Oke’s Musings: Poetry, People and Places

Category: Africa

  • Green City

    How would you design the city of the future? If I were to be an administrator, my city would be the greenest in the world. I would put pockets of forests in hubs, and every house would be encouraged to have a garden and at least two fruit trees. There would be a more expansive…

  • Okechukwu

    Where did your name come from? In Nigeria, names are an important way to identify people. They carry histories and meanings, which are rooted in the culture of the people. Some names reflect a family’s situation or past experiences. The name Oke is a shortened form of Okechukwu, meaning ‘Share’ or ‘Gift from God.’ Oke…

  • Learning

    What motivates you? Staying positive all day brings me a lot of good thoughts, joy, hope, and the opportunity to learn and grow There’s so much to learn and I love discovering new things and knowledge. Thus, I’m motivated by the opportunity to learn new things every day. Each time I meet someone for the…

  • Poem: Writing

    What do you enjoy most about writing? Writing is a useful ancient craftThat aroused my passion and museBy teaching me more about myselfIt had reminded me of my cleverness

  • Berkeley

    What do you love about where you live? Berkeley in California is a wonderful place to live. It’s a hilly town with abundance of greens and orderly streets. In this city is the pioneer and famous University of California campus. There are wild turkeys, deer, squirrels and bobcats. The weather is cool because of the…

  • Hope

    What positive emotion do you feel most often? Hope is a wonderful emotion and one of the greatest to ever be. I would talk about it in a poetic form: Hope is like a dreamer’s lyre and songsIt’s an elixir that softens the weary soulDarkness and light, uncertainty and hopeWhile some search through the thick…

  • What Brings You Peace?

    What brings you peace? Well, that’s a big question. For me, peace is one of the greatest virtues anyone would have. So in this prompt, I’ll use the words comfort, relaxation, happiness, and peace interchangeably. I’ll try to list the activities that bring me all these virtues. Writing, Reading, and Reflection: I get peace from…

  • Quote on the Human Mind

    The human mind is a great asset, whatever is fed to it, it returns back. Feed it with positivity, and it will gladly return that to you.

  • Night Poem: Stars Glitter

    https://wp.me/p1F7lc-2rk

  • Be Kind, Be Love

    Be Kind, Be Love Love is a beautiful feeling. In a world of injustice, inequality, and pain, it’s the only healing balm to embrace all. I define love as a sort of overwhelming magic. Magic because it can’t be genuinely expressed or explained. Magic because it looks beyond tribe, color, status, race, pasts, hurts, anger,…

  • Love knows no race

    Each time I look into people’s eyes, I realize we have a lot of things in common. I see myself, and the more we try to understand each other, the more exceptional we can be. We must try to make the world a better place by loving others as we love ourselves. It starts with…

  • Love Changes

    Your love changed meIt gave me a new lifeStanding beside you gives me confidenceWalking with you gives joy in abundanceMy imagination comes aliveMy mind becomes creativeI see all the beautiful thingsBecause you are in my life For all lovers out there

  • Love Quote

    Love is the greatest magic ever

  • Evening Voices & Hues

    I hear the wind howl through the gapsWhispering solemnly to the approaching duskI hear your name being sung by fading rhymeOne hundred bird voices, flying toward sunset Green, and the taste of seasoned vegetablesPurple hues of flowers and her fragrancesBlack and pink, of waddling pigeons dressedHuhuhu-ing from the lonely rooftops Orange is sunset, a shade…

  • Diary of A Village Boy: The Leopard Spirit 6

    https://wp.me/p1F7lc-3IV

  • Twilight

    What’s your favorite sunset moment? I have created an imaginative piece for lovers. Well, love is the greatest magic ever. Good night. *** Warm evening blankets lurk behindWhen the golden sunset float ahead,Heralding end of daylightSo let’s watch it go in installments,Let’s feel the soft airs traverseDrift with pure graceThrough our hair and coatsIt gets…

  • Let

    Let the soft wind of morning speakLet squirrels pick nutsLet happy deer forage rootsLet pretty flowers blossomLet the sun shine bright tooJust let all good things be Listen, to the rhythm of your heart – of Nature’s

  • Quote: Real Treasures

    Look at each day and value the real treasures; good friends, warm sun, fresh air, hearty laughter, and true love.

