By: Bavosshya There are deaths that come without endThey call on me softly, neither foe, nor friendThey wear my face, they know my nameThey bring me down to my knees in burning coalAnd whisper in my ears, sins I cannot tameThey say, “To live, you must betray your goal” And so I fall, and burn […]
By: Sholanke Man is the expressionof God’s imagination and creativity. Until man awakens to this consciousness,he can never attain the spiritual heightneeded to express the mightiness of God’s creativity. There are many waysby which man can attain this self-consciousness,and one of the most common these days is religion. Religion:a means to an end,a tool to […]
By: Sholanke In less than a minute, if you think as I have thought,then you are no different from me-now and in the next moment. Hold your head high among the multitude,yet remain humble to every man, no matter how little. Be an embodiment of chaos, a lot of it,yet radiate pure love. Commit people […]
By: Kreative ACE All caught up in the forest of my mind Thanks to the disruptions of calmness on my inside Always having the urgency to do tasks Instead, i put them in the ‘Later’ Mask In there, I let them linger and linger Comforting myself with ‘ Time still dey, I go run am […]
By: Sholanke Do you know what they say about the vaquita?There are less than a dozen left in the world,quietly slipping toward extinction. I was chatting with a friend of mine the other day,and I can say for sure, the vaquita is not alone in this,happy men are also heading down that route. Because, what […]
By: Sholanke Some days, we pray for rain to bring out our harvests.Other days, the rain falls so much we fear it might wash us away.Either way, the universe is still,And there’s a power making all things move. Motive, there’s motive behind everything happening.The motive behind me scribbling this:I don’t know it yet, not until […]
By: Adegbile Enoch You sit with your dreams in one handYour luggage is in the otherWith your ties loosely tiedYour leg bled on the groundThe gold is far awaymore than a million milesIn your small room, pictured by big dreams You wander around the altarcrippled in thoughts wasting more calendarYou stand, close your eyes,fold your […]
By: Sholanke Someone once told me, life is our unconscious state, a dreamAnd death awakens us all.I don’t know how true this seem,But somehow, I feel he’s right ,our fate. Let me tell you what I know about life, in the next couple of lines.Life is a measure of little happiness that matters,And a few […]
By: Clems The economists say demand should drop when prices climb too steeptell that to Mama Ngozi hawking her kidney to buy rice. The market’s iron fist wears a velvet glove of theory: “Inflation is temporary!”they lie while our children’s hunger grows permanent. At the petrol queue, we practice alchemyturning sweat into liters, dignity into […]
By: Scottie As humans, we shout our victories loud, Our voices rise above the crowd. But when others win, our cheers grow faint, Their joy is lost where envy paints. Life is short, a fleeting thing, We should celebrate what others bring. If your friend soars, then cheer them high, When you succeed, let’s touch […]
@Scottie For me, who can tie my shoelaces tight,I know it’s a privilege, a simple delight.After all, Tamedu didn’t choose his plight,Yet he struggles daily, a constant fight. But this isn’t just about shoelaces,It’s about the braces we face in life’s races.If we knew the world’s plans, we’d brace ourselves,But we arrive clueless, like books […]
By: Scottie Charity they say begins at home,A guiding light where virtues roam,But once you step beyond your door,Beware of voices, temptations more. In halls of learning, friends abound,Some with whispers, others loud.They’ll coax you, prod you to conform,To bend your will, to break your norm. A puff of smoke, a careless drink,“Just this once,” […]
What are the Golden Jewels that make a Queen, who can tell?… Is it just the Crown and Beads? Afterall, an adorned appearance is Pretty.Is it just makeup and Accessories?Who doesn’t like an elevated Beauty?Is it just the Clothes, shoes and bags? Agreed, Dressing well gives an Impression of being Classy. Good Character and a […]
