I’ll be there
Sometimes you cry
But things don’t get better for the tears
At times like these, have no fear
‘Cause I’ll be there
To hold you near
© 2000 Adekunle Adejuyigbe
ON MY FATHER’S DEATH
It is said of Yeats I think
That
What instruments we have tell us the day he died was bleak and cold
Well then the day you died,
‘Twas a roaring storm
That shook the foundations of the entire offshore platform
And made men at sea pray to God to spare them
When an iron structure with roots in the sea bed
Waved in a cruel waltz that made the hair on your head stand
With the anemometer pirouetting in an eye boggling spin.
Yet in me I could not connect it
Till a phone call the next day to say
"Prof. don mud"
Marking my entry into another phase of existence
Some insist it was my initiation to manhood
Was it?
All I knew
As I tried to find the pictures
To understand it with
Was that
Daddy was dead.
©2001 Dotun Adejuyigbe
Like the vulture I wait like the eagle to fly
Like the vulture I wait
Like the eagle to fly
High into the skies above I’ll fly
Far above places we’ve seen
To places I’ve dreamed
There’s so much I’ve not seen
But wait they will
Every day I live
With my past that’s been
Make up my future that will be
I will dine with Kings
I will dance with Queens
I’ll build a castle the sky to touch
With the lord by my side
to be my torch
Like the mountains I stand
In my world to plan
So much to do I’ll say again
But time once lost we can’t regain
I know one day I’ll leave this place
For a place so high the skies displace
But after me my works on earth remain
And every where you go my hymn you’ll hear
On the lips of the saints as they watch at night
Like the vulture I wait
Like the eagle to fly.
©2000 Kunle Adejuyigbe
THE ROSE AND THE WIND
Yesterday
The rose danced with the wind
Many thought it ridiculous
What! with the restlessness of the Wind
And the placid abiding of the Rose
But O, the sight remains in my mind still
Of an improbable dream come true
For it was just a day ago
When the ubiquitous, shapeless,
Formless Wind
Together with the beautiful, shapely, scented
Stationary, thorny, Rose
Hand in hand and
Heart to heart as only they could
Yes it was yesterday
When the skies lent the moon for lights
While the stars sprinkled the earth showers of golden sparks
Then, the Rose,
Danced with the Wind.
© 2007 Dotun Adejuyigbe
CHANGE?
Shall all arise?
In one language speak
Shall color no more
Be the language of love
Shall we all wake in the dawn?
Bask in the sunlight
Rest at twilight
With frisson in our hearts
Shall the music of change
Bring a rhythm
That would last beyond the dance
With the message of chance
Shall the echoes of the speech
Ring true in our hearts
Deep beyond the reach
Of the human eye
Has the veil of color been moved?
Can ability! Can labor! Can sweat!
Be allowed to sift
The wheat of selection?
Shall the oven of color
Bake no more in the hearts of men
The inferior bread
Without recourse to the taste
Shall jobs be free for all?
Can qualified be demystified
Can stardom be thrown?
At random to all
Can we say?
As we pray
That `A Change has come!’
© 2009 Derin Onokpasa
Thinking of Michael Jackson
The recent death of Michael Jackson reminded me of this poem I wrote a few years ago titled If I should die (see below). When I dug the poem out and read it, I could see why it had come to my mind
Michael has indeed accomplished his life’s work and left his and ideas as legacy not just for those alive today but for generations of people who are yet unborn. We need not weep for Michael but celebrate his life for this is one man who went empty - to the grave giving to life all he had to give.
So here’s to Michael who had given so much to our world – Rest in Peace and thanks for not being selfish. Thank you for giving all you had to make the world a better place.