  • Sound of Water

    Poetry may come in the form of flowing water,That tells of no serious thing in particular;But about the few that wash others’ feetAnd the wild that calls the forest home,It chats of fauns that hide in crevicesWhere waterfalls are happy to fall in currents,Rushing, flowing in streams and slow rivers, Out of sight, far away from hamlets,Planting…

  • Tale of Wild Woods: Summer Arrives

    Originally posted on Oke’s Musings: Poetry, People and Places: 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…

  • Love Challenge 4: Reason

    Be the reason someone sings in joy and happiness.

  • Love Challenge 3: Assistance

    Be each others shoulder to lean on when it gets dark or tough.

  • Love Challenge 2: Listen

    Sometimes you just have to go out of your head and listen to your heart.

  • Livermore, California

    Watch the hills rise and fallBeautiful, ancient,Twist and turn,Happy singing birdsHappier sunlight! Blue cloudsAgainst the white,Foraging horsesAnd cowsLook up to see who has arrivedLovely grass paradiseTrees are the guards! Hawks circle the skiesNoon greets everyoneTake notice the cow mooingOr the powerful horse neigh Let’s go dreamingIn a county not far awayA valley unspoiledWhere man and…

  • World Poetry Day 2023

    I nearly forgot what today was. It’s a unique day to celebrate the most common form of literature. I wish you all a happy World Poetry Day! I would be sharing some poems soon! Stay tuned.

  • Quotes from the Wild

    Let us believe, then, until some dismal authority forbids us, that elephants meet by the bright Indian moonlight in the ballrooms they clear in the depths of the forest, and dance mammoth quadrilles and reels to the sighing of the wind through the trees and their own trumpeting, shrill and sudden as the Highlander’s hoch!…

  • Moonlight Dance

    Let’s dance under the moonlightListen to the crickets screech outShare those smiles we have learnedBe grateful for a lovely evening tryst

  • Quote on Consciousness

    If you pay attention to nature, you can learn a lot. So be awake, be aware of your environment.

  • Flowers

    Spring and summer sunsets I hikeLooking to smell the flowers I likeTo see their colors, red, green, & white,To wander where pretty flowers restI like to see flowers folded, tucked in,The ones holding off until morning

  • Musing: my mood

    The love I have I can’t really tell The wind blows The trees dance The flicker of hope Dwelling in me hops In my heart, lives joy Seeing the clouds white And the sun shine Hearing from the Egrets And the mooing cattle Sitting amidst my street kids Playing soccer in the fields And waking…

  • Quote on Compassion

    Our human compassion binds us the one to the other – not in pity or patronizingly, but as human beings who have learned how to turn our common suffering into hope for the future – Nelson Mandela

  • Let It Sail

    Set sail with hope and loveHope, so to see the golden sunriseLove, as kindness offered by Universe Set sail for sunsetWhere lands endWhere joy is melodyLive in the moment Set sail with the jolly windLet it flow and fill your lungs Love is a voyageCruise, withhold not Don’t let the sun set on hope and…

  • idyll

    pretty birds glide up the tree branchesflowers are hidden in the thick shrubshumble rodents burrow through the earthand busy ants make castles out of fine dust

  • Your best is waiting

    Your best is waiting The world is a crazy place, you may agree. Crazy because kind or nice turns people off. Being kind or nice can get you used or betrayed. Humility is seen as a weakness. Well, if you ever felt rejected or ignored because of your kindness or niceness, please hang on. This…