©Scottie In a town where dreams take flight,A man woke up at morning’s light.No money had he, not a dime,But for his child, he’d climb and climb. He sought what he could not attain,Prestige and honour, not just gain.For his child, he’d open doors,To knowledge, riches, and much more. Education, he had learned,Was the key, […]
By: Scottie I have always mopped the floors of my despair, I have always wept, my burdens laid bare. Even as I share the story each and every time, Of how my life seems worthless, not worth a dime. Oh, I had it tough, the trials were vast, Oh, I had it rough, the storms […]
By:Ify FrancisWhen freedom callsThrough the tarred black street,That stretches without withhold,The palm tree dances,From side to side it sways,The flag flies freely,When freedom calls. When freedom calls,The fountain flows forever,Like a long liquid Leviathan,The dolphin flies into the sky,And plunges into the sea. When freedom calls,The gracious air strolls away,Sticking the hair out of order,The […]
By: Ayinke the Skinny One — A thousand times I thought I’d lost my way, Yet each time I wandered, led astray, A father’s hand would guide me back, I’d say. When voices roar and crowds around me sway, I stand firm, unshaken, night and day, For a father’s love shows me the righteous way. […]
It all started with a press release the shutdown of all school hostels in UI…They said it was the end of the session their hostels needed to be fumigated for the new session.Some students were still stuck at school while their counterparts had long gone for the holiday after their exams and dinners.This is just […]
I’m a survivor
But don’t ask me
How many battles
I have embarked on.
I’m a regiment
Of my own struggles
But don’t ask me
Where I got my training
And how I won.
I’m a fighter
But don’t ask me if I can beat
Michael Tyson
After all, I never gave up till now.
Now, I will be a soldier,
A patriotic soldier
Upon the clarion call
To serve my nation.
This soldier about to conquer
The next war
hopes that the legacy
Of “nothing but the truth”
be held ever still.
©Empress
Heavy like the arrow they say
Fragile like the wool it seem
Pierce the heart like that of an arrow
That never misses its target
The force of it weild
Heavy and damaging to the heart
Hits the nail on the head
Derailing from that part is its brother
Sits so right with the heart
Fails to hit the target
So much pleasure obtained
The irony of it all.
©Al-kawthar
Fly they say
But they cut your wings
Run they say
But they cut off your legs
Oh speak loud they say
But they turn off the mic
Ambassadors of tyranny
Ambition killers
Antagonist of success
Agonising fellows
Assaulters of great height
Assassins of wisdom
I have heard of their evil
I have seen their evil
I have smelt their evil
I have felt their evil
I have tasted first hand evil
They act like they are for you
Speed on we would help you
But they throw pebbles and broken glasses
They sing praises of you
But all lies, they murder you
With their lying twisted tongues
Swizzling like Voldemort’s
When will we see them no more?
They are the ones we rest on
They are the ones we rely on
For wisdom
For shield
For support
For knowledge
And for the betterment of our lives
But look at us
They have killed our dreams
Murdered our unborn
Squeezed out all we want to become
Inflicted us with fear
They have even turned us on one another
They have made us lame
They have made us wingless
They have made us voiceless
©Scottie
The riches our land
holds is our birthrights.
The birthrights of even the unborn
and the far-gone born.
How cruel you large-eyed men
Claim our birthrights
as yours only?
Calling yourselves the people’s-men.
You devour feeds for thousands bellies
To your shallow guts.
And snatch the stakes for million heads
To your heavy pockets.
How cruel you!
You robbed our wits with the deceit
called democracy.
Choose your self-serving selves our leaders
With your shoulders erected in pride
And tongues adorned with futile promises.
You said to surrender yourselves
the sacrificial ones to set us free
And make our living as blossom
as unworthy of end.
Again, you power-starved men
Dared to take away our own
sowed fruits harvested in bitter labour.
You dared to put boiling tears on
the cheeks of our golds and silvers.
Weep to the lips of
our innocent little ones.
Famine to our feed-bowls.
Emptiness to our craving hearts.
Anger to our joyful faces.
And pointlessness to our hard-work.
How cruel you
fellow ordinary travelers!
