by KREATIVE DIADEM | Nov 19, 2015 | NIGERIAN POEMS, POEMS
THESE WORDS WILL PROTECT US
These words will protect us
when the children of doom
appear at our doorstep
with message from Iku
on moonless nights of peril.
These words will protect us
when journeying missiles
tell tales of hastened mortality
on serene battlefields.
These words will protect us
when neighbours turn minstrels
that sing with livid tongues and teary gongs,
of Boko ruffians; miserable mindless machines
in the hands of political puppeteers.
I say, these words will protect us
when promise of willing virgins
makes men deaf to the sound of logic
and turns jolly streets into
sites of macabre massacre fest.
These words will protect us,
be our shield and solace,
our anthem of prayers,
custodians of our sanity
against these louts of terror.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Kanyinsola Olorunnisola is a poet, essayist and short story writer. He is currently studying Philosophy at the University of Ibadan. His works have been featured in national newspapers and an international publication. An unrepentant idealist, he believes in the power of words to change the world.
by KREATIVE DIADEM | Oct 1, 2015 | NIGERIAN POEMS, POEMS
WHERE IS NIGERIA?
The giant of the black continent,
locked up in the den of dwarfs,
looking haggard with overgrown hair,
she must be very old,
for her head is a fountain of grey leaves,
and these wrinkles come only with old age,
The king of the jungle
with a roar that begins the songs of mockery,
these claws are sharp,
they must have torn apart
the skins of preys during war
and this bushy mane is not for a cub,
Happy Independence Day to Nigeria!
Source: www.shuttershock.com
The Super Eagle of the skies
with wings clipped like an emu
and can barely fly
when expected to soar,
the span of these wings are wide
and these sunken eyes is only for a Mother Eagle
The land of milk and honey
where dairy owners starve to death
and landlords are milked by tenants,
until the lips of their pockets got glued
and could no longer swallow a drop of honey
produced by swarms of bees in their own hives.
There was a Nigeria,
known as a nation of enviable jewels
where all birds wanted to build their nests
and all beasts wanted to graze her pasture,
where peace and justice were citizens
and not sons lost in exile
dining with only those who live in foreign lands.
P.S.: This is for a sober reflection as the most populous black nation in the world, Nigeria celebrates 55 years of Independence.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Osho Samuel Adetunji is a graduate of Mechanical Engineering from Nigeria’s premier University, University of Ibadan. He is a budding poet, a blogger, a Public Speaker, an on air personality with a knack for short stories, inspirational articles and poems. He is a great thinker, creative and dexterous young man who does not only believe in excellence but also extols the tenets of discipline, hard work and effectiveness.
by KREATIVE DIADEM | Oct 1, 2015 | NIGERIAN POEMS, POEMS
TELL THEM TO REMEMBER THIS COUNTRY
& if at all the world wants to write about me
Tell them to remember this country: Its broken body.
The sketches of tears that litter everywhere.
& if at all the world craves to sing my name
Tell them to echo the names of boys covered
with leaves. Tell them to scribble the names of girls
raped till their thighs bled, till their cries
vanished in the wind of silence.
& if at all the world carves me a plaque
Remember to tell them about unbuilt monuments
for people devoured by earthquake, people left
with shattered hearts, people buried like
dead dogs, like the bits of a broken glass.
Happy Independence Day to Nigeria.
Source: www.oanweb.org
Remember to tell them about lives limping in
the fire that leaks the rusty roof of this country.
& if at all my song tickles your ears
Remember the woman next door,
the one clutching the photograph of her
bombed son. Remember the man waiting to
explore a dumpster for wastes.
Remember this country and its fate,
its history full of lengthy dirges.
& if at all tomorrow comes with laughter
breaking the tunnels of our throats
Remember the poet that
remembers this country.
P.S.: This is for a sober reflection as the most populous black nation in the world, Nigeria celebrates 55 years of Independence.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Rasaq Malik is a graduate of the University of Ibadan, Ibadan, Nigeria. His poems have appeared in Connotation Press, Heart Online Journal, Jalada, Saraba, Sentinel, African Writers, New Black Magazine, Kalahari Review, and elsewhere. He believes writing is an act of healing, an art that transcends the world, that survives every death.
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