Dead Silent

It's dead silent here
I listened for the humming of the birds,
It was no where.
I longed for the chirping of the cricket, but they were long gone.
I could sing my own song,
But there would be no melody.
Write my own dirge,
But no one would cry.

The dead, are awake in a land others dread,
Yet, we wish they can tell us how to feel better here
It's the time that doesn't exist we seek.
Maybe, it's the tomorrow we don't know we want.
We could beg for the yonder to come, but we will never know we live in it.

My pain says, I'm still here.
Their stares tell me, I'm lonely still.
Not for another to cheer my mood,
Not for a voice to echo my wish.
But, from distance their eyes tell,
From pain, their silence thunder.

I could radio my heart beat.
I could sing me a lasting lullaby,
But, I know my dreams have become calmer than my waking.
So, I'm learning to live my misery, teaching me to accompany me.

If my quiet echoes noise
if my voice whisper fear
and my calm screams worry
don't fix this one, let it my teacher be
I'm embracing the pain for gain
accepting the shame as well.
the stops, loss and horror 
Is all I bear to win.

Our Tomorrow

You might wake up one  day and realize  the world  has actually  moved on.  oh well,  the world,  it keeps  moving,  it evolves, it changes and it refuses  to be stagnant.  You on the other hand,  you are stuck,  you refused  to evolve,  you feel overwhelmed  by the fast pace of everything and everyone  around  you.  At first,  you  tried to  convince yourself that  you don't  care,  you constantly remind yourself  of how happy you  are.  So,  you  refused to appraise the situation,  you couldn't  understand  the rush so you didn't  bother to try.

Guess what!  the world moved on anyways. It didn't  care whether  you were in it or not,  it just evolved without  your  permission.  Now,  you  ask why you?  why did everyone move on?  why  don't they care?  Oh well,  they care enough  to let you see them moving on.  They love you so much to let you hear people sing their praises and chant their victory. it was you who wouldn't listen nor take them serious. you were the one without care for tomorrow.

I know you said you were taking life easy. I know you mentioned those things are vain. but, You and I know the problems won't take care of itself. We both know, unless we move a muscle, dear, no one will break a sweat for us. So, while we bother less about tomorrow, worry no more about our challenges. We must be sure we have today care enough to last us for tomorrow. What we do not give attention to, will not get done.

We are first responsible to ourselves, before others. While we brag about our less care for tomorrow. Our bragging right should assure us enough for an extra day. 

NO WORDS

It's in the silence
Right there in the sound of our thoughts
It's in the quiet
Look in the air we exhale
Not because we no longer exist
Not even the angst could save us
It's is in the whom we have made of ourselves
The very being we have become

Been separate didn't ease our yearnings
A void the pegs couldn't square
Many a hole time couldn't fill
A vacuum unending in our search
The one piece matching the puzzle
The one cure for my sickness

Unfinished sentences were all I could ever make
I was an unquoted word
because the dot was missing
I remained an unlived dream, because you were my sleep
My one sure step to lala land
You are my vision
My one sure hope to winning

It's in our eyes
The story untold of fears and wishes
It's in our heart, the chapter written from the blood pound of our veins
You will find it in our voices
From the many tales our kisses tell
It's in who we are
From the many memories only us can reawaken

It's in our bond
the very chord binding our soul
You will find it in our ties
Woven in our spirit
Knitted with our blood
Knotted by love
Shaped into us


It's in the distance calling for us
Among the puzzle lost in our hearts
You will find it in the story untold from our character
It's right here in the end
We plotted from the beginning

THE FORBIDDEN

That I know you again
Find you ok
Want you always
Forbidden that my thump pumps your breath
My smile your smell

I'm charmed
I'm enchanted
Tangled in this web
Fallen in this well
Lost deep in your love

Shaken, tingling feeling
Flapping like  butterfly in my tummy
Dizzy mushy want
Craving you as you exhale your dreams into me
Through your kiss, your touch, your thrust and your love