Unwittingly declare resources of all
To your egocentric selves
Have you no blood in your veins?
Have we not looked away from
Our birthrights you dominate?
Have we not accepted our fate
To labour our way through?
How dare you!
How dare you
yet seal our way through!
©Empress
Sheen all wide downpour of the sun.
The rise and fall of the day’s dawn.
Body engine systems via take ins.
Load of uncare clock tick strikes.
The spread of air coaxing walls.
Flies at high to a noble call.
Nature Summons.
©The Scribe
Beyond her cover lies prime bonds,
She is a being carved to pulcher,
Her eyes tainted long stretched off,
Beating the grounds for her lots,
She is a Woman, She is the World.
With a heart, a soft caring navigator,
Easily melting all down her spines.
She begat life in a survival clothing,
Like she possesses ten hands on-a-go.
She is the Light, She is a Woman.
ⒸThe Scribe
Driving my Kabu-Kabu along the lane,
I filled my tank to an overflowing inch,
Guarding passengers in for a lively lift,
I put on the radio to speak into the air.
It was full of the country’s dilemma,
Voices erupt, showing displeasing tones,
To a recall of when it was termed easy,
For such were series of standing hopes,
That spell there are better days at hand.
It’s a dance that await befitting beats,
In a bid to reveal the perfect air flow.
ⓒThe Scribe
There was a great archer
With a fire arrow
Which you dare not
flinch fingers in his eyes,
Nor cross his sore leg.
For his fury you can’t stand,
His distaste you dare not see.
Dishonest men rarely survive its aim,
This, not his shameful trait
But his pride
His charisma
His heritage
Of distinct
Prowess and unmatchable energy
He is as fierce as the tides,
Pleasant like the sea,
And mighty like the rock.
The predecessor of great men
who originate from the living spring
The land breeding the omoluabi
Where humility is built
And excellence, pursued.
Eulogize the omoluabi.
Rise and hail the ones that hail from
The land of the living spring.
©Empress
In a world of shackles and chains,
Where entangles appear free like
the Mississippi flows, laying atop
the corners up till a high unto
Mount Everest. There live a
house of old, a space of ancient lives.
Just as the complex of the time count,
they were bond, forcefully, by the helm
of Slavery. Though pure in heart, their
shape deviates reality. Though left unsin,
they were the victims of the price and
sacrifices.
In the house of old, Tears run with a joint
complex of time count. Traces of happiness
only heard from the satisfaction of sadness.
Unto a death of temporal longevity.
To suffering, on a house of old.
©The Scribe
Reading is learning.
To earn the sage of men,
That takes one away from mediocrity;
From ignorance to freedom
Through knowledge,
And illuminates one’s path through life.
Reading is so generous.
It gives one a seat and wine among great men
Whom one eat and dine with,
Talk and listen to
without moving an inch away from home.
Reading takes one to Britain.
Takes one to Greek.
Moves me and you round the world
Where we meet different people
From diverse walks of life
Without paying a dime for a ticket.
Reading still romantic,
Put one in love,
Through love,
Out of love,
And to one’s reality.
Reading also entertaining
Makes you smile, chuckle, and laugh.
Frightens you,
Drives tears from you,
But makes you stronger, clever and better
With its lesson.
Reading is meeting a philosopher
Whom one interacts with.
To stimulate one’s brain,
Activate one’s imagination.
It makes one ponder,
Widens one’s horizon,
And keeps the brain working.
Read! Read! Read!
Take book for it is the door
To the manual of life and freedom,
And reading is the key.
©Empress
Something is broken
Everytime
There is a crack on the wall
No builder can fix
There is an ugly giant
sleeping under the blanket of our soil
She sleeps so deep
She lies so heavy
She snores too loud
Neighbours and others
can hear
even across oceans
“Krrrr rup tion,” she yawns
“Atrrrrr ocities,” she snores
Then she turns this way and that
in the middle of her dreamless sleep
and there is an earthquake
as the bedsheet of fertile soil shreds
tearing into dust the sky scrappers
She lazily swings her arm
and knocks down her bedside lamp
The gas plants among which she basks
explodes in black confetti and dead bodies
She throws apart her legs
with no care in the world
Her fartulence like saward milk
tainting every bit of consumption
“Wake up, wake up,
you godless giant
Look at how many beautiful dreams
you smothered!”
