Long Sahara Poems

Identity Apples

iam a fat skeleton, resurrecting 
from the sad memories of dada 
and dark mysteries of aminism 
iam buganda 
i bleed hope 
i drip the honey of fortune 
makerere, think tank of africa 
i dance...

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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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I must report the passing of a dear old friend today
I'm not sure when it happened, but I felt I had to say
That the Vegas that's in movies, books, and on TV
Is not the one...

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The forgotten god
 
Whose rage should burn hotter
than mine; melt the noon day sun,
dry up all thy rivers, scorch the earth, that
thy crops may burn to ashes before
thine eyes, and the heat from the
very earth...

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Sinai Campaign, 1967

“Operation Focus” sees Israeli jets streaking, 1
Attacking Arab fighter jets and air force bases, 2
Thus attaining dominance over Middle Eastern skies,
While IDF ground divisions launch into action. 3

Israeli tanks (Pattons, Shermans, and Centurions)
Blitzkrieg...

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January: is mountain of blessing where the births sing with hope for those 
Semen mentioned on this occasion to Ottoman Empire where conqueror doesn't 
Need dozens of sword to shout. He only understands the cap...

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Chorus
Sights are far but our minds are close
two hearts share one inhale with one nose
stage acts are for her even the pose
smiles from down she wishes for a rose
ten out of ten is her loyal...

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{"It’s 4:05 pm, darkness is mending over the horizon, the city, I’m fighting and thrashing against the flames that shroud. With secrets yet to resign, they dwindle at nightly dusk as it topples over. 
Down...

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When shall we smile again?
When shall the farmers return?
When shall all fingers become equal?
When shall mothers return to the kitchen?
When shall the lizard have hairs on their back?
When shall the He goat smell no more?
When...

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WORLD WAR 11 THROUGH THE EYES OF MY DAD
POEM NO 2 OF TRILOGY

My father was one of six children, whose family
Had no financial reserves, so explained to them amicably
That he had decided he wanted to...

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Humming in hemlock heartbeats ~
along the shorelines
which once swallowed the sun 
in their searing shadows ~
I see those smoking seawaves
swirling upon my skin, 
as the silhouettes
of damask dahlia damsels
drizzle and dance
in the tornadoes of 
tangerine...

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The goddess we call Aphrodite
Is not just an old Grecian deity.
  The Phoenicians did make
  Her a map. It's not fake.
Her body is cartograffiti.

The Punic war destroyed her face, 1
The Romans left nary...

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Flies, drawn to their only sustenance, cloud around my head.
In this cloudless desert sky  - blank, deep-arching cavern of thought  - 
Unblinking  sun stares down but this fire-bird will not fly,
Has no...

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O moon,
   the blood-rose pearl
            of my aching soul,
the ghostly seer of hourglass woes ~
heed these wistful words ~
forgive the dreadful quivers
between...

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It was raining when I met her.
A sure sign.
I ignored it.
Many a love story started in the rain.
We headed into the restaurant.
She throttled her brolly, drenching me in the process.
I ignored it, my white suit...

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Color me white like the color of the wall
Color me white to be seen by all
Color me white to stand tall

The patches of black all over me 
The dark spots that all can see
Are my...

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England had joined WW II,
War declared against Germany
All men and women of the age
Required for conscription, joined,
Bravery had to be shown,
Even cowards could not decline.
Trembling they stood in line.
Excitement, fear, yet only teenagers,
Adrenaline, anxiety, eagerness,
These...

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EULOGY TO MRS (Ph.D) ALIHAJA, AMINAT OLABOOPO                            ...

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I'm walking out into the gorgeous summer day
and I feel nothing at all;
not the warmth of the sun,
the melodies of songbirds,
nor the cars driving by my street
who haven't the slightest clue of what just transpired
a...

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I


I see you wearing your green hijab.
Looking mysterious as the desert under the red sun
And I start to tremble with joy. If you only knew…
As you walked near me, I smell roses under the morning...

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They captured and tortured my humanity.
They believed slavery and colonization would slaughter my Africanness.
Their heirs now ask me to sing praises of assimilation and integration,
To become yet another mop in service of the Republic of...

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Light, the kind that brings the faintest glimmer of hope,
appeared suddenly through a darkened wood;
like an oasis after travelling through the Sahara so parched
with thirst threatening to take my life for good.

Though death’s bony palm...

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THE STRANGER MAN (2)

They who posses tire
out and loose more
in keeping.
As homeowner never
have I felt at home
But closer home as
squatter and
settler.
The crop man crops
his way through
life,
The dry cleaner
cannot subdue the
muck;
The well heeled
can’t afford inner
balm with...

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Children of faith,
That look up to the heavens,
For help, for comfort,
For a change, for a beginning;
They are like nails hammered into rocks,
They have broken hearts,
They've got nothing,
Completely no one else to turn to,
They walk in...

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“Of all flowers, methinks a rose is best.” – William Shakespeare, The Two Noble Kinsmen

Sweet Rose, for ages you have blessed the human race
with your beauty, elegance and grace.
You show yourself to us in so...

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