  • Ocean Rhythm

    See the evening tide crash into rocksHear the flying birds call to retreating dayListen to your heartbeat with the rhythm of natureLet yourself soar with the ocean current

  • Thoughts on Kindness

    Kindness, I say, will never get out of fashion. Small acts of kindness, like smiling and holding doors for others, can positively impact their day. Kindness doesn’t hold back. It is a true definition of love. While a lot may happen and things change, I advise not to take things and people for granted. Family…

  • New Year’s Eve: Grateful for Family, Friends and Followers

    Dear Friends, In a few hours we will be talking about our resolutions for the New Year. How time flies! I recall the nostalgic feelings of the last day of December 2021. It’s replaying, although in a different way because a lot has changed for me. I am grateful for all that 2022 stood for.…

  • Merry Christmas from California

    Merry Christmas dear friends. This will be my first Christmas holiday away from home. It’s been a long holiday so far. The ever-busy streets of UC Berkeley have become a ghost town. The roads are empty and bare of cars. One can confidently stand to take pictures on the roads. The fine houses and magnificent…

  • Ubuntu – I Am Because We Are

    International House is a laboratory for a new kind of experiment – the day-to-day practice of international fellowship among men and women. – John D. Rockefeller Jr., I-House Benefactor It’s up to us, the residents, to continue building on this legacy of love, understanding, justice, and peace. – Okechukwu Iroegbu, I-House resident 2022-2023 A popular…

  • Feel It

    Love is the silenceThe smiles, the textsThe stare, the nudgeThe walks, the careThe moan, the helpThe wink of the eye Presence or absenceLaughter or tearsMoonlight or sunshineA benevolent balance It exists somewhere in the universe It will find youOr you will find itNever push or pull itBe calm, relax, and feel Needless to learn to…

  • Many Tongues

    Power in Diversity Each time I wait in the elevator, I listen to people who speak several languages. I untie myself from the burden of the English, allowing my senses to drown in the joy of different tongues. The simple flow, melody, intonation, and accents bring me alive. It’s a great feeling living in a…

  • Quotes on Success

    Success is a journey. It only takes a collection of little steps to get there. Never let your success get to your head. Failure is part of success. So keep going. Keep taking those steps, and it will all start making sense. Refuse to back down. Resilience is key.

  • My Friend – Johnny Drille

    This song explains many things about true Friendship. Enjoy the classic piece from Nigeria 🇳🇬

  • Happy November from UC Berkeley

    Dear Friends, Do you believe in angels? Well, I do. And I am happy to tell the world that they come in human form too. I find no words to describe this scholarship and school community. The love and commitment to making other people’s lives meaningful amaze me. I see the reason why Berkeley is…

  • Quote: Gratitude

    I don’t have to chase extraordinary moments to find happiness – it’s right in front of me if I’m paying attention and practicing gratitude. Brene Brown

  • Quote: Many Colors, One People

    Our differences make us uniquely beautiful

  • Don’t Give Up

    Dreams are like songs. Keep singing; keep it alive. Dance if you may; spice it up. Don’t stop singing; never give up.

  • Berkeley’s Night (Fleet Week)

    The wind whips awaySoft chill on bare fleshEvening – end of the day,Start of something else Gardening it remindsMoonshine it bringsTo a grateful shepherdMiles away from home Night is a quiet companionBut weekends are differentMan and his imagination,The best team ever known Clouds rumble aboveTo unnatural flightsThe sky is very busySo is Berkeley’s night The…

  • Hilly Berkeley

    Dear friends, The image above is of wood in Berkeley, California. And yes, there are deer and wild cats in the woods. In such an environment, reptiles – snakes and lizards are abundant. There are numerous bird species. Some species are new to me or I have read about them in books or seen them…

  • October 1

    It’s a new month and a new beginning for everyone. Remember to show kindness in any way you can. Let’s spread the love around. Peace. Happy Independence Day Nigeria.