Long Lagos Poems

As October 1 approaches, HAPPY INDEPENDENCE DAY……………………
I have enormous tracts of land and vast volumes of water, but cannot feed myself.
So I spend $1 billion to import rice and another $2 billion on milk.
I produce...

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After amala and ewedu,
And after the round two of egusi and fufu.
Na im my eyes come dey pinch me,
Small small i dey close am.
Before i know i don dey doze,
Wetin we dey talk? I don...

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I've been seeking to blend,
in with people and at least make a friend.
Most times I use my pen,
To try to get out of my lonely den.
So many times has loneliness pushed me over the brim,
That...

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This is Lagos-
a welcoming address to all dignities
an old sermon preached by three wisemen
no praises or pleasantries at the entrance gate
Come and face your death or life warrant
in a no man's land but everyone's home
The...

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The day is coming and it will come, 
when in retrospect, men shall mock them.
Those who today ride in honour, trampling as they go.
the upcoming springs will research their shame which they pretend to ignore
evil...

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OUR GOD REIGNS

 

Hour after hour, you reign

Generation metamorphose generation

In majesty, you hold sway

Never given to slackness,

Faithfulness is known your ways

Good or vice, due measure you pay

Harboring justice a place to stay

You reign, yes! Our...

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Some things are lost along the line
Some things, beautiful and fine
Driving down the lone road to the stream in my hamlet
It’s like yesterday; like catching birds from their nest
I giggled as I drove by
Mothers breast...

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/'d???g?l/ /'d??s.t?s/

That was what my dictionary 
woke up to show me this morning, 
Who made you one of this angels?
One is called /'d???g?l/ jungle and the other is called /'d??s.t?s/ justice like a league of...

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En-route Onikan Stadium
I had evaporated from
My abode in Samonda
Only to condense in Iwo road. 
There I saw them  begging
One barely leaves before
Another jumps on us
They were beggars of the Niger-Area.

Behold !an old haggard
Tattered looking...

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Wired mortal from the English Art
Banished from his home, spotted from a distance
Noble amongst scrawling African inscriptions
First veneration of mystical minds
Take a bow, take a bow.

Obliterating deliberate disregard 
From interrupters of our histories, 
With trophies,...

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OGUNLABI OLAJIDE YUSUF-NativePen 029
EKO @50
TIME OF THOUGHT:LOSS
DATE OF THOUGHT:2015
A damsel was born decades ago
Her name is EKO
Eko Ile Ogbon
She is the most sought after amongst other
The eyes of the Southwest states
The favourite of her mother...

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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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I know of a man. A man full of gratitude and humility for all he is and all he has
He has an eternal fault: an obsession to make a difference; to make an impact
To sow...

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A man died
I saw his face
In the city of Lagos
Oh what a place
On the highway
I saw him die
Hit by a car
Passing by
Nobody cared
They just walked on by
But I did
This was no lie
Materialism has made us...

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THE ANGELS:
Oh!
My angels,
My hands are in the,
Air for you,
Pardon me for abandoning,
You for some times, age,
Like Ojukwu properties,
In Lagos state.
My angels,
I am sorry for sometimes that, 
I was like Adam and Eve.
I know that being...

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A Nation, wearied, sapped traumatized.
This vast exotic land, fringed by lush emerald jungles 
A spark rising from the west, once looked upon by all,
A giant? 
No, faded glory. 
Vistas of burning star and torrential rivers...

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the cry of the people
I remember the day of glory
as they stand so truthful
with a new political slogan 
of change 
I remember the faithful afternoon
full of promise of hope 
while we chant their political names
with...

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HAIL THE KING OF NAPOLI (1)
 
The Chronicles of the old king, Diego.
An epitaph of his statue reads: "When I go,
I go away from you then this badge
loses honour and beats dead with no urge"
Like...

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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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MY VALENTINE RITUALS

A day set aside
Only for love to tangle
A day where gifts are exchanged 
All in the name of love

A day where love is confessed willingly
A day that increases birth rate 
A day where...

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The sun shall rise again but
not in our season of songs this time, 
because we are strange to it glamouring light. 
We sparkle and shine not among its  Galaxy of hope, 
an unformidable corrupt...

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Lagos, the land where dreams berth at the shores of realities...
The oasis of potentials and priceless opportunities,
the hub of emerging economies and innovative technologies...
Lagos is working and moving forward. 

Lagos, the land of fresh ideas...

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Again these men comes to mind,
Paid to say yes and nay,
Lame duck,

Canker, queer rapscallion minds
Incorrigible,
Political impostors detached from the humdrum of street cries
Maggots in honor
Damp squib temples of legislators
Dishonorable honorable,
Rotund circles of rascals
Fellows fit for...

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6 a.m

It is time to wake- 
After being bludgeoned by sleep.
A quick brush 
And a quick wash
Off to the bus-stop in a quick rush.

It’s another day 
To work for a pay
Loose soap lather-
Sticking senselessly by...

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THE BLACK TUESDAY
(Tribute to the Victims of the EndSARS Lekki Tollgate Massacre in Lagos, Nigeria; Tuesday, October 20, 2020)

Dark is the night,
Darker the soul,
Fathomless depths,
Stories to be told;

We were not armed,
but killed at the war...

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