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Best Poems Written by Joshua Popoola

Below are the all-time best Joshua Popoola poems as chosen by PoetrySoup members

Details | Joshua Popoola Poem

The Box of Death

The long wooden box 
Was gently set down 
As dirt was packed from the earth 
To fill up the earth 

Black coats and umbrellas 
Huddled together under the rain 
Watched on in silence
Not a word to be uttered 

I, in their midst 
Looked up but couldn't see
Clenching my fist 
I knew I had to stay strong 

But, a trickle of water 
Found its way out of my eyes 
And rolling gently down my face 
Fell on top of the long wooden box

Details | Joshua Popoola Poem

Gangan - the Talking Drum

The stream of music 
Has in it an instrument 
Talking beats, not singing,
And sending legs into a frenzy 

The hook of a Demigod 
Knocking the round bald head 
Of the talkative 
As it yelps in pain 

The hook romantically patting 
The head of a voluptuous woman 
Shaped as an hourglass 
To listen to her talk 


Locked in the arms of its betrothed 
Like a gem to be protected,
Its ropes are fondled with 
To produce sweet notes 

Beautiful yet deadly 
For it could pass messages 
Across the halls of Boruya
As Nobles dance to their death.

Details | Joshua Popoola Poem

The Flood

The atmosphere was hot despite the threatening rain 
The sky had been overtaken by fever
 It cried  aloud in torrents of rain
The wisps of smoke emanating from the dying embers of fire irritated her even the more. 
In anger, the sky took up stones and hurled it towards the sons of men. 
Shelter was sought all about but was none was found. 
The sky roared in a deafening sound, she was unstable. 
Her two children; Sun and Moon 
Gave heed to her cries and switched off their power socket. 
The sons of men prayed to their gods for the appeasal of the sky
 but their prayers did nought but aggravate the sky. 
She was tired of staring down upon the faces of men everyday 
so she fetched a bucket of water and poured it in the earth 
Till it was  almost full.
'Now, I shall see water and not men', she said.

Details | Joshua Popoola Poem

Nigeria My Country

The cries of the generation 

Of a once great nation 

Eradiating to the darkest of hearts 

Cries of woe, cries of pain 

all hear but none care

falling on deafened hearing ears 

The widow's wail in the deep of night 

The sorrowful song of wolves into the starry night 

A country is dead

Bad tidings we bring thee

Lost in the shadows of pessimism 

Rebirth not imminent 

What can we do 

But await the arrival of a Jesus 

to restore a nation to its former glory.

Details | Joshua Popoola Poem

The Human Nature - War

Swords lay on the floor
As men fell to the dirt
Some, plunged through with spears 
Some, sword impaled

Flies buzzing round gutted intestines
Made a feast of dead ones
Who suffered fatal blows
And had bellies rent open

Babies were snatched from Mothers’ arms
And bisected into equal halves.
With wild grins on savage faces,
Mothers were raped and slaughtered 

The heavens watching on in horror
Witnessed the land become a pool of blood
As lives were harvested 
By lifeless blades

God, sitting on his throne
Set his elbow on his knees 
With his back slightly bent
Regretting every action of creation

Details | Joshua Popoola Poem

She and I

Jon Bellion and the dragons 
A perfect duet 
For the long night 
Soon to be nought 

The silhouette of two figures 
Walking down the empty road 
As wind and darkness danced. 
In the absence of moonlight 

Man and woman created he them 
As both sat in the garden 
Not Eden as it was without hazard
An action without implication 

Alone 
Not alone 
Are not alone?
They are not alone.

Details | Joshua Popoola Poem

Eko Lagos

The streets of Lagos 
Snort odours of variant origins
Whilst watching their breath claw its way 
Into the breathing hole of man 

The feet of Lagos
Speedily catapulting legs forward 
Dance to the howling of cars 
On these burdened streets 

Thrashing and striking chords mercilessly 
The cacophonous orchestra of man and Danfo 
Creates a vortex of peaceful chaos 
On these weary yet wary streets 


With legs dangling in the waters
And sitting on the edge of a phenomenon,
The nature of man it wields 
Half beautiful, half grotesque

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What Have We Done

Listen 
Listen intently 
Listen with your mind and ears 
Listen for the sound of nature 

Listen for the gay chirping of birds 
Listen for the gentle sound of wind 
Listen for the wolf howling in the distance 
Listen for the sweet singing of the trees clapping hands together 

Do you hear them 
No, you don't 
The truth shouts in silence 
We have nature's blood on our hands

Details | Joshua Popoola Poem

Viva La Viva

V vaunts verbiage vociferously.
Visage viewed very vacuous                            			
Vacillates varyingly,
Venting valentine versus violence

Vast, versatile, variant,
Vehement vituperations volunteered: 
Voices voice virtuously
Voices voice vulgarly

V very veracious,
Versal vortices visualized,
Versal volages visualized,
V’s  valedictory.

Details | Joshua Popoola Poem

Love's Deception

Love is a trench
In a world of chaos
The deeper the fall
The deeper it leads

Until it becomes a chasm
Inescapable and irretracable 
Leaving those who wandered thus far
The reward of recklessness

Love is light
But the shadow it casts
Irrepressible and looming
Warns of foreboding doom

For in the beginning
Before the birth of light
There was darkness
And darkness has been

Love is a claw
That tickles the skin
Before it packs a pound
And stains the dance floor with its colour.