Rip sir.

I read 'Abiku' in secondary school,but I don't know if it's his own or wole soyinka's own.

I love "Streamside Exchange"

gwafaeziokwu
post=94907338:
Night Rain

By J.P Clark




What time of night it is

I do not know

Except that like some fish

Doped out of the deep

I have bobbed up belly wise

From stream of sleep

And no cock crow

It is drumming hard here

And I suppose everywhere

Droning with insistent ardor upon

Our roof thatch and shed

And through sheaves slit open

To lightning and rafters

I cannot quite make out over head

Great water drops are dribbling

Falling like orange and mango

Fruits showered forth in the wind

Or perhaps I should say so

Much like beads I could in prayer tell

Then on string as they break

In wooden bowls and earthenware

Mother is busy now deploying

About our room let an floor

Although, it is so bad

I know her practiced step as

She moves her bins, bags and vats

Out of the run of water

That like ants filling out of the wood

Will scatter and gain possession

Of the floor. Do no tremble then

But, turn brothers, turn upon your side

Of your loosening mats

To where the others lie.

We have drunk tonight of a spell

Deeper than the owl’s or bat’s

That wet of wings may not fly

Bedraggled up on the iroko, they stand

Emptied of hearts, and

Therefore will not, stir, no, not

Even at dawn for then

They must scurry in to hide.

So let us roll over our back

And again roll to the beat

Of drumming all over the land

And under its ample soothing hand

Joined to that of the sea

We will settle to sleep of the innocent and free.



Rip great one! You kind comes once in a life time. Nigerian literary community will miss you.

jaymichael:
I still know by heart your poem 'Streamside Exchange'



CHILD

River bird, river bird.

Sitting all day long

On hook over grass,

River bird, river bird.

Sing to me a song

Of all that pass

And say,

Will mother come back today?



BIRD

You cannot know

And should not bother;

Tide and market come and go

And so shall your mother.

His "song" is my best poem

I can look the sun in the face

He left Nigeria with its casualties.

The Casualties

By J.P. Clark

The casualties are not only those who are dead.

They are well out of it.

The casualties are not only those who are dead.

Though they await burial by installment.

The casualties are not only those who are lost

Persons or property, hard as it is

To grope for a touch that some

May not know is not there.

The casualties are not only those led away by night.

The cell is a cruel place, sometimes a haven.

No where as absolute as the grave.

The casualties are not only those who started

A fire and now cannot put out. Thousands

Are are burning that have no say in the matter.

The casualties are not only those who are escaping.

The shattered shall become prisoners in

A fortress of falling walls



The casualties are many, and a good member as well

Outside the scenes of ravage and wreck;

They are the emissaries of rift,

So smug in smoke-rooms they haunt abroad,

They do not see the funeral piles

At home eating up the forests.

They are wandering minstrels who, beating on

The drums of the human heart, draw the world

Into a dance with rites it does not know.



The drums overwhelm the guns…

Caught in the clash of counter claims and charges

When not in the niche others left,

We fall.

All casualties of the war.

Because we cannot hear each other speak.

Because eyes have ceased the face from the crowd.

Because whether we know or

Do not the extent of wrongs on all sides,

We are characters now other than before

The war began, the stay-at-home unsettled



By taxes and rumours, the looters for office

And wares, fearful everyday the owners may return.

We are all casualties,

All sagging as are

The cases celebrated for kwashiorkor.

The unforseen camp-follower of not just our war.

...The casualties are not only those who died in war. Though they await burial by instalment...RIP prof

May His Soul Rest In Paradise...Amen!

LadySarah:


The Concubine was written by Elechi Amadi.
Then all I dreamt of was to work in a library and be surrounded by books.

Their generation had it so easy but they destroyed Nigeria.

Hmmmm.. that's another way to look at it, their generation had its highs and lows..but we may never see such a bright gem again in our own generation or ever in Nigeria, education isn't what it was.

Oh rest in peace sir

tutudesz:
The Clark-Fuludu Bekederemo family of Kiagbodo Town, Delta State, wishes to announce that Emeritus Professor of Literature and Renowned Writer, Prof. John Pepper Clark, has finally dropped his pen in the early hours of today, Tuesday, 13 October, 2020.

Prof. J. P. Clark has paddled on to the great beyond in comfort of his wife, children and sibbling, around him.

The family appreciates your prayers at this time.
Other details will be announced later by the family.

Signed:
Prof. C. C. Clark, for the family.
Mr. Ilaye Clark, for the children.

