When I Google you,
I recognize the struggles and muggles you face,
I recognize the brutalities and the scars from decades of suppression and oppression which you endure;
The broken promises, failings and shortfalls;
I recognize the enormous work and journey ahead;
I see the repulse and self defeatist attitude occasioned
By broken hopes and aspirations;
I recognize the seasons and reasons for the youths failure to thrive,
In the face of monumental battles confronting them daily
When I Google you,
I recognize the unmistakable hurdles, scurdles, shuttles and scuttles;
The suppressed emotions, emissions, missions, visions, and vanquished voices of the voiceless,
The brazen helplessness, hopelessness and long worn faces
Of countless array of seen and unseen battles;
The dwarfed armoury of opportunities occasioned by lack of vision, mission, emotions to thrive, ride and drive
But,
I can also envision:
The salient, but countless unspeakable and unquenchable determination and desire in you;
The urge, surge, splurge, hidden treasures, pleasures, possibilities and the unheralded hope and abilities in humanity!
EVIDENCE
See here, this object that I found
Surely belongs to you
You may shake your head and look away
Yet I can tell that you recognise it
Now your face reddens
And I am ever more certain it is yours
Something of great significance
To you especially, I think
Take it, hold out your hand
Let me please return it to you
Merely a small blue glass phial
Containing the residue of some liquid
With which you are familiar, no doubt
A lethal weapon in your armoury
Poison makes no sound, except an escaping sigh
That you must have heard so many times
Go now, I shall hold this a secret between us
For one day I may have use of your skill
You love animals - so now go and sleep with them,
stop moaning about oil, you're lucky we have some,
get off the racial kick, you're in motherland you dick,
put your airbrush away, better it should just be you.
I protest about people getting at me, let it wash
over you because the most of it is a load of tosh;
I store in my armoury for future use you just see,
so beware one day I don't shake you from your tree.
My wife is gifted with recall - it's frightening really,
because she remembers my misdemeanours clearly;
we say 'yes' to everything don't we to keep the peace,
but sometimes there's agreement, wonders never cease.
So the next time you want action, think more carefully,
you're not going to get 35% more pay realisticcally.
A LEGEND BETTER THAN HAKIMI
Back in '94 partying, Gabriel met Christina,
frolicking and they really got personal.
They married though she's 30 years younger
and were happily married for 20 years
despite the fact they weren't peers.
However, Christina eventually decided
that she wanted them divided.
But when she went to her lawyer,
she was shell-shocked at what he told her.
He told her she was already divorced
twenty years ago, the idea was enforced.
And this is because 4 months after their union,
they went to Dominican Republic for a vacation,
Gabriel divorced her there as that's the only country
where one party can file for a divorce in a hurry
with the other party oblivious despite the dowry.
Gab said he did this because he knew one day
she would divorce him without him having a say
and she will try to possess all his money,
hence he came prepared donning his wise armoury.
Vick Manuel Poetry {VMP}
Form: Narrative/Rhyme/Realism
Copyright ©? April 2023.
A valiant soldier stands before me
Eyes flooding with tears.
In one mere teardrop
I see significance, joy and fears.
I see experience and courage
And wisdom beyond years.
Battles fought. Some won. Some lost.
A hope that's grown, then disappeared.
A valiant soldier pure and true
Whose armoury is LOVE.
No need for weapons of destruction.
Someone to be proud of.
A soldier worthy of imitation.
An individual of fascination.
A person of inspiration.
A heart fighting to be free.
In one teardrop of a valiant soldier
I see a reflection of what could be.
I see the qualities that amount to
The kind of person one aspires to be.
Written 2nd July 2022
For the "Tears Of A Valiant Soldier" contest.
Sponsor: Faraz Ajmal
What could be said of chains?
If not armoury, after what’s left
What could be said of armoury?
If not injury, after the scars
What could be said of injury?
If not a name, left on lips of today
Our owner's name tattooed
On our coloured skin, stayed.