If I should die
If I should die this day
Roll out the drums and celebrate
Let no eye be moist
Let no tear drop
For when I die
My life’s work is done
Many came in the world before me
Others came when I did
Lots have come after me
And many more are yet to come
Millions have died unfulfilled
Pregnant with ideas
They were laid to rest
Life and purpose dead and gone
Buried under cold stone slabs
This prayer did pass across my lips
Lord let this not be my lot
Give me the strength to run my course
And A sense of purpose
For focus each day
God faithful as He is
Promised me grace to run the race
Thus if this be the day I die
Weep not for me I say
For when I die
I go empty to the grave
Every one of my dreams fulfilled
My mission fully accomplished
My vision and ideas as legacy I leave
For those who are yet to be
© 2001 Ibitomilade Adejuyigbe (aka Tomi Akinyanmi).
Tell Father I cried
I cried for the loss of a father
For the loss of innocence
I cried for being made to grow up in an instant
For being told not to cry
I cried because I knew
It would never be the same
I cried for the loss of counsel
That only a father could give
I cried for children like me
Whose silent tears were never heard
For being made a shoulder
Whence indeed, I needed a shoulder
I cried for the burden of a mother
So young and timid
Her silence so loud, I could hear it speak
Agonies of her heart, no one would know
I cried for him
Death came too quickly
I cried for my tomorrow
With no father in it
I cried for the songs in the night
That only I could hear
I cried with all my might
Perhaps I might bear
The loss of a father
© 2008 Aderinola Onokpasa
Jungle Justice
Ingrate’s men are wailed the tree
I give to him the air he breathes
I shelter him in the storm
Yet grateful to me he wouldn’t be
He cuts me up and drains my blood
My limbs he uses for his fire
Ah such agony he gives to me
For to my children he does the same
You think that agony says the sea
I give to him the clouds he needs
I bear him unto distant lands
Yet with dyes he poisons me
And perhaps you haven’t heard
How he from the cradles my children snatches up
A murderer him I would call
How he loves you both says the sky
I shelter him from the sun
Dangerous gases I keep away
Yet my face he does not want to see
Thus with smoke and gases he chokes me up
And all because he has the power
An oppressor that’s what he is
Shut you all up says the land
What of I who hold you all in place
I give to man a stepping stone
But what does he give in return
Large holes he digs into me
And my innards he exploits
My liver he uses for a chain
My spleen for his earrings use
My heart uses he for his fuel
And now I hear you all cry out
What more agony could be
Greater than this
Aye all you call man that he is and more
A destroyer that’s my name for him
What do we they all cried out?
For we can see he respects us not
I will began the land
Refuse the holes in me to refill
“And I will……” he also says
Under the sea hide my face
Then…. said the sea with glee
I will flood all his lands
His poisons I also will
Give back to him for his drink
Then the sky says to them
I will roll up my skirts right away
And let the wicked gases have their way
As for me says the tree
I will no children bear again
One day none of me he will find
To build his fire then he’ll die from cold
How then they clapped and rejoiced
A way out…… they all had found
To deliver justice unto man
© 1999 Ibitomilade Adejuyigbe (aka Tomi Akinyanmi).
Will you be there
Sometimes I feel all alone in a world so cold
Sometimes I’m afraid to face tomorrow
Sometimes the Sun refuses to shine on me
Sometimes the world turns it’s back on me
Sometimes I look for shelter from the storm but I find none
Sometimes friends become fiends
Sometimes pain makes my whole day
Sometimes I feel lost in a world so small
Sometimes I ask myself if God is not but a name
Sometimes I feel roads lead nowhere
Sometimes I search for love but I find none
Sometimes I feel the world is not a place to be
Sometimes I search in vain for a shoulder to lean on
Sometimes feel I just can’t go on
In times like these will you be there for me?
© 2000 Adekunle Adejuyigbe
Relentless
As I lay me down to rest
Thoughts of the day gone
Memories of challenges overcame
And reflections of dreams yet unfulfilled
Flicker across my weary mind
I fell asleep
Yet my brain would not
And through the night
Countless thoughts it did recall
Filling my mind with dread
for the coming day
What fights lie in stock?
What challenges coming on?
What strategy to employ
Yet these all eluded me
For the day was yet to come
I woke up at dawn
A smile across my kips
No matter what lies before
I never would give up
© 1999 Ibitomilade Adejuyigbe (aka Tomi Akinyanmi).
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