Those who like statures Care neither for our present Or the future we so seek Sometimes love is cruel She breaks the heart that loves It prolongs pain and suffering The suffering of the mind And the divide behind trust Love…

  • Harmattan

    The days are made beautiful with your glorious appearance But when the sun rises up the clouds, the warmth is taken And for men, faces become a caricature of disgust upon the mirror In the morning even before the Suns rising The firmament and the pathways is filled with mists The track to the stream…

  • Methodist, for Ediongsenyene and MCF Uyo

    There’s a family away from family There’s a home away from home There’s love which must be told And there’s hope for all humanity Now the golden sun rises solemnly Bringing Gods warmth and favor And it sifts through the window sills Greeting all, welcoming us to a new dawn And reminding us of Gods…

  • Taming the Wild: Masai

    Somewhere in Africa Strong winds swept all to asunder But the Masai march against it With spears black with greasy hands And faces painted like Halloweens ghosts Pushing the tall shrubs down Frighting lions off the forest paths With bare hands they dare the buffaloes And call to the Boar for duels What manner of…

  • One Whole Art

    Standing alone in the mist Where no man sees The endless stream of wit But when love comes When the sun rises or sets Down. Down the foot of hills And the hawks hang on masts Scouting the land for a final kill The wind wearily sifts about Men, their creaky windows seal The darkness…

  • Friends

    I desire friendship that rises in the morning And stays till the sun set in the evening A desire to stay even when no one was around To make pats, plays, smiles and joy abound The sweetness of your companionship Which grows past all known friendship Makes you my family Who loves genuinely The clement…

  • I am Igbo

    I am Igbo Not because I am fair Not because I am tall …Or short I am Igbo Not because I travel a lot Not because I live in hamlets … And towns I am Igbo Not because I live in Africa Not because I sell for profits … Or for loss I am Igbo…

  • Jehovah

    In the morning Where all dreams are born Through the late night slumber Of lightnings, cold rains and thunder He sends us Heavenly calm Which is our balm The clouds bring forth the rain And the same harbors the sun It rains, our clay gets softened Breaking the mounds we made It shines, our greens…

  • Haiku: Vain

    Tonight it all became clear that the end was near All seemed absurd and unnecessary vain here The Earths’ toil, the men who strife Asking what is the essence of life?

  • Five Poems

    The wind grows soft and dry It passes messages fast forgotten For in its speed, it is lost The pines whistle, men stay to listen When the fruits fall off the trees It thunders upon the quiet ground And little stray ants wonder If the world had come to an end If Grapes ever had…

  • The Rising Sun

    I am looking towards the bright side of life Where the trees grow on quiet sunny lands With fruits weighing down the branches And birds of pretty plumages singing, heartily Down the rugged road stood a sight I admire most A journey thro winding road, crisscrossing all about By tall Earth mounds and thickly forested…

  • The Gaze: Haiku

    Staring into your eyes Tells me of love undying The love that stays in the heart The beauty of the sight I see

  • Akwa Ibom

    There is a land full of life Bubbling with greens and love Swooshing trees thro the forests To the foaming sea with its broth A land filled with hills and valleys With streams and the streams There are blue clouds And the birds surf the wind Uyo cares, loves and welcomes She is beautiful like…

  • Tangerines

    Fresh succulent balls fallen from the mother tree Green, Yellow, Orange and so deliciously sweet! The tree swerves with the romance of the Wind Minding the branches carrying the tangerines Enjoying the wooing breeze and the calling Air And happily dancing in the midst of these fellows The busy ants build their mansion across the…

  • Haiku: Love

    In this heart Love exists a lot But who I love I know not

  • Boundless Freedom

    The freedom we all seek From the views of the rising sun To the suns slumber in the evening Horizon to horizon Oceans of blue, boundless Much further you can sail And the skies up the firmaments Without boundaries ever known The strength of the ice thicked Upon the bare soil The waterfalls on rocks,…