Author: Noel Ihebuzor

Development and policy analyst with a strong interest in the arts and inclusive social change. Dabbles occasionally into poetry and literary criticism!
Posted in Poetry

Fizzy feelings and Fuzzy physics: #8 Particles

Posted on by Noel Ihebuzor

By Noel Ihebuzor and Susan Daniels

Lately, conversations,
learned or elementary
about quantum entanglements
resonate & bring to mind
you

rich in kinks and curves
to the eyes straight
mirrors of us imperfect in perfection
reluctantly splitting in medium dense
elegance bending in fine angles

And  tonight I lose sleep
to deep speculation

wondering at which point
and  how

particles of pure energy
roaming space free, opening places
penetrating spaces and crevices

the flowing and roaming  particles of 
our matter collided

breaking barriers
upper and lower limit
vibrating stream of energy

yes, streams that crashed
and colluded
to synthesize
this synchronized turn
& counter-turn
between us

how across distances
the color of angel robes
the bow of the sky
this awareness continues
bundles of colors at different energy levels
streaming to lighten, to loosen
a delight

past an elemental level

indefinite until measured

 

** As usual, It was such wonderful fun doing this duet with Susan where we explore the relevance of aspects of particle theory in physics to communication and bonding across space, place and cultures. Susan says it better in her usual eoquence in the words below. Noel

***Quantum entanglements, or the theory of, was the inspiration for this duet between my bolded friend and I (italicized).  I believe it describes nicely a friendship and affinity that stretches across the globe :)

As always, hope you enjoy our fuzzy, fizzy exploration between particles and people — I know I had fun writing it with Noel, hope you enjoy reading it.

Posted in Poetry

Fizzy feelings and fuzzy physics: #7 Energy

Posted on by Noel Ihebuzor

By Susan Daniels and Noel Ihebuzor

Raw or refined,
Raging or reclining,

Coiled, uncoiling, recoiled
force and power, taming and untamed , kinetic and potential
constant in final summation
never lost

Eternal borrowed magic
forged once and never destroyed;
only shifting form,
released or recaptured
in new attachments

Transmuting, changing, converting
fields always present
in us, force field, flooding
all life is you, dancing

 Whether rolling, roaming, roaring or lulling, tangible proofs
of your occasional intangible presence
we sense the voice singing you
sketching or announcing your passage
either as silent footfalls or thumping poundings
reminding us to be, that we are,
we are beings because of you,
primal mover at the beginning

and still being, celebrating and echoing the command
to be, and you are and remain
being in your  bounding, binding,
pounding, driving, falling,
tumbling, stumbling, climbing

the invisible hands drawing the earth’s pull taut,
the rise in slopes, hunger also rising;
rivers rush, stream, and sing your name

and here, we pull together in equal force,
meeting and blending these shifting fields
other disciplines call spirit
but I name simply us;

a measurable magic
weighed in breath
and silent singing of neural nets
taking in and releasing

perfection enacted, beauty embodied
tumbles joyfully to waiting limbs of estuaries,
your torrents delighting, passion swirling

and in the heart pumping blood,
necessary and rhythmic expression of muscle
exalting, exulting, and moving

pure life energy

beating and pushing
the energy of the heart

and this energy can push, also,
the pulse of hate, the politics of rage
the power to heat up, hurt, harm
and strengthen the impulse to heal, help

raw and caged in dams, you exist, taut, waiting
leaving us free, agents with choice
to channel you for good or for bad or for bland

We  draw from you the means for
tearing down or building
and weeping as our hands itch for and grasp the former

and you weep in fits at our failure and our fate.

***My co-creator Susan’s voice is in italics – mine is bolded.  Again, we had so much fun with this when we created it–hope you enjoy reading it.  As always, a treat to write with Susan whose energy and creativity added life and flow to what is  difficult concept in physics !

Posted in Poetry

Fizzy feelings and Fuzzy physics: #6 – Time

Posted on by Noel Ihebuzor

By Noel Ihebuzor and Susan Daniels

Monosyllable rich in polysemy
endless, stretching fabric enfolding layers
of meanings, deeper than the infinite
finite, endless, far and near
seamless unity, past, present, future merged
was, is and will, history and hope
defiant of human labels

Eternity the endless is;
neither forward nor back,
but everything now, old and new
the cry of creation echoed
by foothills wrapped in morning mist
reflecting the hum underneath sound,
an ageless shout

Stretched out in space
travelling and rolling
never straight, never monotone, velocity varying
in your kinks and loops,
you dance backwards to lace and trap the minds
of the traveler looking backwards from the present
reaching backwards to embellish images and events
with generous sweet strokes and paintbrushes, dripping nostalgia

We can only chart your path,
a journey from now to the less-now
colored by memory–beautiful,
instructive, instinctive;
more art than accuracy
in the retelling.  Still, we rise
from what we think shapes us
to this moment, the moment now past