I want to be your peace

I want to be your calm

I want to be your quiet

Let me calm your storm

Quieten your rage

Make peace with your demon

I am because you are

Look to the Rising Sun

From Jerusalem to Madina

To the land of those cursed with the idea of slave trade

down to Zaria, across Ekiti and the streets of Nnewi

Words were cast in iron,

on parchment of scrolls,

tablets of stone and the heart of those in search

of an identity, the essence of existence, the cradle of life, the omnipotent

of mountains molded before their forbearers were conceived

Battles were fought, allegiance pledged

Then from across the seas

with mirrors of deception, umbrellas of delusion, liquor and the holy books

masters found slaves and lands to covet

mission accomplished as colonials spread their intention over brotherhood

By hook or crook

slaves found their voice, freedom and a nation to call their own

Alas! Boundaries were marked with the same tool that buried brotherhood

along the boundary-lines

Masters sailed back home with spoils of colonization

Then unity was veiled beneath the scars of unhealed wounds and tribal marks

that will later tear them apart

Questions were asked, truth masked in vague answers to recurring questions

Yet unmasked in the dark corners of history, begging to be told…

Now close your eyes

imagine death and the vanity it heralds

imagine a country without boundary, bigotry, tribal rivalry

a nation where the knot of brotherhood is firmly tied

across land and sea

through unity of purpose of a people who see through clear waters of one identity

and the destination is not banished to the North, East, South, West

or some other region rounded-up in the confusion we call Middle-Belt

Answer the question or question the question

yet, questions without answers will give birth to more questions

or answers that will not quench the thirst of those who wonder

why there are no answers to those questions the federation says we dare not ask

forbidden questions like

why are we here?

what is the purpose of this union?

or why are we stuck in this Garden of Eden?

yet forbidden to think the answers we seek may be found in Ahiara

in the cracks of broken dreams of those resolute men

and the echoes of their declaration at the sight of the rising sun

The answers we seek may be found in the lineage of Arewa

from the Sultanate of Sokoto to the Emirate of Kano

or in the sacred town of Ile-Ife which they call the cradle of life

Perhaps the answers we seek may be found

in the strength of their confederate called Nigeria

Be at liberty to put a rope to my neck

drag me to the pages of her constitution, beaten to submission of individual intention

or shove down my throat, tasteless speeches of self-seeking freedom fighters

Before you put that rope

take a peep into the effort of founding fathers

who shed sweat and blood in the battle for freedom, equity and a nation

where equality will reign supreme

So, cut me lose and lighten my path with the lightening of Amadioha

to go East and tell of the dark cloud ahead

if we will not look away from the rising sun and unite with kindred on the other side

in this fight for one identity…

or look to the rising sun for inspiration and wisdom for emancipation

void of the drumbeat of war

Quicken my feet with the untamed speed of the horses at durbar

to head North and join their cavalry

in this battle for one identity

as the time has come to rise above the dust of tribalism, egotism and religion…

raised when we dug the pit deep enough to bury unity

Hand it to me, the axe of Sango

To strike a balance between self and others

Summon courage to swim the tides of tolerance

across Niger and Benue down to the West

to persuade Omo Oduduwa to unite with their kindred beyond the bridge

as we go head-to-head in this battle for one identity

Now open your eyes

look to the rising sun

maybe you too will find an inspiration

to halt the drumbeat of disintegration

By - Deji Ige

YOU ARE THE ONE

You are that secret that will never be told
The weapon that feeds his adulation
The pleasure that bears him pain
The fool wearing his badge
You are that story no one knows
The chapter never written
The character that died before it's existence
You are that one who never came
The joy he will never express
The shame he will never show
The weakness, he wouldn't admit
You are that one that stays in the dark
The one who could and should be the real one
The one who would never be

Yet, you are the one he wishes he had

THE REAL PIECE

He took a piece of me
Stole the piece that made me full
The piece suckled in touch
Magnet in kisses
Eyed off with the intensity of your gaze
 The seal he left was real and etch
Stamped with truth
 and mazed in love

You know you can't save me
Not the kumbaya
The roll and dance
Not even the memory 
Bearing the coat of your arm
No one but you can claim me
You tried to cure me
Without my elixir

You took that one
That made me none
The very her,  
The sole of me, 
The piece you have, 
It's the mystery piece
Linking me to you
The unclaimed one
Letting me stay for wish of ease
You have the me I’ll never get
Leaving me begging for bit of you

He told me we only have today
He showed me YOLO
He made me a moment
To last for eternity
He taught me not to sink
Helped me find my tick
Made me win my turf
To find my missing piece

You took the wheel
And set my sail
Guiding the change across the wind
Oh this boisterous sail
That blows my way
Has taken with him
 A piece of me


He asks to do,
Yet, I need him be, 
To be the whole that fills my piece,
 Be the part that never left, 
Hold the piece that stayed and wait,
 Be the piece I feel and need
But the best of me he took with him
He left with the exquisite piece
'cos He is the piece of me

LET ME TELL

Can I take this moment to say how I feel
Can I take this time and let you in on how much you mean to me
I could ask the stars to shine the light in the dark path, where doubt lies
Beg the moonlight to reflect the depth of my desire
I could ask the sun to warm the ice despair share
Let me take this moment

This moment when time stops
And years are made in our heartbeat
Fleeting seconds building decades of cherished remembrance
This moment when nothing exist 
Except love, feelings and passion
This moment where time exist only in your eyes.

