Best Delta Poems
"Once upon a time," my grandfather used to say,
Our homeland was awesome to behold.
Lush green mountains beautiful to behold,
Surrounded by forests unravished and virgin,
Wild creatures prancing and happy birds chirping,
Men and animals had respect for one another.
The air smelt of peace and the land was pure,
Crystal clear rivers, home to healthy fauna and flora,
Borded from the land by rich mangroves,
The beauty of nature unveiled, unperturbed.
"Those were the good old days" he would say.
"Things are no longer the same" my father would say.
The world has been turned upside down,
There is hardly a tree left in our forests.
The mountains now look like heaps of sand,
Wild creatures lament the threat of extinction,
The songs of the birds are undulating dirges,
A cold war ensues between man and the creatures.
Poisoned air reverberates the atmosphere,
The purity of the land is lost to civilization.
Fauna and flora mourn the living-dead state of rivers,
Exposed further by the emasculated mangroves.
Everything judged before the judgement day.
"Things have fallen apart" he would say.
Where have the lush green mountains gone to?
What became of the unravished virgin forests?
How did the wild creatures all disappear?
Why do the birds sing only songs of sorrow?
Which substance transformed the fresh and peaceful air?
Who polluted the rivers and endangered fauna and flora?
These are questions I dread when I tell my children stories.
Peter Obiora Edoziem.
"The Honey Masquerade in Delta"
Love and Lust
ignores
ALL
The Others dissolve
who cares, Lovers don't -
Lovers are in a world of their own
Lovers dance
through shadows
Love and Lust
play their own game
Unafraid, they play
Day into Night
Night into Day
Burning sweet like toffee
they play,
The Honey Masquerade
In a World of their Own
The Wheel of Fortune calls
Venus Spins
Freedom
Delta lies her land flat
triangle shaped
beckoning
Free,
but now
Honey Trapped
Apollo runs her like a River
Out to Sea
Love like a poem
sweet vibed and ripe
Lust like a bandit
challenges Love
and ignoring
ALL
Lust takes the shiny, juicy Apple
and temptingly whispers to Love …
"Come, take a bite."
(LadyLabyrinth/2019)
"Behind The Wheel"/ Depeche Mode
https://youtu.be/cHpApC0oSCw
"His life rushes onward in such torrential rhythm that...
only angels and devils can catch the tempo of it.”
Anais Nin
“I prefer empty cages, Sabina,
until I find a unique bird I once saw in my dreams.”
Anaïs Nin, A Spy in the House of Love
"One discovers that destiny can be diverted,
that one does not have to remain in bondage
to the first wax imprint made on childhood sensibilities.
Once the deforming mirror has been smashed,
there is a possibility of wholeness.
There is a possibility of joy.”
Anais Nin
"Good things happen to those who hustle."
Anais Nin
“The one thing we can never get enough of is love.
And the one thing we never give enough of is love.”
Henry Miller
“Anaïs, I don't know how to tell you what I feel.
I live in perpetual expectancy.
You come and the time slips away in a dream.
It is only when you go that I realize completely your presence.
And then it is too late.
You numb me. [...]
This is a little drunken, Anaïs.
I am saying to myself,
"here is the first woman with whom I can be absolutely sincere."
Henry Miller
.... obviously, too much whiskey ....
"Delta of Venus"/ Anais Nin
Like the days of invasive explorers, your plight commenced
You went explosive with yields of unrestrained wealth
Dishing out involuntarily, streams of the inflammable oil and gas
From your natural reservoir, they flowed relentlessly
Filling the insatiable pockets of merciless exploiters
And saves of ambitious tyrants with abyss of desires
When the rain washed through you into the ocean
It saturated their evaporated poison, to your detriment
It rendered uninhabitable, your courses and earth
To flora and fauna, flourishing for your sustenance
And in squalor, you watched your trove emptied to itching laps
And helplessly, you watched your pride develop wings and flew
Because your sons swam in despair and self-pity
They became agitated, restive and mutinous
In attempt to protect and resuscitate your emptied chest
They sank you further into undeserving disgrace
Even your daughters, in shameful act, they marred your pride
Like a frustrated childless widow, you mourned your future
Behold a new dawn, fresh with dewy hope, Niger Delta
Behold your children - calm, sober and improvising
The land and sea in joint effort are returning your glory
With remorse your exploiters are returning
And in search of your face for reconciliation and favour
To your sudden elevated height, they flock to pledge allegiance
Weep no more, treasure trove of a giant -giant of Africa
Weep no more, splendour of a jewel - jewel of Africa
Weep no more, Niger Delta!
River Ocean Delta Make Love – Haiku
River meets ocean
Mouth of delta opens wide
They kiss, merge liquids
Cpt. kirks future predictions- Food tubes {supplimitarium A B C D E}
Universal united nations {u.u.n} tying all the galactic species in celestial socialism
Robotic republicans & dimensionless democrats
All humanities races will melt together into a weird orangey color
The soviets will turn Cruthnie into a super secret nuclear facility
All drugs will be trans-dermal
Gluttony will be glorified
Itll be illegal to naturally procreate "pick up a kid or pet at the genetic clinic
Garbage will be used as fuel
Itll be cool to be mindless
In my visions i see sky cities and underground dwellings segregating classes
73 eyes on the beasts back and 96 paratoidals to an orbital octant... end transmission
Mint juleps in the sweet air
Catfish are jumping everywhere and
The Mississippi River is flowing
Fireflies serenading in the moonlight
The only source of a State's wealth
Lies in woeful scences
Of penury, Abduction,
Pollution and rebelion.
