"Ambivalence"

 "Ambivalence"

I bear a flicker of light

Sometimes smouldering 

You can't see it

It is hidden somewhere in my soul

Blown here and there by the wind

Tossed to and fro like the sea

I tread paths

Winding like the curled body of a snake 

Dreadful, unspeakable 

It is like wonders.

They are like questions caught in between fallen teeth,

Entrapped, howling silently to the roof top

If ever words are enough,

If ever thoughts are able to imagine 

How life fades as it begins

Or how each day leaves despair for the next

Yet when tiredness encircles our whole

To sleep we must go

And shut our eyes from all that we are 

And never want to see.

Black Hawks

 "Two Black Hawks"

The day breaks open like an over-incubated egg into brisky and hot halves,

Perfect timing to serve vengeance like cold ice cream,

And bury the hatchet with the hands that bore it first.

The hands that dealt the first gruesome blow,

The hands smeared with the blood of innocent citizens,

Dragged into the cauldrons of death by religious bigotry. 

The Black Hawks swooped with precision and mastery on their targets

Years of sweats and swears

Have prepared them for this flight;

Their target hides in the haven of forgotten sins 

far away from the scene of his crime ,

Praying to a bloodthirsty god

With a blood-stained subha

Held within trembling fingers 

Death came by the first shot

And several shots rained

To wet the parched throats

Of dead voices calling for revenge.

Dedicated to the victims of 9/11 attack

"Ozoemena"

 

"Ozoemena"

I could see their faces through the shadows;
The faces that shine and hide stories untold
And songs unsung,
Of victories through defeats,
Of silence through chatterings.

Skies don't hang o'cast
When glee like the sun does rise;
Rainbows come after the rain,
Theirs hang there in the middle of the storm that swept us away.

The ends means no more beginnings;
No more tears,
No more struggles,
No pain,
The end we all dread like a plague.

Sudden knocks;
Heaven calls;
Man bestired;
The world unshaken,
Man his course must run.

Tribute kicks us so hard on our heads like a military boot,
Sobs, heaving of the heart, and noiseless shouts rise and fall with unmatched rhythm.

The world and things must fall apart
Like bottles broken in a street fight
All we have are wounded heads
And grieving hearts.

#Poetry
#elegy

May comfort all the families of the bereaved in the unfortunate disaster that happened in Enugu. Ozoemena!

"Ibe"

 "Ibe"

Ibem, my mates have moved on...

Their journey tracing the barely travelled paths. 

I tried to whet my feet on the stones of grief

To brush off the blunt faces of happiness 

Gazing at my slumber and slugger

Mana ijem siri ike.

Ijem, the voices we hear

Call our feet to various crossroads 

Where decision and fate tumble upon each other.

You call to mind the day we set out,

Eager as each smile opens a new chapter of this phase

Mana nkem no na akachukwu.

Nkem, the voices of love that refuse to grow faint,

Through the night struggles with life,

Through the roaring laughter of mockery,

Through the jeers of small minds,

We have risen a great clan forged by sincere tears, true

 love in one heart. 

"Ka Chi Foo"

"Ka Chi Foo"

There were lonely days sown in this dark corners,

Where I started my walk through life.

I remember them vividly like the sound of my first name TOCHUKWU in the mouths of my busybody neighbours.

I saw the wall yawn with hunger

As it reflected the images in my belly

I knew I could drown and die in the tears that Lay with me like a lake full of sharks.

The nights were so long with the constant filtering of noise by nocturnal creatures

The dawn was so far beyond my reach

No plea could ever bring it closer.

I had a neighbour more like a brother

Our names both had a T although his had life in it than God: TONDU.

He kept his affluence behind close doors

And constantly handed me a feigned pity. 

And yes, I took it.

I had a lover. Had like past possession.

She hid in the dark. I heard her voice faintly but loud were her straying and fleeing steps

My heart flutter, not of excitement but fear.

I had hope with smouldering coals

I kept fanning its embers 

They kept my heart warm

So I hoped that it wouldn't take long

The cock will crow

Ka chi wee foo na ndu m

The Saviours

 "The Saviours "

On the Wake of independence,

A strange coldness was poured on emaciated souls.

Then came the goosebumps

The trepidation,

The uncertainties

Which plagued the tender nation spreading so fast like a ravaging pandemic

Through the fabrics of her soul.

Black swiftly became white

As truth glaring became lies

The night settled finally with its full weight

As bleeding feet scamper aimlessly in the enveloping darkness.

Yet the nation trudge on

Despite losing her two eyes

The blind led the blinds

To walk the thorny path of democracy.

Here and there,

Ambushes were laid on this wounded nation

By men of uniform

To wrest power through the guts of bullets than the ballot...

But She fought tirelessly,

Smeared severally in bloody coups,

And fierce protests;

Her heroes fell and others rose

Until she escaped into the waiting arms of thieves in rich caftans and lofty campaign promises. 

THE SAVIOURS who saves us not.

"Christmas in Gaza"

 "Christmas in Gaza"

Look beyond the prejudice in the news reports

And see our little peaceful town 

Caught in a whirlwind of blasting bombs and chattering guns.

Look there, 

a young mother with an amputated arm wails over her dead two year old

Caught by a bullet shot with precision.

Our streets are littered with the breathless heaps of our young men,

Fighting to repel a blind ravaging bull.

Our old men weld machine guns,

with their near-to-dead sights.

Blinded by both rage and age.

Fighter Jets fly over heads

Heading for our abandoned homes.

They open their dark anus

And empty their waste on our homes

Turning everything dear to rubbles.

The sick, 

The wounded, 

And the maimed litter our refugee camps

But there is no physician to tend a plagued nation 

Our physicians are now fighters.

"The war must be won!" they say.

I miss the serenity of the nights spent at home,

I miss the bedtime stories and the peaceful renditions of prayers to Allah,

I miss the excitement of our playgrounds,

I miss the clattering of cutleries on plates filled with delicious meals,

I miss the peace we shared with all its colourful forms,

Before this strange night cast its haunting shadows on us.

Dedicated to all the people of Gaza. I pray the war ends soon

© Poetry

©Emeka Collins