But now we say its swag from shops
The sugar, the cotton, all know
Our feigns, the sun, the rain, winter
Till this day.
The birds sang our lyrics in tearful tones
And loosed them to the vastness
Of the sky
Of pains of shame of dog chains
Of tapes of rapes of games of fate
But now in raps of history our
Revolution roll, rise & sailed till
This day we say “we be free! Man!”
Gideon Idudje
The Immeasurable silence
Broken only by a haunting tune.
playing the lyrics of a warbling taste,
Lifts the atmosphere in the room.
The gloom we assume from the outdoor,
Sweeps inside like a discontented broom.
Dusting down the ceiling to the floor,
And make windows immaculately groom.
They look the part and dress appropriately,
impression benign the obvious condition.
Physical appearance and state of society,
hidden within the silence of the nation.
Silence is an experience of distinction,
First impression last longest in memory.
The response of verbal non communication,
Received by those visiting the country.
Accent and posture of voices can devise
And divide the needs of wanton friendship.
Some days intrigue is a compromise,
To pierce the armoury of culture tight lip.
I AM®
I am
Arthur, Cupid and the edge of a bow
Soldier of 9 lives in this generation of hue
His armoury brandished by men
And sculpted by the One God,
Broken, battered and buried soul
In dismal and dark crypts of life
But leap out of the dungeon of obscurity
To set pace for a long but new voyage.
I am
A train in motion; watch me to catch a glimpse,
I am a word in flight
Write it down quickly for it last
I am a prophesy in season
To come to pass in due course
I am a bubble bustling in a glass
Can you feel the magic?
I am a man in race
You can catch the moment
But not the main man
Catch the benefits of my pain,
My gallantry lore and conferring boons,
My chariot comes but now
Right on the move to a spectacle
You feel the snap wind.
Catch what I leave behind -
My legacy, my story and triumph,
Hear the fading sound
Of the chariot of fire basking away in explosives.
On the move like my fathers before me
Taping from the drip of my crimson river,
Draw the benefit from my predestined existence.
I am
The man that is loosed
Not the man on the loose.
VickWizzy
Vick Manuel Poetry {VMP}
Copyright © 2016.
Before the butchery -
Beasts from hell came with vulgar armoury.
We heard the perverts marching on mud of breasts,
Trampling tender veins, and
Sprouts of milk ceased to shoot.
In the Armageddon -
Seedy worms munched the wombs, and
Putrid sperms spewed on bloody soil.
Babies were born without history,
Disfigured and different, and
Our homes mothered aliens!
But they were children of our daughters,
and we gave them our names.
After the adulteration -
Beasts from hell will come back, in hoods,
Weilding axes with glaring edges
On which sun's glint will yell.
They will dance like their gods
And shed blood again,
But of their own, the aliens!
Who will bleed in the hands of their own.
And we will see blood flowing in our rivers,
With colour of orange.
When it happens -
It will be a vengeance,
But for the hurt in our hearts.
Don’t stalk my territory again
Stealing my sleep
Making me cry in vain
Which under servitude you can no longer keep
Whether all the weapons on Earth you deploy
To cull your desire
To employ
Ruse, fuse or fire
In a bid to finish
My ambition
To diminish
The mission on which I embark with passion
To protect the territory
You thought subdued
With the armoury
No longer skewed
In the favour
Your demons mustered
In your endeavor
To get my destiny frustrated
In word and deed
Just because I demand you stay
Away from the territory creed
That leads you astray
As I defend what’s mine
Ordained from on high
Despite your loss of spine
That leaves you dry
As long as greed
Takes the best of your power of judgment
Indulging your misread
Of the situation that works to your detriment
Unless you desist
From hatching your evil plan
As you persist
In snatching my territory in concert with your clan.