The Zombies of COVID-19
Are screaming they want a vaccine
Now is too late
To change your fate
But stick around for Halloween!
Nigeria,
your branches are broken
and burned
because of the two gods;
for having both
is one too many.
The first deemed
our nuisances are means of meager
children riding broomsticks.
Ignorance is a spread
for Helen and her four-nineteen.
In our branches are fruits
for tomorrow;
their faces, the suns on delta.
When they came
with Messiah,
a god and eyes to see
our branches with faces that shine
like suns on delta,
we were given a true name
but he came with them;
the one who is differing.
He came with Helen
and cursed your branches;
you can’t see the fruits in them.
A god can be used;
they are not that invincible.
Excitement filled the air as the calliope played
News spread the famed steamboat was near,
Its whimsical gingerbread trimmings displayed.
The whole town would rush to the esplanade
As the wildly anticipated boat pulled into pier,
Excitement filled the air as the calliope played.
If an overnighter, folks walked the promenade,
Marveling at its size and the exquisite exterior
Its whimsical gingerbread trimmings displayed.
I had heard one could go onboard, if one paid
Even get to see a riverboat show, a premiere.
Excitement filled the air as the calliope played.
What a difference Delta Queen’s arrival made!
Soon she would be decommissioned, the fear
Its whimsical gingerbread trimmings displayed.
I remember well how by the riverbank she lade
Like a fabulous ornate coffin lying upon the bier
Excitement filled the air as the calliope played
Its whimsical gingerbread trimmings displayed.
Written April 6, 2022
[The Delta Queen, a national treasure, has not
travelled the Ohio River on a regular schedule
since the 1970s.]
HEARTBEAT OF DELTA STATE
The rain has fallen again,
The streets are isolated,
Everyone is filled with sadness.
Houses and shops have been abandoned,
Villages and towns have been inundated.
Bags and cargoes floats unsteadily,
Cars and buses are deeply buried
deep into the water in a hazy manner.
People, animals, all are transported
by little wooden vessels.
With no idea of when
to take over their properties,
With no idea of where else to go.
The cities, their streets,
houses and cars have being flooded,
Properties, expensive
and extra expensive have been left over.
East Delta had been covered
by the unmerciful ocean.
Precious lives were gone
and more were at stake.
Families and close friends- divided.
Farms with large crops- destroyed.
Hunger and thirsty, hugs my people with sadness,
begging for aid.
Sickness and diseases fill people
with sympathizing outcome.
A land of peace is now a land of disaster,
A land of Labor is now a land of turmoil.
May peace always reign,
May ignorance be neglected,
For the dying heartbeat of Delta.
a moon free dark sky
glowing ionized gas trails
meteors at peak
Angels call and demons fall
love is seen over the wall
Unattainable yet in reach
Cant give up there is no rest
Trying, crying till my death
to touch, to taste
But I cant forget
So how can I forgive
The live I was forced to live
I crawl back down
Hide in my hole
Forget the stars that touch my eyes
And lie with the demons who died
When Angels called
Delta breeze brought relief from scorching summer temperatures
Night’s cool vapors dropped morning dew on the terrace furniture
Refreshing nippiness embraced me when I opened the patio entrance
Brought a big smile to my lips when I went outside with a hot morning teacup
Birds were awake making the atmosphere harmonious with their melodies
A sweet momma was busy feeding her chick remnants from the bird feed
Saw a watchful deer standing tall away from the fence in thick bushes
Keeping an eye on her skipping innocent fawn wandering around in nearby thicket
A humming bird was drinking nectar from lusciously smelling Star Jasmines
Few bees were buzzing around savoring reddish-yellow Lantana flower treats
Wind chimes were serenading with their charmingly calming vibrant tunes
Active background lawn mowers were making their usual bustling sounds
A familiar squirrel paid visit to eat sunflower seeds from the hanging bird feeder
Amazed me with her smartness of various tricks to reach to it without a ladder
I sat down with my laptop with my heart filled with Mother Nature’s humble sweetness
Words started coming while I typed and turned into a poem of thankfulness
Done! - with the salted
Escape! .. to the dilute?
Like a lust temporal,
tames to river-quiet
Agreeable is a delta ~
Autochthonous rage of the sea,
dies in a landmass meandered
Venturing uphill's a slower viv...
Egos marine learning to abide
No superciliousness in sunken
trees and/ predictable current
United wills, to leave a bayou,
reach toward a snowy-topper
Echoing heights of water pure
(1/22/2021: Inspired by 'Watered-Down Juice' Contest and '98 Carver 350 Mariner, Bethel, Dec 2020)