“Up! Up! Loose woman of Solomon!
See the child you killed in your sleep”
The Giant of Africa yawns
and stares blankly from empty dull eyes
She mutters something incoherent
and lolls her head back into a deep deep slumber.
Not a care in the world.
The tears of her little one,her lullaby.
© Ify Francis
When I came,
I saw not what I saw;
Yet, I must conquer.
Then I became lame,
For I felt not what I foresaw;
Still, I must prosper.
Not even open like a game,
That I could picture;
Surely, I must figure, me spinster.
Never did I fulfill, in desire, the claim,
For, I came?
Saw?
And dutifully conquered?
I wished,
I saw,
I left,
I came and
I conquered, later and later.
ⒸEmpress
A weak mind,
A fragile soul,
Thoughts flowing in slow motion,
Thin long legs to a tired
lengthy walk.
All in search for is blur,
not one to tell of.
The voice it depicts
flows like a learner.
It gunned down to zero.
Then left,
to turn out a hero.
A self outcry!
©The Scribe
Here is my evidence,
Give me my entitlement.
You asked me to own a pen,
I did own a pack.
You asked for decades of my life,
I gave you a millennium.
You asked that I fill my head
with the perfection and experience,
Of now a dust, once a man.
Yet a dust, a man.
I acquired even with his flaws and inexperience,
All for a piece of paper.
Now a pen owner and a paper winner.
Here is my evidence,
Give me my entitlement.
©Empress
I tell you of a password..
A passkey in disguise of a metal..
A key built with words…
One that openeth no doors..
One that unlocks the gates of heart…
In grab I lay my quest..
To penetrate to minds I seek
Still searching … searching …
Searching … searching …
For those keywords …
©The Scribe
©Empress
Their land and identity
are not intertwined.
To remain in such animosity
that pushes them like wine
with no sense of security.
In their own community,
The foes dine
on their generosity
and push them off the borderline
in no tranquility.
With throws of endless hostility
and pile
of ammunition
on their sore and pale skin,
They revolt with their tender energy
To shield their people of no negativity
but get inflicted with greater brutality.
Left with dwindling community
having intact conviction and originality,
They embark to flee their own homeland,
To a place of equanimity.
But the whole of them perish in futile enmity,
With the refugees assuming their locality.
At the confines of a rising order,
Through the face, in a lone image,
Built in sublime terrain, so firm,
Stands the line of connectivity.
At origin, they were of neo smiles.
Bathed with solid smiles like a sole survivor.
Kept empty within the closet of natural order,
They wait for the arrival of a companion.
With the sign of a first birth escape,
The picture of the natural shapes caress my heart.
I so long for a pair reflections of shades.
Left alone, I only but count days.
At the wave of time, across 1000 degrees,
I search for a deserving companion,
Their abundance of availability melts my mind,
We soon became one and two.
In this ecosystem world,
It’s a hope of a thick connection,
A line of refinement,
To the bask of entitled feeling.
Ⓒ The Scribe
That tiny little thing
That crawls in the ground
Is not one but a colony
Yes! An army.
Those giant superior ones,
Sensible gullible ones,
Big in vain, and small in gain
That walk on the ground
Said (in awe)
“Oh the ant, the wisest!
Again, those smart dull ones
Say of the ant’s prowess
Pronounce countless of its qualities
And deemed it perfect
For knowledge and survival
“It takes wisdom to understand wisdom”
Boast those big superior ones.
Yet, the wisdom, where?
When brought to question
They will say
“Yes! The ant is wise
But we are not stupider
Yet the wisdom, where?
