I know beautiful words are healing to the soul, but I write not because words are beauty but for your beautiful self. So I want you to sit back and enjoy this rhyme, this African style. Everyone has got a style, loving you by beautiful words is my style.
Listen to Nature sing from waterfalls,
She thrash her garments upon rocks
And wash them with her soft palms
She sends soft waters crashing into the pool
Watching the blue skies as her fingers work
When the water descend they form
Fine curtains of white mist
As the water touch the pool below
It changes into bubbling green
Loose soil cling to Water lilies & Fern roots
Slowly falling water push crabs to their burrows
Echoing nature’s still song till evening
If I do love you
I would make me a green hut at your gates
Drum and call upon your name
I would of your virtues write long poems
Sing them in the dead of the night
So it sounds among the ancient hills
With Echo, the talkative spirit of the air
Sing with me
Let’s talk lyrics only known to poetry,
Dance with me
Let’s swirl upon night’s quiet rhythm.
My soul longs for thee, dear motherland
To run the patched dusty red muds
And to swim in the rivers crisscrossing all over you
Let me climb the trees of your forests
And drink from the shallow streams
My soul longs to nibble the tender pumpkin seeds
Freshly cut from hilly farms
To dance with warriors, home with wild beasts
Painted with scary colors of chalk and charcoal
My soul longs to scout the green forest and sniff out hares
To sit with and learn of the elders’ wisdom
And to eat the round, reddish bitter kola nut
My soul longs to see the appearance of the full moon
And how she may light the town center at night
My soul longs for the long, quiet and sunny day
In a far away hamlet, saved from wild bird calls
And dancing tall trees in the morning harmattan wind
My soul longs to hear the winds speak
To make rain fall and shepherd the cattle,
To calm a weary horse, and feed my chicken
My soul longs to see the wild
To ride through fields of Baobab
And to drink local juice brewed myself
To travel on a safari to East Africa
And dine with the Masai who fright Lions
My soul longs for thee beautiful African homeland!
I love your dimples, joyful grace on your smiles
It stole my stare each time I looked at your face,
Night falls herald day’s end and our retirement
But for the Sun’s slumber we gladly wait
Evening is timid, passing through the horizon,
The setting sun took her gold from morning
There’s a fire made for you and me,
A mat, some biscuits and honey,
There’s my rhymes waiting for your muse
And songs to wish away the day’s stress-
Jack Sparrow, Caribbean pirates,
Sinbad’s Seven seas, queer beasts!
Or do you prefer my tale of the Giraffe,
And how she ate the Moon half?
How lucky we are to lay by the fireside
Under the glare and applause of Stars and fireflies
With sweet fragrance of mother Nature-
Teach me how to love you, fine Creature
Now I am in love with your pretty self
It was a dream,
The deepest of it,
The silent have it,
But this moments stole it,
I whisper a little,
She knew,
It was love,
She felt it,
I never wanted it back,
I gave it,
A shyly shaky witty love.
Oh no,
What if I dent the colours,
I spoilt it with odours,
Bored it with hours,
While gunning for what’s ours.
Maybe is love,
I cherish it,
I cherished you,
You never knew,
You didn’t care,
In love, all isn’t fair,
We’re never a pair.
Don’t make me cry,
Don’t say I didn’t try,
Don’t tell me we’re just friends,
Don’t take me for granted.
You love what you love,
We live for what we believe,
I have seen you,
I honestly know you,
What you want is leaving,
Don’t come back pleading.
Light me up,
The magic is over,
Fill me in,
The tragic went somber
Your love fooled me,
And the roses I felt.
I love the dimple that grace your face,
Your hearty smile and warm embrace
I love the joy I get when you smile
And those thoughts you serve me
I love the taste of your turmeric and garlic,
Sweet soup that makes my heart frolic!
I love the airs around you,
Roses and lavender, I muse so
I love that for you, my poems may rhyme
And that you are my beautiful dream
I love the way you make me feel
Now I thank God, I love your soul
Love can not be felt
When there is strife,
When the moods tell foul
Love can not be felt
When the sails are low
Or the winds are hot
Love can not be felt
When egos are high
When words are faint
Love is a great virtue
That requires selflessness
Courage and understanding
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 me through the quietness of the cloud
And the mighty forest line swooshing loud
Your voice calls out from the mountain ranges
Letting the echo thunder across the lowly valleys
In the evening wind You speak
Light are the words You spoke
In the starry night, You sing
For a weary shepherd, waiting
Your blessing and voice has become a great inspiration
And I am thankful, dear Lord for all You have done
Reach my hands
Help me stand firm
Draw me close to Your embrace
Let me see the beauty of Yout Love
Teach my heart
To do the needful
To slay not time in any way
But to master the seasons of wealth
Touch my words
That I may speak only wisdom
Let my lips heal, paint love, draw warmth to all
Let my speech dry the tears of the broken
Take my feet to places,
Where the sands are gold
That I may behold beautiful lands
And savor the strength of the young Cheetah
Give me strength, give me…
Trust me with Your power
That I may soar above the skies
Let me be what Your Love is
This is for you my dearest…
There are twists and turns on the way
Hills and valleys
Darkness and light,
But love, true love surpasses any hindrance or fear
I do not dance very well,
I might not sing so well
But I can love you in many ways
We can ride the Lions back, we can do anything, Yes!
I stare upon your graceful looks
Upon the lips that pout before me
Wonders of natures benevolence
Have you imagined the dreams we can build together?
