Oke’s Musings: Poetry, People and Places

Sunday light in Uyo

Arise and shine Arise and shine This morning brings to us Fresh dry airs, severely cold With dew strong like smoke Rushing thru the glass window In a fresh bust of race, To the green fields of meadow Strange paintings the dew draw Throwing up busts of free air One of sweet vitality and life…

July 24, 2016
When night falls

When the night shroud falls across the land The stars glitter like the tip of a witchs wand The moon wakes to the tune of the crickets And the people dress themselves into jackets The windows creak with each push of the air The mighty wind just came with her wares To the dark clouds,…

July 21, 2016
Four Musings: My Music, The Train, August and WordPress

1. My Music The sweet tingling of the guitar strings On my soft palms reminds me of a song Which plays quietly in my heart Without drums and strings they play The songs call out to love To memories which I adore I will let this music play through the valleys And the peak of…

July 20, 2016
Folk: One night, one story

It has been long I left my village And they must have felt my absence For the moon still shone always But then no one to tell the childrens tales I missed seeing the grey bearded moon I missed the serenity of the countryside I missed seeing the birds circle the sky And the calls…

July 18, 2016
Color 2

There are many colors, nice and cute Dull and tiring, fainting and mute Some fall by the bronze roadside More on the greens of the field The birds fly across the cerulean sky With the jade hued beetle buzzing by, On the empty dusty rocks words echo And the ever warm and cuddly yellow- The…

July 17, 2016
My Love

Onyinye Chukwum! The pearl that shines with the sun, Your skin glitter like pretty diamonds Upon the darkest of nights you shine From the Earth to the heights of Heaven Your thoughts come to me like fine wine! The love we share knows no bound It is like the harp and the players fingers A…

July 16, 2016
Syria

The tears of dying children Is the lullaby of gunships The desert is smeared with Grease, oil and human blood The days turn to grieving nights But the world knew no sanity And those who fight in the fields Humanity eludes, Life is a little less than a chickens And yet we walk free across…

July 15, 2016
The Gardeners seed

Saint-Ligoue Street This was the idea born to me Sometime, somewhere, August or May The streams of thoughts come to me The ones I may not all, say I met a gardener down the road, Gracefully adorned with a hat on a pinafore Smiling, he sat on a wood log spreadagled And I thought I…

July 14, 2016
Watch the sun rise

I watch the sun shine thru my window Throwing me a familiar wink And painting the curtain gold Thru the city streets the lights glow Like the color of brew which men drink On all faces it shone, young and old Day breaks again in the city My heart long for something else My dreams…

July 7, 2016
New Days song

Awake to the morn, Savoring the taste Of a fresh minty day Listening to birds call And the feelings within Awake to Heavens call, A brand new song on my lips And a gaze into the fields As the tree leaves fall With the burst of the wind In fine danceful circles The tree leaves…

July 6, 2016
Lullaby: Rain drums

Tap tap tap tap… The first drops fall, Look up, and see a battalion Rushing down in haste Scattering in multitudes, Causing ‘chaos’ to the city Splashing happily, joyfully Upon all who dare stand before it The night rains are nice When they come with the wind- With a very strong wind It made my…

July 4, 2016
A Psalm: To Jehovah, Ebenezer!

”I feel a power other than mine I feel a strenght greater than me” The strongest winds and storms Tell of a might, The beauty of His love A testimony of grace! He gave me a yam, alright! Haha, he gave me a knife also He gave me a fine dream I worship His Majesty,…

July 1, 2016
July

Here comes a month… Fresh and blessed With even a strike of rainfall And the golden face of the Sun Which delight, I call my imagination The night will be as usual… Full of cricket shrieks And the love I always knew I wish you a beautiful July A happy new month to all…

July 1, 2016
Beautiful

Beautiful are your smiles The curves on your mouth are alluring They pout as you stare at me Your eyes say a lot to a thoughtful me Beautiful are your eyes The straight lines of your face are pretty The thought of you are good dreams, You are my inspiration!