Sighted to see wisdom
But lame to do wisdom
“But we are not stupider”
Yet proof, where?
©Empress
Like a dream…
I saw a host of rains…
Their wails, of angry bird-likes.
Touching the ground deep-high,
They scream, loud to deaf hearing.
Who knows of their pains?
A bringer of calmness they once were.
Splashes of anger they are now.
We then seek a habitat in love,
To caress us from this anguish,
Under a canopy so wide we lay.
Thunder came a visit,
Sparks of light to a knock,
Raging fire pins down our shield.
It’s a refuge on fire.
Our hope, to the rain.
To pour its anger on fire.
A stage of an enemy to another we thought.
But,
It’s a unification to destroy us.
To send us out homeless.
To drive us out hopeless.
To leave us out lifeless.
It’s a refuge on fire!
ⒸThe Scribe
The breath of a one
under the claws of tension
Beats loudly, even though unheard.
Right on a single spot,
He journey all wide,
His thought flows in multi-seconds.
The more he wishes for an escape route,
The more the situation reads infinitive.
Such of,
Baptized under the watch of capture.
Such, a word of captivity.
© The Scribe
Little did I know love was the key
To that ease He promised.
Never will I deny,
The need for love in my knowledge
I just knew little of how love was the key.
Even though I could have had the key.
I kept kicking it away .
Even when it’s right at my feet.
This reminds me of the day
Mr T vows to steal my heart,
I told him he will be in court,
Not just a court,
But a Sharia one.
He said he doesn’t care,
That the most brutal judgment
he could get was have his hand
off him…or even an exit penalty
Which he would never regret
As far as he has my heart with him.
What a commitment!
What a love!
What a gut!
How could love be so priceless!
Is all I could express…
I was lost in the mystery of love,
And never felt its captivating essence.
Now I have come to get the Ease He promised.
He points at a gate assuring its inner part loaded with abundant ease.
But I can only get through with the key,
Little did I know love was the key.
ⒸEMPRESS
Someday,
I am going to rule,
that to command riches,
alongside its bullion traces.
I will stand stop
So I can see from high,
At those who are of needs,
To then plant them all smiles.
I shall walk on the line,
On the bank of ‘The Provider’,
There, will I send it all back forth,
To ‘The One’ who rained it all forth.
©The Scribe
My home
Giant of Africa
Betrayed me!
My RL
Lighter of a dull moment
Oppressed me!
My voice
Power of the powerless
Never saved me!
My people
Hypocrites and Loyals
Trivialized me!
My fortune
Got from my voice – through my RL
To be taken home
Never came, nor reach home – until in Crypt.
Now…
Even Apple that never germinated when I was in my country
Brings more royalties that I cannot reap because I left
Now, my light dazzles behind my grave!
©EMPRESS
A clear cut win situation,
Not a facade, nor illusion,
A view widely, obvious to all.
Our strength poured in full,
So we lost all but a bit blood,
As like a pass to paradise.
Upon the eleventh hour mark,
Right unto the final corner hip,
Thought we unfurl a masterclass.
It was all a display of waterloo.
Our songs of victory we keep,
To unmask unto its special day.
©The Scribe
Driving my kabu-kabu along the lane,
I filled my tank to an overflowing inch.
Guarding passengers in for a lively lift,
I put on the radio to speak into the air,
It was all full of the country’s dilemma.
Voices erupt, showing displeasing tones,
To a recall of when it was termed easy,
For such were series of standing hopes,
That spell there are better days at hand.
It’s a dance that awaits befitting beats,
In a bid to reveal the perfect air flow.
©The Scribe
On the wake of cold, she was taken with the
hands of old. In a brief moment set the
Reflections of her beauty colors. She ‘was’
at the finest of her dear self. She smiles, and
caressed the fame of the moment that slipped
off her hands.
The party was called off so soon. The light
has gone on a long journey, maybe of no
Return. Within the anguish that dissolve in
our minds, we hope for a return. We are still
waiting for a comeback. We need the light
alive. It’s the walk of dusk at midday.