I shall make a fire for you in the cold,
And in words burn the world
In my minds eyes you shall live
In the evenings I shall read you my tales
Let us give our love to Nature
Grow also our love of God Almighty,
Tend flowers and plants in the yard
And assemble a variety of animal pets
Have you seen the sun rise?
I shall take you to the lands
Where the the golden wheat grow
And the climes where men watch the deer
I dream about you,
Though I discipline my mind
It strays back to your memories
Your smiles, your face, your sweetness
I will draw your name on the beach sands
And scare the white waters from washing it off
Let me make you see the wild Nature,
What we can be, just you and I
I care for you,
Fighting the world, my very self
Dragging the pen over my paper
Writing your name in pure ecstacy
Let me remind you of my love,
Never look down to the strength of this
For lo, I kill my pride and ego
And for loving you I do not understand why
At the end of it all
I want you to hold my pen, look in my eyes
Put down all we can do or be together and,
Never forget with me you can be unlimited
1.
The braids on your hair
Is typical of the African woman
Black and totally natural. Nicely fit
Pulling back your cheek bones
Into the hair…
Like a young gazelles face.
Your nose is like the fine basket
When you breath, it is a wonder
And it seems you walk on flowers
2.
When you dance, you smile
Showing white teeth, unspoiled
The teeth: straight and strong
And perfectly fits in
And when you love, it is real
You are black and beautiful
Bold and honorable…
You care, you dare, you are lover
A definition of Gods wonder
3.
When you pout and smile,
The reins of my heart horse drop,
You melt my heart with your laugh
Sometimes I want to run away
You wear beads of several twines
Swerving your body like the snake,
You dance, turning and laughing
And looking above your shoulder
To see if anyone watch; I am your admirer
“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 come
But we have each other
And we shall make the fire burn
The flowers we tend together
You tell me tales
I tell you mine too
But my tales are longer
You fall asleep before my last
Now what do you see in my eyes
When you stare in them?
You sweetly called it love right?
But you see yourself in my eyes
The morning is airy
We stand at the curtainside
But my arms are hairy
And it does tickle you
What if I told you something
That I care about your happiness
And that each time you smile
My heart rejoices in a joyful bliss
Look upon me now am young
Remember this grey-colored eyes
Remember also my elfy ears
Do not forget for I shall ask much later
And when my poetry muse
You shall always be my theme
What more happiness can I thank God for
But for you, my amazing friend and lover?
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 pen writes?
“I paint ALL things! I paint you
I paint all you feel and care for”
He answered, hiding his resentment
Or yet, perhaps he didn’t get my jeer
I shuddered, strange it sounded
“My feelings and cares, hmm” I grunted
“But now I am carefree, how can you paint that?”
He looked at me, abandoned my talk
And turned the board he was working on
A magnificient picture stood before me
Some hues of blue, suggesting the skies
A tint of greens surrounding the lower board
And a yellow ball which I called the sun
Then on the middle, was a lonely Elephant
Raising his trunk high into the sky
More like, he was saluting someone up there
And I asked why he painted a lonely Elephant
“Shouldn’t he be having a family, sort of?”
He shrugged, smile and brought the image down
“He is lonely, only to his thoughts
He owes no one, he fears no one
He cares and loves himself, as he is” he replied
Perhaps the world had been crude to him I felt
Like he understood my mind, he smiled
“Now sit right there, Im gona paint you”
He said excitedly, pointing to a seat
His head will stuck out
Now and then to peer at me
I put up my best smile
Something inbetween a tear and innocency
He was’nt bothered at my look
My sister would have blurted out
“Ugh! Please change that face, Oke!”
Well, I tried to enjoy it, while it lasted
When the boredom tried to come upon me
He then was finally done; with a sigh
“Okay, and here we go; your portrait”
He carefully, turned the image to my view
I saw the image stare at me in confusion
Or was I the one confused; anyhow
Someone, somebody was truly muddled
Havent noticed my jaws were dropped
Till when I had need for talking
“Uhm, okay. I can’t explain the connection
Of I and, and eh… Him” I pointed at the image
“But deep down me, that guy, that painting
Feels like a part of me, feels like me!”
The painter laughed, enjoying my confusion
“Well, painting is like the revolving Earth
Each time you try to look at it,
Each gaze seem to be the very best
At certain point, at the age of the youth
Things, reasoning come to you different
But for your confusion and the Elephant
Do you now understand why I paint?”
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 sunshine
In the cold nights
You are my moon light
The stars glitter when we watch together
And when you pout and smile
Raising your hands to show a star
I am left in sudden wonder
You pull my hair slowly
And sing strange songs you wrote
The pains of the days strife
Is soothed away from me
The tales I tell you make you sleepy
I wake you with a soft thrust of the hair
The smile upon your face warm my heart
And the sleepy calmness of you on me brings joy
And when the evening get darker
And all about quietness comes
But for the tongues of fire licking the wood
We stay in each others arms
A writers love is like a tree
On a lonely roadside
With no one to feel
Or to sooth away some pain
When the tree waves
The leaves about on calm winds
It says a lot
But it is lonely
And when the stubborn storms
Shove it about, to and fro
It stands but broken inside
With one more hope to spare
But love; love itself is strange
It has made the best tales
Loneliness, has wandered far
Giving only desire to the desirous
The love one seeks
Lays inside of that
Which brings joy upon ones heart
And smiles upon others faces
Oiroegbu Halls
