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Poetry
Ify
Omalicha
Maria
Far from the prodding eyes
of men and angels
she toils…
with the strength
of a thousand soldiers
she bears the world…
then, her shoulders falling…
yet she’s dying to fan
the flickering embers of her own dreams
Beaten…
Battered…
And broken…
she veils her scar
bleeding…
as stars lose their shine in her eyes
coloured red by the hotness of stale tears
Beaten…
Battered…
And broken…
with punches thrown at her….
yet she veils her ache
smiling…
Maria
Mother of the earth
Pour your jars of uncried tears
into our empty pots
Maria
Goddess of all that is born of love
break these iron walls of silence…
Talk Maria
Death hovers
in
the
belly
of your
silent gnashing
dreams are dying!
Maria talk…
Life is wilting !
Talk Maria…
Salvation is come.
We
Came Out to Play
The stars did not come
We began to chant and clap
The praises of the crescent
That the moon would not shut her eyes
At us waiting below the sky
The wind came whistling by
Laughing at our waiting.
If we ask Ogoo
Why the night is strutting by
in the dark
He’ll say the moon and stars
Are gone to the spirit land
To bring us a fortune
on Eke market day.
Now, we wait.
We know not many hidden ways
Lest we find you out
But you must come lighten this sky
That has grown dark with loneliness.
Come listen to our songs
Woven in our web of tales
Telling of births and life
Of yesterdays that never return
Of yesterdays that cling to now
Of todays that lie half-lived without tomorrow
And of many nights of tomorrow
When like Ogoo
We’ll know the ways of the wind and rain
Telling our children to clap and sing
While they wait for you to come to play.
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