by
Noel Ihebuzor
by
Noel Ihebuzor
by
Noel Ihebuzor
I will laugh with the greenness
of young blades of corn
thrusting forward, green and bold
in a land where virgins are
two for a grand
and impotent randy men
roam wide spaces
in quest of unstable risings
Do you hear the whispers
of the blade of corn,
young and talkative
as it sways to share its secrets?
and sell its prophecy?
The secrets of the farm,
its short tales, of staggered truths,
tales of men with huge trumpets,
elepant egos and stiff backs
tales of the empty baba rigas
are not told on market days,
nor on farm days
songs of noisy plantings
the flapping and chatter of leaves, empty
but full of naivety,
an empty harvest follows
and the once wet song
soon turns dry, wilts and withers
leaves, once green,
now brown, twisted dry,
now cry.
By
Noel A. Ihebuzor
Ekwe, ogenes and udus
from a dawning new day
play a sombre serenade,
whispering and suggesting
new worlds, new possibilities
and on the waking skies, words inscribed
on a rainbow-ed horizon hum
your amazing qualities of universal verity
Sister, daughter, seed carrier,
Future assurer, energiser, builder,
Calmer, softener, sweetener, peace maker
The tunes stir and wake you
you rise, a flower about to blossom
and gaze in sober silence at the signs scripted
in golden sprinkles on the aprons of a dawning day,
your smile of innocence splays the sky
salutes the dawn and sprays the new day
with fragrances of hope and possibilities
And the rainbow-ed horizon hum on their truths
Sower, harvester, protector, shock absorber, sufferer
Nurturer, Nurse, first responder, stabiliser,
Keeper, organiser, model, inspirer, teacher,
And I thought I saw a new smile kiss your face,
saw in that smile the dancing hopes
of glow filled futures for all
if culture and gender
do not suffocate the seeds you carry within for all
and in this dawning morning,
where hope sang to my anxious ears
and possibilities danced and beckoned
I prayed in silence for the world
to nurture and cultivate
the generous seeds of transferable greatness
that nature has richly embedded in your bosom
and your fertile and supple mind
so that we all could harvest from it
a future of gladness and greatness
**Adding my raucous voice to those celebrating this year’s (2013) day of the girl child. Not the best of songs, but the intention should redeem all its imperfections
Noel
By Nwachukwu Egbunike
sadly those sired by anger
are boiling with hate
to lose their commonwealth
they look at all with grim
sadly they take the same path
falling into same pit
those dug by their patriarchs
step siding the truth piously
the ping of their bb
rings with curses and malfeasance
roaring with disgust
for the pooh-pooh sprawling on their mats
they tweet all day
not as stewards of truth
but slaves of hate
passionately greedier than their dads
same short cuts taken
same mistakes made
shying away from the facts
sole path of breaking the curse
wishing to change the tide
with same tools that caused the flood
without rationality that paves the flow
wrapped up with sentiments that blind the face
but we’ll still hope
though we see none
but knowing that greed last not forever
by truth we’ll change this land
it might tarry
it might delay
but one day, despite the delay
it will mighty arise
(Nwachukwu Egbunike, 12/12/12)
***Nwachukwu Egbunike is a Nigerian writer, critic and social commentator. His book “Dyed thoughts, a conversation in and from my country” is a collection of critical articles on the challenges of nationhood in Nigeria. He lives in Ibadan.
The pounded flaked skin
of earth floats scattered wide by
nature’s raw rage, slashed
gashed by savage blows
stabbed and pummelled she bleeds tears
littered with debris
amid bobbing wrecks
here and there, hope stands stubborn
set to heal the earth
By Noel Ihebuzor
At the exit of Mikumi park, a green country side
peopled by boabob trees
huge baobab trees, their naked branches raised in surrender
to the heavens, to a harsh sky begging for rain
standing majestic and proud rushed past
meeting and waving us on as we left them
standing where they have always stood
greeting the wayfaring
and we rolled on, rubber and tarmac
meeting and their interaction pushing us forward and on
past chimpanzees who surveyed us
with amused indifference and who then grudgingly got off the road
to let us progress, and we soon came to a brown river,
which decided to followed our convoy,
rustling and foaming as it rolled towards the waiting confluence
always running ahead till we outran it
outrunning and overtaking slow moving trucks
long and sluggish like overfed millipedes
driving between hills with grey patches on their tops
their cut portions looking like angry reddish dandruff
on the lush green slopes, still standing proud
the face of the hill, gashed and chewed up
by hungry earth eating equipment
The giant teeth of technology biting and transforming,
reaping, ripping and raping
And into the pass and into the mountains
their crests crowned by the floating clouds
the clouds around and above us
floating and drifting like smoke filled amoeba
shapeless balloons hanging on invisible threads
balance of particles and matter held by forces far above us
between earth and the open skies, heaven smiling
the soft palms of the cloud gently brushing our car window
And looking out of the car window
to below to behold the giant snake on which
we rode, this road that wove around and clung on the torso
of the mountain like a lover in the throes of passion
And then the slow descent
dotted huts, dotted communities
scattered among hills
children dotting bellies on tiny limbs,
in their cracked shoes
walking long brown distances on red mud roads
that cracked and spat dust and pebble
to schools with cracking walls
and cracked floors
The convoy drove into a school
a chorus of Karibus and Shikamo
rent the air, as teachers, parents and pupils
came forward to greet us
and as I shook their hands
images of the hills that jogged to meet and greet us
of the winds that laughed and sang for us
and the tall trees that swayed and waved as we passed
receded, replaced by the reality of these young hopeful faces
hungry for education, hungry for life and full of hope for the future
***I jotted these lines down on my first field visit last month to a district we will working in in our current country programme! I am not sure it qualifies as a poem – more like prose and random jottings sitting in a four wheel drive as we did the ten hour trip through a very pleasant country side tot the district!