The beat of the pounding heart
the chimes of throbbing bodies
measure of rhythmic flows
the pulsing vibrating instruments
ogene, piano, ekwe, flute all sing and hum
with you, imperfect mirrors of your rhythm and soul

Yes, we keep time,
counting in fours and swings
and steps, our imposed order
an accompaniment
to your dance through and with us

Measure of intensity, streaming shooting jet
fast as light, often twice as swift
for those in present passion
crawling slow overweight snail for those who wait
rhythm ancient undying
constant motion, flowing streams
defying all our puny efforts
to trap, define and fix your roaming endless stroll
numberless, units without limits, objective
us subjective
the time traveler’s delight, mind shuttles between epochs
gone to relive, coming to feel and anticipate and feel
through frosty crystal balls,
shady mind prisms and tired eyes permitting
astral and mind travels
mind dragging body

Our error
the attempt to capture
or predict your movements,
when we should simply
play within your loops
that wrap us loosely
and then tighten; you are truly
Ouroboros,
constantly swallowing your own tail

the measure of seasons, defying seasons
ebbing and flowing
value and value, always subjective, never same,
the marriage of intensity, attitude ,
people, person and place parade and prance in your amber
producing passion, patience and pleasure
thundering and thumping

Like you, we should
open these mouths to swallow the past
in endless loops of hunger,
taste what has been
on the way, strengthening us
for the race to what will be

your rolling boundless presence
a glimpse into eternity
no boundaries, binding, bonding
all who live, breathe
feeling raptures and ruptures
departures, returns, beginnings and endless endings without end

the eternal dance and mystery of you

** Susan has wonderfully summarised the genesis of this duet on Time in her post below! Need I say more? Except the obvious – that it is always a pleasure to sing with Susan. My voice is in bold, Susan’s is italicized!

***My duet partner caught inspiration for this jogging on the beach in Dar es Salaam; sent me his lines, and I answered from Eden.  The actual time it took to write this piece together was under an hour, I believe, and I love its spontaneity and movement!  Hope you do too. (Susan)

Posted in Poetry

Haiku on Wisdom 2

Posted on by Noel Ihebuzor

By Noel Ihebuzor

 

Slow to grow and glow

wisdom’s seed once blooming soon

the soul with peace fills

 

its bright rays flow deep

reflections expanding thought

making it richer

 

richer minds then reach

rainbow outputs, clean thoughts, peace

world and soul happier

Posted in Poetry

Fizzy feelings and fuzzy physics: # 5 – Heat

Posted on by Noel Ihebuzor

By Noel Ihebuzor and Susan Daniels

Dense with entropy, warm interplay
life’s strumming is thermal,
made in heat and made with heat
beginning in fusion and fission of stars
heat riots everywhere, all ways
stored in bonds and energy fields and folds

Heat, energy, pure warming
source and inspirer of life
your touch sparks us and enflamed, we glow

the slow movement to love is fever, seething
body temperatures rising
(Like cold blooded creatures
Basking on sun teased stone, slowly warming)
and thickening blood like magma;
forest fires on skin

our flowing emotions awakened too;
relationships are about heat energy and transfers
warm glowing when souls converse and caress
when bodies melt, flow and fuse,
the scorching joy song of molten gold passion

yes, the constant shifts within us and without us
in traded heat;
radiations, convections and conductions
we conduct, we conduce the flow
nodding to the first law,
nothing made or lost, only changed
from one form to another

high energy charged points to lower points,

seeking release
we free and burn slowly
and with caution

Rising beyond limits, you transform to scorch,
burn, melt all matter past form and shaping;
shuddering volcanoes, molten heat as rage reigns

everything in its path ashes
and twisted metal;
what took years to frame consumed by flames
and past all salvage

Heat energy change
throwing sparks, breath of Thor,
blazing like thunder, causing conflagrations, blazing and burning

Hot burning scorching when hurt installs hate
and envy, spears, poisoned arrows fly, flames burn down

Better flash fires than maximum entropy;
where, lifeless, immobile
we drift further, with no sparking between us
in slow, heavy heat death;

ice cold and indifferent when separated lovers, love burnt out,
now strangers co-habit the same space
invade their naked bodies and feel nothing,

no warmth, no flow, no energy
save ice particles on bodies seeping from the cracks of frozen hearts

***another in our series from physics, hope you enjoy the warmth of this one! We certainly did! Susan’s voice is italicized, mind is in bold! Enjoy the heat!

Posted in Uncategorized
Posted on by Noel Ihebuzor

Freudian slips!

