Let's Ponder a Little

I
I know my thoughts came up again
Like the rush of a heavy a rain
My finger tips swollen with symbols
Drained in paints of inspired constructs.

I have heard of a poison bought cheaply
And killed in a twinkle twinkled twinkly
The songs of a massacre done
Of many men under this sun.

I have seen death bodily bottled
Inherently laden and mottled
Ten times macabre
In abandon and without care.

I know a company of bush meats
That roams in pride and strange feats
I know of the dread of a disease
That has crowned many their lives to cease.

I have heard of a prostitutes’ notification
Stripped of their personification
An animalized synonymy
‘BUSH MEATS ACADEMY’

I have seen the beasts in men
Like the draught in lions’ den
Many out of many
Dry wells without comfort any.

I know of the husbands’ experience
Where anger holds their manly evidence
Too hot to control their fisting prowess
A cowardly way to husbandly express.

I have heard the sheer foolishness in beauty
That robs off a woman’s intellectual quality
And the integrity in ‘Iwalewa’
What then is beauty polished every hour?

I have seen beautiful Agbeke chew her husband
And dashing Abike throw the food with one hand
The noise of Orekelewa Aduke has woken me
My standby alarm every early morning.

II

I know of a weep become wept
And wishes that are unfaithfully kept
I know of the sense in ‘life goes on’
Hatched in all being said and done.

I have heard the dead cry over a dead
A cry…a wail that seem not an end
And then music, laughter and a feast
For death had come and passed.

I have seen a joy quietly shared
And a loud joy that smelled snared
I have seen sorrows, celebrated
And a sorrow not planted, harvested.

I know a brief smile that means much
And a loud laughter that meant not such
The cry display of the guilty that is pitied
And the dried eyes of an innocent thought-speech-tried.

I have heard of a lie end in a pilfer essence
And a truth ridiculed by a lie preference
The works that boast in darkness
And the victory that wields in the light lens.

I have seen friendly likes of the palm oil hands
And at a finger bleed jumped to other lands
The love expensively attractive
And the one without class tagged repulsive.

I know of a repented young-witch
That erased not her call of an old- witch.
The shameful tales of innocent Mary
In the business of many men taste before marry.

I have heard of the stupidity in chasing two rats-live
And a patient kill that tolled more than five
The hunger in the face of a sumptuous meal
That a low-class meal can heal.

I have seen Corper Kunle hunts around
With his dangling bell every virgin on ground
And Dauda, the soldier, that loves his gun
He scares the old and shoots the young on the run.

III

I know of the pity of a man who had bare-foot issues
Got some and still wants more shoes
The good of good luck with some odd
Forgetting the cast crying patience in there is God!

I have heard orifices of a promise edifice broken
The bad nut sugar- coated in a ‘Burger’ token
The slander of the cassava grains of unhealthy gains
To procure a plate of rice, sweaty and full of pains.

I have seen the joy in a pot of stew shared
The poverty that abides in a fisted hand
The tears in an earn, guiltily amassed
And the blessing in pure proceeds, amazingly laced.

I know the fierce flight of the mother hen
That nurtures the chicks to independent men
The news of the ducklings’ murder
At the unconcerned sight of the mother.

I have heard of the poison in small gossips
And the crime in the uncouth lips
The venom in the killer tongue
Captured in the very utters of the wrong.

I have seen a mad enjoyment in a song
Meaningless, loud and supposedly lyrically long
The celebration in the vogues of lewd
Where many and more are deathly lured.

I know of a tale not told
Etched newly like a strange cold
I know of a battery of shame
Spreading like an opened flame.

I have heard of ‘Ikun’ and sweet bananas
And the healing taste in the bitter leaves
The danger in a liberty forcefully obtained
The patient dog and fattest bone gained.

I have seen young Malomo drive a lorry
And ten year- old Dauda writing a bike story
Graduate Charles’ commitment to frauds and drugs
And Ayedade, a now- breeding -grounds for thugs.

IV

I know the pure greed in old men’s pouch
And the youthful silenced hunch
The old men are drunk with power
And the youth run for a bouquet of flower.

I have heard of an uncompromised testimony
And a clear reject of corruption in a bribe of money
The pleasure in evils done in the closets
And the deceitful share of holiness baskets.

I have seen the pride in the parents’ eyes
Of a well trained future in all wise
And a grave and an unnamed sorrow
When profits vacate the throne of a tomorrow.

I know of the Saturday’s clamour
And a pure shame of honour
The backyard neighbour’s constant tussle
The man and his fat wife’s hustle and bustle.

I have heard of the creativity in a beat
Such that the head is caught up in the heat
The sweat that goes into the defeat of a giant
And the celebration in a succeeded fight.

I have seen the silent killer in lonely days
That everybody needs somebody pays
The peaceful tears shed for the left of a voyage
And the favour in a right partner advantage

I know of the song in the face of a sweetened meal
And the pretence preference of an over spiced cereal
The lashing whips of a deadly hunger
Like the noose of a criminal hanger.

I have heard of the fall in the garment of pride
A smooth lane of a great fallen ride
The friends, humility can conceive
The floods of blessings a lowly heart can receive.

I have seen Aduke make friends with the witch
She is now fearless and can cause a twitch
Young Yemisi has got a promiscuity purse
And our generation is such blessed with a curse.

