Oke’s Musings: Poetry, People and Places

Tag: poem

  • I am Nigeria

    You have smiles on your face Reminds me of my beloved siblings No need to see you thru your race You are you; one, unique and winning Igbo kwenu! Kedu, olee, how do you do? Come in, have a sit, taste this dish You come in peace, we surely know To you, all good things…

  • Musing: Setting sun

    1. The setting sun reminds me of many things Some nice, some exciting, some make me laugh And others leave me sobbing at the thought But making me to laugh or leaving me to sob I find times defined in those memories, not me   2. Twilight comes with even finer airs, playing On fantasies that…

  • Let us take a Walk

     Now let us take a walk through the pine forest Through the shed which the forest provides Through the pathway where the leaves form a cushion Through the place where the squirrels make an abode And the darkness of the shrubs a shed from the noon Come let us take a walk through the lands…

  • A muse: The Thunder and her nephew

    When the thunder storm descends The clouds rumble with a quake, For the Earth and her companions She cuts up a powerful link Letting her much younger nephew Take a solid images of the quiet world Every other force goes on pause, on mute While the two siblings enjoy their ride Through the Earth, through…

  • Loves Silhouette

    The evening came shyly The sun set before us And the end of the world We see fall below the hilltop The sweet airs wind traverse about They travel with grace Flirting with our hairs and cloth Now it is darker but can you see me? It is the sun set And she smile up…

  • Smiley

    I like you to blow out laughing Turn around and see me make a face I like to see you smile The pains in my heart go soothed away I want to see the curves of your mouth dance to the lyrics of my daydream But call me names if you would Call me the…

  • The Glass Wall, and a commentary on friendship

    The angered throw stones at the glass wall He shouts and curses, He yells and he faints But the glass wall sits and watches… Rain fall, the sun beat the weathered glass The smear of mud from passing vehicles, the sweat of palms … But the glass wall sits unperturbed The stain of ages passing…

  • Paper Poetry

    Shake off the fatigue The world waits to meet you The world waits to celebrate you Look beyond the dark skies Look beyond your heights Look beyond the rain and storm Look beyond the past dreams Hit the weakly cocoon Break the walls open Fly butterfly, fly away Never hesitate on your flight to glory…

  • African Inspiration

    I see inspiration. In our conversation, In the mornings we talk My pen grow fruitful Your memories take me places, to the peaks of African ranges and where the lion cubs stay I see the future Bright and blue, the clouds crystal clear Like spring water rushing in haste To other lands where the sun…

  • Darkness falls

    Darkness falls… The cries of night wolves and wild dogs Rent the airs far away deep in the forest The wind grew milder, the moon light brighter And the sweet lullabies ring out from homes A tradition, one which the little ones adore The evening simmer into a deep darkness As the African tales went…

  • Okechukwu’s Haiku

    The night came and went, but we are awake to Gods call Though the night brought darkness and bricks of wall To everyone, men and women, great or small Yet the love of God wakes with us to perfect us all Good morning from Africa!

  • Fallacy of love

    Dear Diary… When two hands merge, they stick together Lending, caring, hoping and loving The stream of cord bonding both Strictly fight for their loves survival Distractions sprout up the root of the creeping weed Tearing apart the bond that once lived happily I crave for some fresh air in the open I love to…

  • The Wind

    There was heavy wind, swooshing about Just behind the hut where the pots lay Now it surged. Paused, Sudden… Play The wooden doors creak restlessly Like horses surround’d by wild dogs Near the bush, the wind whipp’d tree logs The sweet fragrance of other houses came The stench of the sewages woke up And roofs…

  • The Village chief

    There was a chief in the wild plains, A warrior and a leader of the clan He fought in the war of the White men And returned a warrior of other lands ” Igwe! Igwe o!! Igwe i ga adigide!”* The men of the clan always hailed him For he desired peoples praise than honor…

  • The Shepherds Tale

    The day ends with a big stress for David But to him, this was not any challenge As he walked thru the hamlet, near an inn, ‘Hello David! Come have a drink with men, Come and have some fun , will ya?’ A soldier yelled as David passed by ‘Oh no sire, I will be…

  • Lions and Lionesses

    Lions could be cute and cuddly, But only without their teeth and claws! They prowl the thick vegetations of Africa And plains of South Asia… With their manes as crowns They rule the African jungle They roar from afar… And all tenants of the wild; Deer, Elephant, Boar, Zebra Wake to listen! In the night,…

  • The Palm Tree

    I wonder why it is called a tree Yet she is dressed like a masquerade With thorny arms raised to deliver a blow And fins to wade thru a turbulent storm Dangerous as she looks, She is quietly harmless Swerving from one wind to another She enjoy the attention of the airs When there is…

  • August night

    I shall sing like the nightingale for you Throwing flowers before your feet And make for you a fine cuddly seat Tonight I will stand behind the mango tree And I shall call out to you, so we can meet; So we can hold hands and walk to the square* I shall tell you my…

  • A muse: Diary of a Traveller

    Dear Diary… It is very early morning And I wake to go home After a nice breakfast Of Indomie and… I ‘hijacked’ a ‘Took-took’ To take me to the park Okay, it was very cold Last night… I warmed up with a sweater But yet the Night was cruel Now, it is quiet warm Some…

  • Thankful Psalm

    l feel your warmth Jehovah The peace and comfort You gave Now the sun shine thru my curtain Strings of beautiful colors I see Oh Jehovah, You are Awesome The sky blue clouds stand at ease You stand out, You are Handsome! The love I feel, undescribable The life I have, gracefully blessed He loved…

  • 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…

  • 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…

  • 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…

  • 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…

  • 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…

  • 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…

  • 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…

  • 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……

  • 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

    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…

  • 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…

  • 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…

  • 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…

  • 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…

  • 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…

  • 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 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

  • 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…

  • 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…

  • 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…

  • 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…

  • 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…

  • 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

  • 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…

  • 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…

  • 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…

  • The Jungle: West African Lion

    In the depths of the Savannah Where Nature prowls Strays a solitary beast- The King of the jungle Deep growls rent the night From one end of the world To another it spreads Striking horror to hearts And to those who dare To wander the unsafe night The crickets quiz But they are safe Yet…

  • Africa’s poetale

    Africa is a budding cocoon A shy, fragile and cute butterfly With shaky wings meant to fly Living, in a desperate world Africa is the gigantic tree That grows by the side of the river Shielding the lengths of the forests And feeding the lifes around it Africa is a mountain highly peaked With white…

  • Musing: Illusion

    “I compare you to this month Blessed April with blue eyes Clear as the benevolent Cloud Full of perfect but right actions And a loving stormy mouth Which glow in the quiet night And with your imaginary wand You stray thru my mind like an illusion” I wrote a poem But I forgot your name…

  • Another Tale of a Shepherd

    Nothing compares to the sweet sleep Of all good and hardworking shepherds He retires with a fine and adorable smile And to his bed of wool, he lays Tuning into the local radio station To listen to some old folk songs Nodding almost silently to the rhythm Smiling to the memories of the stressful day…