©The Scribe
Times when we rode on lines,
Gifted with a pure-kind heart,
We run miles to our bliss.
To us, then, an unending flow.
We saw the world at its crude
form thinking it’s all well fixed,
Troubled by no war at heart.
As if it’s that simple,
We matched on high vibes,
We never knew it’s all evil,
We smell not the dangers,
We set forth on imaginaries,
We knew not we live in a war,
We knew not it is all for war,
Times when we were little,
We were deceived!
©The Scribe
Along the horizon,
I saw the world at a glance,
Huge interlude of merriment
clothed the skin of our dear self.
Just as of ancient days,
We traded in unique smiles.
Then,
I saw the world at a glance,
A very dark continents of wailing,
Filled with confusion and disorder,
The cries was of bloody tears,
We traded in class of hopelessness.
The world is all formix,
Flow with the rhyme.
©The Scribe
When will I Marry?
When will I marry?
I shall continue to wait,
Till my time comes.
Seeing a very fair,gold-skinned lady,
Beaming with captivating smiles,
Our love shall never fade away.
I shall love my love,
For a million times and forever.
Thou have not bringeth a bride,
Wait till your time comes.
Sayeth mother,
And now my love has been taken away.
Now my sorrow a thousand times.
The dreams of large sized black coat,
The round cake and golden ring may dash.
Till my creator speaks on my behalf,
Then I shall marry.
© DAVISTEE INNOVATIONS
Out there I walk, in name of struggle,
While you kiss your pillow to a sleep.
Roofless, in cold, yearning for shelter,
While your inn keeps your body warm.
Thrown off by unreal infinite thoughts,
Your own calms as though it’s newborn.
I exchange my sweat n’ blood for meal,
You sit, wish and command to thy table.
A long wait for me to view the full light,
And it’s a view you have tagged as norm.
Who then says equality will ever prevail?
That we may think we live in the same world?
We race with different oil, yet we must win?
Equality; just a new word for impossibility!
©The Scribe
Though some trees still bear green leaves,
We still cried and fasted for change; and we received our change,
Hunger striking like a thief during day and night.
We’ve become prisoners befriending shackles and fetters of poverty.
The hellish jail now our paradise, thick darkness; our shadow.
Our bones have swallowed our flesh.
Oceans of garri, inside our veins.
During the reign of thick darkness, everywhere has clear as crystal.
We watch silently in pains and sorrows as the hungry diseases devours,
We hear the dead mocking and taunting us.
Water playing games with our dry tongue,
Children sleeping during the day.
We were dead, but we weren’t dead.
Our guards guarding our fiery foes,
Our watchmen vaulting our valuables,
The busy roads awaiting to hurt black rubbers but hasn’t felt one.
They said we have freedom, our freedom leading to our bondage.
By: DAVISTEE INNOVATIONS
A golden darkish instrumental of reality,
The finest shocker of all life trails,
A servant who possess the key to End.
Death!!!
An End we never know his end,
Our End that has no end,
What a dreadful End!
He inholds the key to all heart,
He uses it according to his routine,
He comes with no notice,
Yet, he is welcomed by heart flames.
He knocks, no one opens, yet he enters.
Oceans of tears rallies our eye socket,
End has incite lots of our sorrow,
nd’ cross a line across our heart.
When will you visit me?
I hope you’ll never show up,
Even though you must.
©The Scribe
The Wave Of Time
The tick-tock of the clock,
carries the emblem of a wave,
that we are so constrained,
by the forces of time bound.
The sound of our dearest watch,
sends messages of a lifetime,
that no matter how we try,
we can never beat time.
The order of dawn and dusk,
relays coding words to us,
that we are chained by time,
That our time will surely pass.
The exchange of seasons,
possesses the impression,
that there’s no permanent stay,
We all are passers-by.
The wave of time
is full of mysteries,
Telling all who have ears.
That we are its slave.
©The Scribe
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