Long Ibadan Poems

Only on his palm were cowries
And thread-cloaked bullhorn found.
Only on his neck we found 
The  coral beads of truth and courage.
Only on  his hands lies the
Pearl of selflessness and 
Emblem of  Pedantry.
Only...

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Our convergent joint
The rallying  point
Mecca to the Pastors and Sisters
Jerusalem to the “Alhajas and Alfas”
Refuge to the weak
Shield to the strong
Nowhere on campus like our building

Life made more lively
Added  life to the lifeless...

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PERSERVERANCE BREEDS SUCCESS

Jss One was an insult, I cried
Like time should hit full stop,
My breakfast was sweet without
Salt,
My parents tasted like this evil
Citrus,
I continued to hide like Air Force
Was only for my seniors.

Jss Two arrived...

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WE . . .  NOT  FRUSTRATED

Those whose mouth  speak and ooze 
Only fire of a voluble vibrating vocabulary 

Those whose sin is just speaking for others
In order for their other orders not...

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And this song fell out from my father's lips:
Of boys learning to drop the corpse of their
parents' bodies on the high mountain of Jos, 
Of  girls who came home learning to place fingers 
on...

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Tomorrow will come to mind soon
when we'll part ways to come again.
We will forget yesterday we cried rain,
we will remember  the meatless meal
we shared behind door of ignorance. 
Africa have many branches to protect....

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COme with me to the
shrine
Let us deliberate on
the plight
Of our beloved
country
The gods are waiting
to hear from us.
Here is your sit,
face me so that 
I could watch over
you head and you
Watch over mine so
that we 
Could...

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Panic shook her spinal cord
Her hands trembles with troubles
Her voice became thicker and deeper
Like that of a baritone
Losing count of her made calls
To her kinsmen since morning
Where could he be?
What could have happened to him?

Flashing...

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As they leave
They leave with us nothing but an empty
Treasure to treasure which even Judas Iscariot
The disciple’s Treasure cannot measure
And treasure with pleasure.

As they leave,
They victimize and they seize with impunity
And dishonour students’ union leader’s...

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To Adedayo Adeyemi Agarau

Do you remember Sade?
Do you remember yesterday we flew kite
at the cloudy street of Ibadan?
Do you remember how I channelled your 
thought to those boys who went and never 
return home with...

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Raise your voice aloud 
And echo that which taints your heart
The days of the chain are laid to rest 
And the closed eyes are made opened


In your order, our light is made to shine
With the...

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When in April 2013
Her soul fled... ignited
Like a car engine...
Still, he steered hard on her timid face

Oh passion mixed with tension
Even at a Praying Ground?
On her, he kissed with words
Making her dance and say 'cheese'

Into...

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For Ogunyinka Damola Ebenezer 2nd Year Remembrance



Of Illness of a Damola
Of Death to an Ebenezer
Of Disappearance of a Linguist
Of Eternal Ascension of a Living soul
To the great stage above the beyond

Bred in a clergy clad...

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Weaker sex we’re known and termed,
We are made idle like lexis
Without structure to construct sentences.

They treat us as infants for we’re fragile;
To rear offspring we’re considered fertile
’Tis then we would be teased as agile.

Stop creating...

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I kissed the bed bye
With a dusty blipping lip 
I couldn’t dust off with water
For dusting the dust off my body
Means to be in love with night
Cold chilling breeze in “Ibadan”.

With dust all over me
Woke...

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My mind distills away.
Scraps from the underworld.
Of education, tradition and media shit.

I'm tired of caring.
Sick of hearing, if I could.
Control my ears closed.

Block them from bullshit talk.
Chain my eyes off the road.

The road is blind,...

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Only at the top of “Mapo” Hill
Lies the old but tattered roofs 
Of the ancient city of Ibadan
"Ajorosun" the second largest in Africa

Archaic modern city with which we measure
The political tempo and potentio-meter
Of the most...

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A perfect plain in the Sub Sahara

Discerning screens, Japanese Madara

Your frame formidable despite design

Why shan't I sing aloud about your shine?

Your songs of praises serenades females

A wrecking train that never derails

Conquered jealousies try to bite...

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COVID-19
On our planet suddenly appears,
A pandemic so fierce
That literally seem untameable
Holding people hostage without weapon
Restricting our gatherings to fifty
Mouthlessly closing down borders
And microscopically sapping our economy

Fuels boredom to raise its ugly head
As we no longer...

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We got trapped for seven hours 
We couldn’t un-trap ourselves
From the dungeon of the road
Couldn’t call or receive calls
Was indeed incommunicado 
Sim card got stuck 
Would we ever get to our destination?

She got fed up,...

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Author: Okechukwu Iroegbu
Title: Let them hear...

Let them hear...
From the hills of Isuikwuato
My sleepy hilly land'e
From my new'est bride Uyo
To the ancient muds of Enugu
From Makurdi's Benue river beach
To those peaked crags of Jos
Let them hear...
As...

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Seed of anthropology
Blue-print of ancient antique
Antecedence of brown skin politic 
Deity to pre-colonial centralised culture 

A republic with institutionally adorned grace for violence
Bodija (they are ever ready)
Awon ti ogun koleko; undefeatable and resilient in battle

Ibadan...

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Twisting up my body emboldened
Hyping my spirit to Planet 9
Thrusting gently my soul to an off beat
Jerking up my feet in no fete
Throwing hands in the air

Moving my carcass to an unheard hurly-burly
Heaping up dance...

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Our journey got paused 
I insisted to the passengers
Let’s sleep on our way
We got to the Ibadan garage 1.05am
Then, we move on ‘morrow morning 
Dissenting voices echoed diverse views
I offered to alight at the park
Couldn’t...

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Brobdingnagian people of wealth
Possessing sinewy warriors of health
Brawny nature makes empires shiver
City wall stronger more than ever. 

The people of great black magic
Though they are meek
Gallant like the pride of barbados
They brought glory to us....

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