Oke’s Musings: Poetry, People and Places

A Psalm: Your Voice

When I spoke with You I felt the rhythm in Your voice It gave me the push to wake the solo song singing in me, It made the ink in me flow Guiding as I let my words sow Your voice caged the fear in me Showered on me pieces of life sweets It drove…

April 27, 2019
Masked lover

Sweet are your words and talking Even softer are the touch of your hands But the moments the scales came falling It was crystal clear you never had loved

April 27, 2019
Muse: By the Waterside

Once by the Waterside I strayed Minding the car traffic racing about A bridge led down a couple of stairs And I happened on the market A stranger in the midst of strangers Throwing wares over my face What a mighty mix of man and ware! At a corner a heap of decaying fruits and…

April 26, 2019
Ladawa: An African love song

When you look at me, it tells me many stories I drown in the ocean of thought and love Will it be your slim hands or the flowers you wear Or the hair do that celebrates the African woman? You smell like the morning dew on roses And sometimes like mint mixed with guava! And…

April 22, 2019
Easter, 2019

I see the world through Your eyes And it’s clear how much You loved Even to take my grief and pain away I celebrate Your beauty for my ashes

April 21, 2019
Twinkle

How the stars glitter tonight In thousands they shine Twinkling, above the skies! Winking at children who watch Through their window curtains The mild feelings they bring

April 19, 2019
Muse: Rainmaker

I shall command the rain about So please stand aside and watch Make ready, get your pots Dance in the warmth it brought Enjoy also the life that come with it

April 17, 2019
Morning Sun

Hail the sun rises with her gold, Across the horizon she paints the land The green great plains lay low Watching her presence grow The hills rise to meet her warmth Desiring the joy she brought to the hamlet

April 15, 2019
The Lightning

From my curtains I peered to see your flash Before now you have kept my candle light busy Trashing the paper work all over the room And making jest of me each time I tried to sort them You created monsters in the skies The black clouds became your drawing board And you drew the…

April 13, 2019
Muse: Teach me

Lay me by the side of the brook, Closer to the brown colored rocks Make me see the waters tumble over So teach me how to be your lover

April 13, 2019
An African song

“Na da oo, O Na da oo! Kuje kusanar!” Bring the cymbals, bring also the gongs Let’s make an African song… Before you hit the cymbal Remember the tune to the Tribal, Twist your palm a bit to the left But hold your strike, yes hold it For I must blow the whistle And introduce…

April 12, 2019
Future

You are three hours away from me Sometimes, a second, forty minutes Or a month or a whole year! Masked, you would not let me see all That you carry Tree barks turn grey with your time But, when I happen to see it It may have become green with life So I tried to…

April 10, 2019
Three Poems: The Shepherd, Dance for me and Say you believe me

1. The Shepherd Night calls Stars glitter up the skies Picturing stories Which can not be told So the Shepherd views all From his bed of wool 2. Dance for me I hear the sound of your feet As they moved on the bare floor So I looked to see the style for tonight But…

April 9, 2019
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…

April 8, 2019
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

April 8, 2019
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…

April 7, 2019
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 trees leaves Flying them like kites up above the sky Dark clouds hide the…

April 5, 2019
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…

April 2, 2019
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…

April 1, 2019
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…

March 29, 2019
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…

March 28, 2019
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

March 28, 2019
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…

March 27, 2019
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…

March 24, 2019
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,…

March 22, 2019
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

March 21, 2019
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…

March 21, 2019
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…

March 21, 2019
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…

March 21, 2019
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…

March 21, 2019
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…

March 21, 2019
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 anothers warmth And the heart 💓 taught me that love goes beyond self

March 20, 2019
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…

March 15, 2019
I’m coming home, with Deborah Nnagbo

1. Dn I’m coming home,dear forgotten land. For I’ve wandered so far away in the dungeon of life, So far away I journeyed into the rusted past. I picked pebbles of zeal and sealed my fears, I traveled far from home searching for hope Beside the faded branches of loss and pain I was blinded…

March 7, 2019
When it starts to rain

When it wants to rain and the Heavens rumble The white clouds turn heavy and black But then, this is just morning and… A poet would hide in the cover of his book and ink To scribble words that makes his soul glad Now the rain brings the day some lazy thoughts Pushing the cold…

March 6, 2019
Tears

Tears are diamonds mined from the heart They are testimonies of memories past remembered Honest tears come from the deepest chamber of hearts And when they come forth, describe pains from being loved

March 5, 2019
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…

March 5, 2019
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…

February 27, 2019
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

February 20, 2019
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…

January 24, 2019
Don’t mock the humble life

Do not laugh at me because I live in the countryside, Far, far away from civilization, your civilization Or because I live in a mud walled hut, roofed with thatch So that when it rains, I could fetch the water from the leaking roof Do not laugh at my inability to speak or see things…

January 20, 2019
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…

January 20, 2019
Retelling a Troubadour’s Story

I traversed through the north of Nigeria, rushing through forests that hid caves and tall hills. I watched the clouds and the sun sail with the fading day. Evening took the cakes and made them sour, while bananas ripened under the blazing sun. The wind was lively, blowing fine dust and gathering soot from distant…

January 12, 2019
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…

January 3, 2019
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…

December 24, 2018
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…

December 20, 2018
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…

December 9, 2018
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…

December 7, 2018
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…

December 6, 2018
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…

December 1, 2018