V
 
I know of the sweetness of repose after labour
And the danger of rest that steals honour
The vacancy of peace in a bed’s finest
And the true ‘rest in peace’ in the place of final rest.
 
I have heard of the loot done in a hurry
Decorated in a plagued pleasure and a strange glory
The grace of contentment harnessed duly
And the myriads of blessings it brings truly.
 
I have seen life at the tip of a well stringed rhythm
And an outpour of grace in an inspired hymn
The bores in a careless stringed-strike
Oozing an offensive stomached dislike.
 
I know of the essence in time
And each second is worth a dime
The disgrace in how time flies
In the place a dead man lies.
 
I have heard of the love of a false tale
And the hate of truth that desired not a hail
The celebration of an embroidered lie
That welcomes an exclaimed “Chai”
 
I have seen the bloody hunger of the flea
And the desperate thirst of the dry tree
The shared jealousy of many women
And the colossal stinginess in many men.
 
I know of a joke tagged expensive
Not at a cost but in the light of offensive
The one that is called comedy
And brings a deep tragedy a remedy.
 
I have heard tongues of deceits
Of feat-posed show of defeats
The loud trumpets of mockery
And the beautiful dance in misery.
 
I have seen Mara’s beautiful imperfection
Ugly Chioma harbour of inherent beautification
The celebrated profession of lewdness of Saint Janet
And Omo Ole’fo plague us an unsafe planet.
 
 
VI
 
I know how to smile
To shame the taste of bile
I am dying to live
In the garment of humility and love to give.
 
I have heard of the true thirst help
It is in the purest of a water drip
Shot down in cloudy stringed bow
Showers of a divinely liquid arrow.
 
I have seen a dream fight
In a dark dread and fearful fright
The one ended in a glorious victory
And the young man deadly story.
 
I know of the smell of shame
Strikingly rich than the fart's spreading fame
The disgrace of ridiculous jeers
Defeating sounds of the muddy smears.
 
I have heard the tale of the lover bird
From life she thought a human gird
She married a soul soldier
And she grew quite quiet and quick older.
 
I have seen myself amidst foes
Like a grain and a river of woes
Pelting silent daggers and darts
Friends without friendly hearts.
 
I know the pain of the rotten teeth
The painless penniless poison of death
The wan smile of a vicious villain
The heart and the countenance of Cain.
 
I have heard the amazement of the bud of maize
So be it for evil and good repays
The telltale of the Capricorn
And the mystery lodged in its beautiful horn.
 
I have seen Ajoke's skirts grow shorter
Maami eat bread without butter
Brother Chike earn money from blood
Again, Prophet Noah prays for the flood.
 
 
 VII
 
I know of the sorrow in the eyes of pains
And the agony of the loss of gains
The hungry thirst in the game of survivals
The drives and chronicles of man's revivals.
 
I have heard of the tree of pride
Rooted in the poor just turned rich hide
The deadly habits poverty could conceal
In wealth, revelations and shocking reveal.
 
I have seen the life of lies
Innocent looks and deceptive eyes
The notion of bad men omen
And the wild plagued of good women.
 
I know of the blessing of wisdom
Lodged salient in the tongue kingdom
The sorry nods of a foolish utterance
And the jeers of an uncultured dance.
 
I have heard of the boasts of experience
Assured and spiced in the light of confidence
The rags intelligence could never buy
Not in a display of gifts or try.
 
I have seen the sauce for the goose
And the deprivation of the gander's choice
The amass of the bread of ease
And the crumbs display on lease
 
I know of a garden of aiding
An Eden of thieves and crimes biding
The promiscuity of tongues
And the piles of the house of wrongs.
 
I have heard strange guests' plots
The share of delicious porridge in fired pots
The news arrival of angels and demons
The rants of the true lies sermons.
 
I have seen Uches' new begging systems
Chioma house money and ritual items
Poor Ajoke give birth again
The next door herbalist conjures to cease rain.
VIII

I know the death in a learning process
And the burial of a graved success
The might in the flight of an eagle
On the roaring zenith of a stormy jingle.

I have heard tales of evils
Cooked by men and delivered by devils
The goodness that lies in wickedness
Ephemeral and last to nothingness.

I have seen friendship so pure
That brings ill-fates a lasting cure
The true love in a mother’s eyes
To the sick child of the villain ties.

Iknow the hurt in a valuable loss
The crispy feelings in a thoughtful toss
The relief found in a found
From the sweat in the search ground.

I have heard of thorny beds
Where blood of an innocent sheds
The virgin kill and quest of beastly groins
Pouring filthiness in ruthless groans.

I have seen the teeth of destruction
Crunch little lives into extinction
The intimacy of the oil and scarcity
Leave fettered scars for dreaming posterity.

I know the sadness of the fading afternoon
Plagued by the pride night echoing soon
The brevity blueprint of life
That widowed many a wife.


I have heard of the greed of a sycophant
Like the deadly flight of an elephant
The wounded heart in a betrayal
Of trusted pals in a concerted fall.

I have seen the craze of Obi, the beggar
Who prays only from fists of hunger
The pride in Ibidun’s built of sorrows
Puncture Iya Agba’s bright tomorrows.