Let me tell you about that one moment our eyes Locked,
With beaming smiles dancing around the curves of your lips. 
Forming a shape my heart swore was love
With our eyes telling the many cravings of longing for passion only our bodies can give
Let me tell you about that one moment
When you kissed me and erased my fears
With your tongue licking off my pains, 
Even as I moan to the taste of your pleasure

Let me tell you about this moment, when time is now,
Our touch a gift of you.
The sound of my name under your breath a luxury I've come to love, when you said with your mustered breath, my name, sealed with a kiss on my nose like the moon kissing the stars.

Let me tell you about that one stare that undresses me,
Taking me in and un-cladding my soul, baring my heart to the heat from the inferno of your deliberate touch and caress,
tracing the root of the fire you put in my being as you take me in ways only you can, as my thighs respond to the sway of your torso,
Heaving to the rise and fall of my boobs. While your fingers ravage this body.


Let me tell you about that one moment you loved me to submission, submission to your love.

THE JOURNEY

        

As I danced through life

Basking in the glow of the sun

Beaming in pride and glory

Of the slippery journey I had to stand

But walking it with the gait of a fearless Cat

Not betraying my fractured feelings

I met the ones whose grind it is

To engage my fears

Belabouring me with clog

My heart can't wheel

Telling a tale of fear, unleashing a weary myth

This, too I’ve learnt to subsist

On the same path I’ve met the kind

Not having plenteous fortune

But extravagant in good thought

Gracious in delightful confidence

Sharing grandiose smile

Gifted only by royals

Yet, on this lane, I’ve found comfort

In places where love seem forgotten

Beaten with pride by folks whose humility is masked in servitude

My mornings have been lazed in the warmth of unforgotten strangers

Where nights goodwill have been ransomed with venom of a cherished

A sarcasm my life have come to flatter

Strutting this street I've found fortune

Of good and bad, in kind and cruel

Given in portion, taken in whole

Making my life a conquest stump

In accepting loss, I've had to find

The good and great in all of me.

As I walk this track

I hope I leave, memories of love and glimmer of light

Dispel shadows of pain, and banish shame

Binding wounds, scored in treachery

While mending walls built in fear

Giving hope in place of doubt, offering peace that comforts the grieved.

PRAY

Let me cry till I'm spent

Let them be libation for the many dreams that  died before they had the chance to breathe

Let them suffice for the many times a war was not waged against the forces and words that said impossible

Let me drown with my tears

Painful regret

Of how seconds that became minutes

and minutes that became hours

and hours that became days

and days weeks

and weeks months

and months years

wasted seconds that could have borne great

Joy, growth, change, power,

Maybe some pain, maybe some sorrow

But memories - surely

Yes memories

Let these tears relive the many joyful

Exhume the heart wrenching  

buried alive

Let them all float to the surface

live alongside each other

In the present

While I

Ignore the best I can

Their constant badgering -

Reminders

Of innocence stolen

Of confidences betrayed

Of vengeance dealt

Of love....

Yes love

given, received, shared, denied

let me mourn the lie that marred my first sweet memory of love

That first kiss my sister said could cost me heaven

For I shared that moment and the pleasures of it's 'forbidden' bliss

The brightest of smiles lighting up my face

Then i must cry for the face

That had smiled only moments before my words sliced a heart open

Today let me cry him a river to wash away the pain

And to maybe comfort in some mystical way

My tears will speak truth it had not known

That the only thing worse than not reciprocating love

Is not accepting it as it was given

For love given freely

Though not enough for another

Is always complete in and of itself

Then i shall cry for myself

To accept all that I am

Rock and feather

Muse to one, poison to another

To accept crevices in me and the secrets I wish didn't lurk

Deep spaces where pain, greatness and grief make bedfellows

and fear and faith disagree on the winner of this mortal combat within me

Till my tears roll into my mouth

and I taste in them

A desire for rebirth

Pray Iet me cry

Ulo Inyama

MY NAME IS..