Homes broken, futures stolen
Lives shattered
Children, men and women forsaken
Beauties and cuties battered
Family members scattered
Matrimonial vows broken
Values down watered
Untruths spoken
Wedding and kitchen party celebrations forgotten
Tempers raised, minds crazed
Intransigence and insolence gotten
Sorrows grazed, sanity and sobriety erased
Divorce legal proceedings pursued
Bad blood contemplated
Acrimony and recrimination ensued
In score setting scenes dilated and inflated
Dark thoughts entertained
Anger drawn, thrown and grown upfront
Malice maggots maintained
Ego-tripping agenda pushed to the front alongside affront
Courtship days and sweet nothings uttered-a distant memory
As spouses spar with sharp swords
Weapons of mutual unleashed from the matrimonial armoury
While spouses with daggers drawn scowl like ill tempered toads
Prompting church leaders with mouths agape
To stare in horror at the shambolic charade
Playing out without a sensible route escape
Leaving a rueful responsibility to a disappointed dad.
There's no way to go back, sometimes I wish there was,
we'd pluck out the highlights, just simply because;
I'm not going to give a catalogue, a long moan,
rather some reflections, when being home-alone.
It makes you chuckle, give a 'whew,' a smile too,
extract what you can, keep some gems in your armoury;
there will be other times to lighten up your day,
when you may remember what some others had to say.
They congratulated you, so good looking, so cool,
got away with eveything, you were never anyone's fool;
although, you were smart, intuitive, you didn't hold 'court,'
rather, listened, used all the things that you were taught.
Maybe that's it - learned so much along the way,
you were the star, the main character in the play.
Hall of Silent Women
in valhala
in a far corner
of this martial paradise
is one small unobtrusive hall
above the heavy iron door
these words are faintly inscribed
“ the war department
regrets to inform you
that your son……
has been killed
in action, in defence of……”
women
silent
row upon row
straight backed, tight lipped, blank eyed
their amputated anger melting hearts
while words swift shot pierces soul
women
from life first stirrings
through vaulted cave to clapboard ranch
crouched sweating over birthing pit
to numbed white linen labour
in their pain and joy shudders steel shod feet
march through the womb.
women
ancient cauldrons
endless source of armoury
kept tongueless
then given tongue to teach
man made words
toy soldiers bleed rust.
in valhala
indeed in every martial paradise
there is one small unobtrusive hall
above the heavy door
words are faintly inscribed…
The Invader
August night, air condition off no electricity, dying in my
own “sweat,” a word I wasn’t going to use again. A sudden
gush of hot air makes the curtain move, in a surprised way
like an English castle ghost caught unaware in the armoury.
The gush is full of crematorium ashes, cling to my face
won’t come off; I’m tired have no strength, when I finally
get to the bathroom, my face is clean, ash has gone through
my skin followed the blood stream to my heart and brain.
I know share my body with someone else; a soul that didn’t
want to leave, but demanded more time. There have been
subtle changes I have a hankering for tea, no milk and two
lumps of sugar, I leave the loo lid down and keep bathroom
clean. The feminine side of me keeps my coarse ego at bay;
I do not sweat anymore but transpire.
INSPIRED BY THE PROPHETIC DECLARATION BY TB JOSHUA..".2014 has been declared as a year of crossing the bridge to Destiny"
Prevailed in the year past we have...by the reason of faith in Calvary's Cross,
To a year anew, we have crossed
Fiery fights were fought some we lost some we won...but no loss
Enemies in pajamas of friends undressed..disgraced...
Our pain again now is gain
Wounds healed, the scars marks of valour and favour
Lessons profound we found, amidst tyranny
These to us are new battle armoury
For savoring sweet victories in this new year
Of it has been said by a mighty Seer sent from above
It is a year of crossing the bridge towards destiny
For us to cross, lets walk in the way of Calvary's Cross
Those that abandon the way it will be to their peril and loss
For me l pray, trust and obey the Seer's call for it is a heavenly echo
Spurring us to tread with care, on the bridge ferrying us to our destiny
HAPPY NEW YEAR!
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