June 29, 2016
For me, a thoughtful piece

1. There are hidden crickets singing carefree-ly Whenever I find myself in my quiet time A moment just before I set into a reverie, A moment I recall all I like to see in my dream Dreams come true if you keep it at heart; What joy one will have to climb the Kilimanjaro Or…

June 29, 2016
Three Short Poems: The Stars, June and Thankful

::The Stars:: We wait under the old mango tree Counting the glittering stars And lying on the sandy soil To get a better glimpse of the skies The Wind is our guest, She mocks the rendezvous She whispers the tunes of Nature And drag tree leaves with it An evening of quietness A moment to…

June 23, 2016
Thoughts

Dear diary, Night falls now… The city is quiet Save from toads Out in the field And wild crickets Hiding on the walls The distinct noises Of a quarelling couple Disturb my thoughts Down on this bed, I count the days work There were strange clouds Up the clouds today There were tales in my…

June 22, 2016
Muse: Ne’er too late

When the sun fails to wake, The day grows so cold and gloomy The Dew cast her spell on the day From the hilltops, vales and lakes To the countryside which is woody, And the ponds where the ducks lay There is no ‘life’ in the sad day By the riverside, the wind blast Throwing…

June 22, 2016
Nneoma

Nneoma, nwayi oma m ji eme onu Obidiya, Anam ede akwukwo a N’ihi gi, n’ihi ihunanya gi Iru gi di ka mmiri no n’iyi Ochi gi na-eme m obi uto Enweghi ihe m ga eji tunyere ya Lee kwa mgbe akwa n’egbum I kpom si “Bia, kam bie gi oma Tinye aka gi n’akam Biko…

June 18, 2016
Colors: the first part

Colors are very beautiful They tell a lot about all; And a little about this and that The ocean, the sun The mice that live across The busy street roads Or the golden corn field And the wild, the deserts And the ice of Antarctica Colors describe our feelings Red with rage The royal purple……

June 7, 2016
Pastoral: The Shepherd

Aye, he stayed in the vast wild lands alone, With only the bleating of sheep as his song And smell of grass and dung as his perfumes The singing of birds play him sweet hymns And his friends and companions are mother Natures abundance Under the trees, he sits to play a song for his…

June 3, 2016
A Love poem

Your words are sweet like honeycombs Freshly taken from the bark of the trees And melting in my lips, like butter on fire Like the graceful wild deer you walk And the soft sound of your foot walk Beats strongly, the drums of my heart The swift surge of the evening air Compares not to…

June 3, 2016
June

This morning brought me some fresh rain From my window I see the rains drop around The fresh smell of the clayey soil come Mixed with the scent of boiling corn Blue clouds sift across the skyline As the Doves come down to dine Always; brown and greens all about Grasses of the south start…

June 1, 2016
The Rainmakers Tale: Tradition

PROLOGUE Give me some rain, Take away the present situation Let the wind bid me warn again Give me rain, dear Heaven! (1.) Let if flood the browned farmlands Let it refresh the waters of the ponds And the hards rocks upon the dry Earth Let the hamlet be full of the wet clay salt…

May 25, 2016
The Poem of a Shepherd

I will tell you about my Jehovah, My beautiful encounters with Him His creations that made me wonder With each passing day and dream The tall Red Pine blossom When there is such a wild-wind It shakes down leaves for the ‘groom’ Twisting, circling as they fall down Stand at the zenith of the hills…

May 25, 2016
A beautiful day

The light has come upon my eyes Birds twitter behind the windows glass Beautiful sunrise across the horizon The skies are gold, so is the land Voices of people are drawn to me What a marvelous day it will be! The big sleepy town wakes very slowly Man, woman, child, pets, trees, Lilies I see…

May 20, 2016
The Almighty

There is Him who lights the moon light like a bulb He makes the rain shower on all green life He surfs the thunder storm like a horse Throwing to the Earth a veil of white snow He gives the morning fresh scent of hope, Binding the nights to curdle the weary shepherds I listen…

May 19, 2016
The Clouds gather

The clouds gather And in her wake The evening turned black Clouds gather above the sky As light showers try to descend, The showers fall on the clay As beautiful humid smell arise The clouds gather Above the little town She wakes the lightning And all evening The lightning took shots Of the warm wetlands…