By Noel Ihebuzor
Haiku on Vital
From “life” in one tongue
though often lost sight of when
we clutch wild at winds
blinkered by trifles,
we chase blank shadows and let
essentials slip by
The true essentials
touch deep, eternal truths shine
bright, stars on dark night
Vital, life giving
energy laden, bubbling
healthy and vibrant
clear eyes and clean hearts
find you in the complex and
hug your cool calm warmth
By Noel Ihebuzor
Surveying his still and lean frame
I still and steel myself
trying to dam the hot streams seeking release
I lean back in time and spare tear drenched thoughts
to visit with his past before his still present
and survey a future without his comforting presence
The little boy besides me clutches my hands
all grief and bewilderment, suddenly thrust into adulthood yet a child,
struggling to be brave and I too struggle to be brave for him
holding his hands as we both struggle to suffocate the pain that seeks to suffocate us
and my thoughts tumble, my words stumble,
my mind wobbles as do my legs on this walk of farewell
a slow walk of love, honor, respect and remembrance
molten waves of sorrow scorch me as I walk and gaze
As I gaze on him and remember, and recall and re-live….
Santos, Santos the gbogbo di gbogbo
Dimkpa asa, okunrin meta,
“One Naze man at a time”
Okunrin dara, nwoke obioma, ome nwanne….
O very very Santos Achuku
Not you to enjoy the spare rib
when ribs stare at one from withering rib cages
not for you the lean prime cut
when the world bulges in the middle with the
withered frames of lean children,
soon to be cut off in the prime of childhood
lean as thin drying and dying sticks
stick children with sagging skins
which cling like dirty sack cloths to the tiring bones
Oh, Santos , how often did we rage at a deaf drunken and indifferent world
and for you, Santos, action was also soothing
and so, willingly at Lekki, Tere-Ama, okorieukwu and beyond,
he lent his throat to voice their pain
with no thought of gain
save to soften their pain and to soften his too
and soothe the pains of separation he bore
gladly he lent his time, his mind, his voice, his frame
that theirs may grow
that smiles would grace their faces
I sing for you Santos
You who now sing no more
For you Santos who loved life
but for whom songs for others was
vital for the vibrancy of your own songs
and for the voices you missed so
I sing for you Santos
I sing my sorrow and your grief
I sing for those voices,
voices whoses touches you missed and still miss
those voices who are unable to sing,
suppressed, silent, sad,
subdued and sullen
I sing for the hard of heart, haters and hatters
hard nuts, twisted and knotted
I sing Santos knowing that that your charity beams on them,
your arms of embrace still open though you be still
Gingerly tenderly, I caress your presents
this endless present,
a past that lives, heaves and breathes
and a future that glows and beckons
The three time frames, yet a continuity, endless
O very Santos, you came, you lived, you loved and you live on
the road you walk is smooth, your path is good, Uzoma
no stomps graze your feet as winged creatures lift you
lead and accompany you to the warm welcome of His bosom and light.
**** This is one of my clumsiest songs. I wrote it in 2009 for my late elder brother and friend, Valentine Uzoma Ihebuzor – ( I called him Santos and still do! ) after we had committed his mortal remains to mother earth in my father’s compound in the village! Santos sleeps right next to his bedroom window and the sands of my village lie gently on him! Today is three years since that committal! Up Santos!
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
By Noel Ihebuzor
When you find yourself before the day, a day
darkened by crisis
your road blocked by obstacles, slippery and forbidding
…blinding and obstructing
the path of faith
will lead us to the fair and feast
of supreme joy
that God prepares for us.
Be confident
No need for despair
Believe in His cross of wood
Even if sleepless night blight your path
Even if ferocious dogs bark loud
And cold freezes your soul
And warm bitter tears of despair
prepare to unleash with the force of a tsunami
and anguish inundates and threatens to wash you away
Even if the terrors of the night seek to drown you
as they frighten your dreams soaking them in clammy sweat
even if the world threatens to fall apart
and suck you in and under
be confident child of faith
stand up, child
say No, and kick back the incipient despair
re-conceive your savior
your king, his laws, so simple
faith, hope and charity
be strong and steadfast and believe
be steadfast and re-launch yourself
upright on his path
your eyes fixed on heavenly things
contemplate his light that illuminates
in the rays of the sun
His reassuring caress in the soft smile of the moon
the shining stars his priceless pearls
Behold His glory, drink from the endless bounty of the joy
He freely bestows, without limits, across and beyond borders,
Without equal
on this day born of faith
this joyous day of Easter and for always
@naitwt on twitter