Susan L Daniels's avatarSusan Daniels Poetry

By Susan Daniels/Noel Ihebuzor

The overly-perceptive doctor
picks up what I throw down
so easily, transparency
of word, implied action, mistake

the client reclines on the couch
slowly unwinds, shedding layers in
progressive concealment, unknowing
speaking words and signs, opaque yet transparent

every move reveals more
like a dance of seven veils
or a more mundane strip-tease

moves that say more than words
words that conceal and reveal
wrapping moves, yet like an onion unwrapping
a petal unfurling shyly 

every move speaks the unspoken
sign language sublime, speaking the unspeakable
decodable, sublimable, every move a coded code

do I flirt with what is made more naked
or simply strip further with simile,
metaphor, and missed strokes

the concealing covering reveals more
teasing, unmasked disguise more stirring, icons
symbols, metonyms in deepening symphony,

on the keybard, with firm strokes
on the silky electric screen tablet, with soft touches

how…

View original post 91 more words

Posted in Poetry

Changed signs and times

Posted on by Noel Ihebuzor

By Ochi Emma Opara

…the native Doctor’s beads and amulets
have changed hands and name.
the ogene has remained; even as a bell.
that accompanies the new seers
who dread Friday meat.
 
My nostrils succumb to the stench of incense
 moving in studied direction,
like a four way pendulum
chasing the devil away.
 
Born – again Ebenezer says
it is the sign of the cross,
challenging my ignorance that saw my village cross road –
Mgbabo eje eri aja.
 
The dancers changed indeed.
Sure they changed,
leaving the music intact.
Eloi, eloi…….
 
****A poem by my friend & classmate Ochi Emma Opara in response to my poem Ogbanje III
Posted in Uncategorized
Posted on by Noel Ihebuzor

Great poem by my duet partner and fantastic poet that explores the pains of separation!

Susan L Daniels's avatarSusan Daniels Poetry

finally, past pretending
I force my eyes
from the fixed point on the wall
I was memorizing
instead of listening

and look at you;
my eyes starting at the point
I suppose
your heart leaps
beneath skin and sternum
though I no longer
wish to rest my head there
lulled by that drum
while I sleep

drawing that line of sight up
to meet your eyes
dazzling in their fury
of brown backlit by fire

yes, there is someone else,
I say

the me I forgot
a long time ago
and further lost in you

that’s who I love

and why I am leaving 

you shake your head
and ask me to speak clearly,
having missed
my targeted gaze

so much easier for you to understand
if I had just
made up a man

to leave you for

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Posted in Poetry

Ogbanje III

Posted on by Noel Ihebuzor

By Noel Ihebuzor

Thick as a moonless night,

sticky and debilitatingly damp

was your grip on our minds,

clammy on our thoughts

misty fogged, drugged by mystical myths,

our sights clouded, we saw the horned dog,

eyes red chilli, schools of skull carrying

fish flying and whirling around,  transporting

red toothed ageless mermaids sucking young blood

and souls, never questioning

the cry of the night owl calling to mate

made mothers freeze, cowering in fear,

covering the feverish body of

sick children lest the hollow hooting of the owl

their mournful summons siphon their spirits out.

Mothers and fathers shivering,

sweating ignorance thick

on their haunted minds

like tattered wet blankets

  

New day, new dawn,

the frontiers of your kingdom

roll back by half every quarter

the native doctor’s beads and amulets

now gather damp and dust,

outside, short shallow red earth-covered mounds

sad resting places for souls spirited away

slowly vanishing with the roll of time

 

new wisdom, knowledge and vision replace

specious séances garbed in obscurity

progress breathes, heaves rolls forward in waves, freeing,

washing away ignorance,

shrinking superstition,

knowledge unrobes untruths and lies,

its piercing rays illuminate the dark kingdoms

where once you roamed and raged

 ragging souls and joy with your minions.

As new knowledge uncovers why children die

that for which we blame the gods recedes

memories of starless bleak nights and deadening days

when the dreams of mothers and fathers

were drained by truncated childhood

are now distant

wailings of  childhood ended too early

by frequent returns to spirit-land recede,

the suckling mother is now gay

suckled by the sound of happy progressing infancy,

bonding and binding to a child who stays

 

Victory, we rejoice and regale,

cakes and candles

celebrate another passing year

spiced with prayers

for many more to come

 

But let us beware,

one victory signals another battle

new Ogbanjes could be spawned in the emerging

sterile and suffocating space

where politicians with sterile policies

men and women caged by greed

minds manacled and shackled by corruption

the grabbing hand, ending up throttling life

sucking it and snuffing it out

in resources siphoned and stolen

our red eyes survey the empty and emptying clinics

the dying and decaying social provisions

the death of vision, and we weep     

beware also of  kindred new spirits that end childhood

lurking in sprouting new religions that reinvent

the power of witches and wizards

selling smoke, suspicion, and superstition

to unsuspecting slumbering followers,

shallow bewitched, emasculated by fear, minds entrapped

 

The bank accounts of preachers, politicians, and public servants swell 

as ranks of new ogbanjes now begin to emerge,

crowded into ever-increasing shallow graves,

and the soul-draining groans of parents in pain.