May 19, 2016
Oke Iroegbu’s Shepherds Tale

(1) Is it not a great night to write? What beats our lovely imagination When stars fall with colors bright Or as a ninja-faced Soy bean sprout? (2) The nights are like firecrackers Blossoming into beautiful stars When they hit the soft sky Shedding light shots of hues They remind a tired shepherd Of the…

May 12, 2016
Rainmakers’ tales: 2 tales of Oke- Iroegbu

When I am not making the rain fall And flood the villagers huts and farms And to make the river banks overflow So that the forests pathway is swampy And the great crocodiles are washed ashore; Then I will be watching the glittering stars And talking about the stars, the night and moon Well, the…

May 9, 2016
Time to Pray

” …For where is God our maker, who giveth songs in the night, Who teaches us more than the beasts of the earth and makes us wiser than the birds of heaven?” -Job 35.10, 11 Now the lands is dry We seek drinking water Strife is the order of the day Pain, prejudice, poverty Little…

May 9, 2016
The noise called Love

Wait a minute Why does my heart beat sound that way, Like a hundred samba drums of Brazil Thrilling a thousand voices of excitement On a sandy pitch were soccer is played? Jungles have got their noise The Lions, the Elephants, the wild Oaks Cities have got their noise The automobiles, the bikes, the ice…

May 8, 2016
Musing: My Doves

Feathers flapping Sitting on my arms With their young claws Not to let go Not to fall down Man and dove Care and love When I hold you two up with care You stare into my eyes with curiosity What a dark world Your fine eyeballs Seem to say, Roving around my place On my…

May 7, 2016
Poetale: The Vampire

I wonder why we are warm blooded And yet men is to another, stone cold The suns’ light hide such many things; In the depths of wells, beings with wings And the thoughts, which we fear exist They come and disappear like the mist With the appearance of the moon The fur extends beyond the…

May 6, 2016
Three Poems of Oke’ Iroegbu: Night is falling, The moons tale and Hope

Night falls after the sun And to homes we all return Counting the days stress and toil Letting the darkened kettle boil And preying our eyes on passing people While we eat out plates of sweet potato When the full moon come out The whole clan makes a sit-out The infants, the boys, girls, men,…

May 6, 2016
Haiku: Hope

There shines a chain of stars, lined up the night sky Glittering to the quiet and queer custom; a perfect night style Lighting up the hill top; a spectacular view of these forested lands Let’s hope on Divine providence; it will never forsake our hands

May 3, 2016
May 2016

In the morning After the rains, The lands are wet With dew and mist The rivers overflow The sun is slow To wake For the towns’ sake, In instalments On the roofs first On the trees and nests On the fields and streets Through the lands, wild And upon all mankind

May 3, 2016
The Lover of my life

You’re the lover of my life my other half Since you came my way I have beautiful days I am so in love with you I am not ashamed to

April 26, 2016
Awake

I am awoken to the sound Of the lovely morning birds Twittering behind the green tree And the buzzing of the Bumblebee The sun rises quietly Her rays shine brightly The clouds are blue Painted by a fine hue All about the bright skyline The scouting hawks and doves whine And under a trees shelter…

April 23, 2016
Friday

The nights may be dull… But there are fresh morning airs That this beautiful morning shares It grows with the comely light Letting all feel the suns’ warmth As she rise from behind the cloud Painting the land, bright and gold The airs are for all; The sun flower with its bright colors And the…

April 22, 2016
Musing: Cold Nights

Cold nights come sometimes It brings to me memories Which I thought I lost on the way Nevertheless, I see who I become From what I was many moments ago Cold nights remind me of… A tender boy I was And when I cried for most things It reminds me of when I was caring…

April 20, 2016
The Lifes’ Walk

Life is a walk, a journey Never feel sorry For your very existence Is ordained by Divine Providence The way thru the jungle is grassy The mists upon the way, tricky But we must march on Until the days work is done The way is full of serpents Goal destroyers, lifes’ saints The mists might…

April 19, 2016
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…

April 18, 2016
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…

April 17, 2016
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…

April 15, 2016
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…

April 14, 2016
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

April 12, 2016
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…

April 9, 2016
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…

April 9, 2016
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…

April 8, 2016