You could be all shades of good, bad and greatness. You could still be all sides of fear, courage and weak. But what you should never be is all forms of other people's label

So many times, we are told who we are and who we should be, ever before we ever have an idea of whom we really are. So many of us will never get a chance to find ourselves by ourselves, because, we have accepted the society's definition of us. Yet, it's conflicting, it's confusing and it’s holds us back from expressing ourselves clearly. We try hard to conform into people's view of us, we struggle to wear their label, so we stay accepted or can be wanted, and find it easy to deny ourselves the one true pleasure of finding who we are and living it. We are so used to living up to other people's standard that we have come to see our true worth as substandard and so we are that guy with no name. Because we are afraid that our own view of ourselves may never be good enough. We worry that whatever we discover of ourselves might be too strong to be ignored and may make us loose the people we desperately look up to for approval, or what we discover of ourselves may push us far ahead of our time, that we worry we may incur the wrath of those we look up to. So, we forget to live, we merely survive. Actually, what we do is float through life daily hanging on to a boat when we can sail a ship. We settle for less, when we can be the best.  Telling ourselves it's the most we can achieve. Whereas, it's just a convenient truth to prevent us from discovering who we really are, helping to express ourselves in our work, deeds and actions. We focus more on being accepted and forgetting to find ourselves, define our name and take chances that can help us soar to greatness.

When people ask what our name is, we turn out answering every other name given to us by people, other than the name we should call ourselves.

 If today someone ask what your name is, pause, reflect on it, choose your answer carefully and tell them that which you would truly want to be known by, then say confidently, my name is Adaeze C Nwankwo (insert your name) and I am a poet( insert what you do).

COUNTING

Counting not the losses that came

Numbering not the nightly cold and blisters

Mentioning not the broken promises and vows

Computing not the days of nays and pains

Including not the shocks and blows

Here are the numerals of light and love

I tabulate good fortunes that came as friends

Including intimacy that binds as family

Enumerating fondness of acquaintance smile

Totalling comfort sweetening my way

The one freedom that liberates me

Those 2 wishes of beautiful dawn and glorious dusk

The 3 spirits of life, love and living

The 4 dreams that make it count

And 5 times i stayed super lucky

I am counting not failures of intentions

But the blessings of pure thought

Remembering not the shunned voices

But the kind sound of truth and believe

Today I am counting my blessings

TO MY LITTLE ONE

Tomorrow feels dreadful
Now is hopeless
Dreaming feels like a joke
Expectations zaps like a smoke
Counting the stars in a roll
We wish light still for a goal


Dear little one
Today was meant to hurt
Your story had a pain
The tarry came from work
The labour a place of numb
The night should make a light

Dear little one
The numbers don't count for you
The script don't sing your tune
The book makes you the unknown
the pen is inked in this author
His journey he plots for crest

Dear little one
Predecessors didn't walk your lane
The forebears never bore your thorn
The many heroes that came through, 
took a turn fit for their destiny
So your voyage you captain and berth

 Dear little one

If I'm the light you were imaging
If I'm the icon you've mirrored
I want to tell my fails and my falls
That you may stumble but with courage rise
So your shame can turn to gain
And sorrows streams of love be.

Dear little one
Your journey, your victory be

SLOW DANCE

I've come to love this slow dance
 that waltz through my waist,
 down the pit between my thighs
 this sensual rhythm that snakes through the pit of my tummy
 the hollow in my navel
 gliding like a drunk on my ribs


 Oh goodness, I've come to yearn for this slow tune
 this tune that taps like rumba
 thumping the pulse of my heart
 begging each beat to beg harder harder
 stronger stronger
 this stroke that drives into my senses the taste of you
 the soul of your feelings
 the depth of your passion

 I've come to want this samba
 this gong sound that pounds my being
As your tongue glides through my lips playing rumba and salsa 
With the heaving of my boobs moaning a soft metallic Hallelujah
As your leg tango with mine

Oh how i love this slow dance

Choreographed just for us
This gentle worship of heart and soul
Sweet cooing and soulful lovemaking
Oh I've come to love this lazy love

HAPPY

Happy- the light he brings when he comes at night, the smile i feel deep when he hugs me tight, the cheers i get more when i win, the boost he gives  even when i fear.

Today- the wake that ends the easy life, the dawn that made the young an adult's worth, the truth that changed the smiles in constant pain, the walk that opened the lonely dusk, begin  the many first of endless whys.

Question- of past we wished had never been, of cause we hope a woke can tell, a light we try to dark on still, of secrets that hold the end of peace. Holding the thread of one last ray, to heal and beg the heart to mend, from hurt answers had dug even wide.

Faces-lost in times touch and endless flight, masked in pity, yet spur spite. for juggled memory for friend or foe, blurred in acts and unsaid beats, he took a double of all he gave, both in terror and comfort gift.

Chaos- finding calm in the rumble, screaming peace to the wreak of the past, making now the bacon of past flash, accepting what was, knowing in it what will has shaped, grateful for past, yet weary of future.


Beauty- of words and touch burning feelings, hearts that sparkle, illuminating our soul. a moment loved, a memory made, good or bad, a tale once sweet.  

LOST PIECE

I’ve waited for you to choose me
Asking that I be the scent you wear
But she remained the only scar you ever bore
You’re not allowed to take this piece apiece
this masterpiece won't rent you peace.
I’m not your trophy  
I won't be the sentence making you tense
this story has no coma of me, you can't question mark my feelings


Body fused yet heart refused
this emotion elude me
the pain, reduced me.
I can't wait your fear to try
I can't beg your will to do
your passionless will I hate
your faithless want I distaste

I can't wait your fear out
I won't hold my heart for another time
never pausing the rhythm a while more

You want me now, not another day
choose me here, never for later
Take my heart at this instance.
Never delay this fear and doubt.
Be it now, all my wants.
Be them now, all my desires.
If now you doubt, tomorrow ain't sure.
Then my love another day can't stay.
.
Don't be sorry
sorry is when i can't have you, taste you and feel your breath on mine
sorry is me willing my heart drum your name, my lips sing your dream, and my body slithe through your manliness.
Don't be sorry, cos this heart will choose again
This heart will beat passion, passion for him whose fear is beneath your dare.

WHERE WERE YOU?

The tree died today Ife
Not even the fierce wind could wake it from it's slumber
Even the mighty rain couldn't fill the deep hollow in it's heart

I called down storm, but it's rage weren't enough to convulse it back to life 

So tell me future, where were you when the dead wouldn't wake to the dirge?
When the melody made the bride irate and the newborn wouldn't cry?
Where were you when time stopped to beckon the old to bid goodbye to the new and the present wouldn't gift us a smile

Where were you when the masquerade danced in the market square, but couldn't  get the onlookers to watch, because only misery sells. Where were you when local fries became the dessert for palace dwellers while the hawkers feed fat from the aroma.

It was said that time makes all better,  that wounds will heal in time,and memories from sorrow can slowly fade. We weep still Ife, for the budget that never water our trees, for the ballot that didn't count in hospital, for manifestos that didn't teach our students morals nor our society truth.

So Ife, I am the M missing in the Asses. Today i join in solidarity to demand that the Masses take back their pride.

Say Yes

© Melanie

Published on June 25, 2016

Say yes, and we could surf the highest waves,
Your hand in mine, never losing faith.
We could climb Mt. Everest, and as we gasp for air,
You'll say you love me,
And I you.

We could do handstands in the sky,
And you'll catch me when I fall.
I'll take you to the stars and leave you in utter awe.
And though standing on a comet with you is absolutely reckless,
Loving you is even more so; but I'm happily helpless.

Say yes, and some days will be not only spring,
But we will endure the harsh days winter will bring.
Together we will face somber rainy days,
But with you by my side we can wait for summer's sunny rays.
We will know what makes each other cringe,
But hey, we'll take it inch by inch.

And though some days you will be too tired to fly with me,
I will heal your broken wings.
'Cause our love will exceed that of the highest degree,
And we will take willingly what life brings.
So say yes,
And take my hand; we will learn to tango.
Every step we will master.

Source: http://www.familyfriendpoems.com/poem/say-yes

WHAT BROKE YOU?

Was it the love taken and not given
The kindness sent that never returned
Tell me if it were the sweetness of the many laughter and sunshine he radiates around
Making luminous the simple 
Sparkling the bland and warming the glaciers of your heart

What broke you my darling? Tell me.
Was it the waiting for him to sort his feelings?
The confusion from uncertain vibe of what if, when if and how if?
Is it the unspoken truce between your hearts, knowing it will never be?
Certain that the wait will fade, surety that time won't tell.
Was it the icy silence, cold shoulder, gentle message from his reversed feelings that left you lonely and lost in the wait only you fear?

Sure it wasn't that he voiced it? Say it or gave it a word.
Maybe, it was in his not admitting it, not sounding it and never letting you understand, yet meaning it.

What broke you little cherub?
Was it the last act, showing you that love wasn't enough, passion weren't worth it, and trying for days to please him wouldn't change a thing?
Tell me, the gentle hands couldn't calm your nerves, soothe your frayed muscle and help quiet the raging noise in your head.

What broke you my heart?
I hear you reply, it's the pieces that walked away when I finally accepted I'm broken.