Emeritus Professor of Literature and Renowned Writer, Professor John Pepper Clark is dead.
The poet is the younger brother of former Federal Commissioner for Information and South South Leader, Chief Edwin Kiagbodo Clark.
In a statement signed by Prof. C. C. Clark, for the family and Mr. Ilaye Clark, for the children and made available to Vanguard Tuesday, Professor John Pepper Clark died in the early hours of today.


https://www.vanguardngr.com/2020/10/breaking-edwin-clark-loses-brother-prof-j-p-clark/

Rest in peace.
He was a great writer, I remember some of his poems during literature at school.

Rest in peace the great poet,you have made your mark in the field of literature. I still remember this nugget from you.....

You who will drive forward
But look at the rear mirror
Look at the traffic and casualties blocking the road
To the market.....
He drives well who returns
Again and again with fresh wares.

uncleinans:


people born in the 90s wont know this.

Well I was born in the 90s

RIP

Eriokanmi:
so, na why you com dey cha that tigarr for mouth

tutudesz:
The Clark-Fuludu Bekederemo family of Kiagbodo Town, Delta State, wishes to announce that Emeritus Professor of Literature and Renowned Writer, Prof. John Pepper Clark, has finally dropped his pen in the early hours of today, Tuesday, 13 October, 2020.

Prof. J. P. Clark has paddled on to the great beyond in comfort of his wife, children and sibbling, around him.

The family appreciates your prayers at this time.
Other details will be announced later by the family.

Signed:
Prof. C. C. Clark, for the family.
Mr. Ilaye Clark, for the children.

Emeritus Professor of Literature and Renowned Writer, Professor John Pepper Clark is dead.
The poet is the younger brother of former Federal Commissioner for Information and South South Leader, Chief Edwin Kiagbodo Clark.
In a statement signed by Prof. C. C. Clark, for the family and Mr. Ilaye Clark, for the children and made available to Vanguard Tuesday, Professor John Pepper Clark died in the early hours of today.

https://www.vanguardngr.com/2020/10/breaking-edwin-clark-loses-brother-prof-j-p-clark/

Chief Edwin Kiagbodo Clarke has lost his brother.

It is a loss to the literary world, Delta state and Nigeria at large.

Rip

RAGEofFIRE:

wole soyinka will bw sitting very uncomfortably on his chair after recieving this news but its great to be the last man standing he deserves that LAYCONS money for he is the real BIG BROTHER!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Officialgarri:
Wow. Rest in peace papa. You have done well in your lifetime.
Say hello to your good friend —Chinua Achebe.

And accept condolences from we the family of Prof. Wole Soyinka

On this day, after a little tension between Prof. W.S and Prof J.p. C, the trio put aside their differences and paid Gen. Ibrahim Babangida a visit to demand the release of the soon-to-be executed poet, soldier,
and childhood friend of the De facto Head of state —Mamman Vatsa

They all returned from the meeting in a joyful mood as they screamed their way in the car on their way out.

However, Babangida's promise to the trio was a pseudo promise as Vatsa was promptly tried and executed


Lalasticlala

Agbor Dancer. Great writer and an even greater man

R.I.P Sir

pozehnani:


Ikwere in rivers.? They are not igbos.

I cannot stop laughing at this ignorance, whether feigned or real I know not.

Do yourself a little favour: read the history of Nigeria from a very neutral point of view, not post-war nonsense, and understand for yourself who is who.

GreyLaw:


I cannot stop laughing at this ignorance, whether feigned or real I know not.

Do yourself a little favour: read the history of Nigeria from a very neutral point of view, not post-war nonsense, and understand for yourself who is who.

You can go ahead and wallow in history. Fact remains that ikwere is not igbo. I mean.. this is common sense thing.

Where is ikwere located? Is it in any of the igbo states? No. Its in RIVERS State and that is not in any way an Igbo state. So what exactly is your point? The "Igbo" language they even speak is nothing close the pure igbo. You'll still hear some elements of the ikwere dialect in it. So??...

IKWEREANS ARE NOT IGBOS. Quote me from now till eternity. It won't change anything.

SnOOpERr:


We have Chimamandia right there. We have El Nukoya right there. New quartet

we are talking of giants, you are mentioning snails

babyfaceafrica:
we are talking of giants, you are mentioning snails

Hey not nice. They re the new giant. Who's gonna write for the upcoming generations?. The dead from their grave?

R.I.P to a LEGEND. I love all his poems especially "stream side exchange" may his soul rest in perfect peace

Rip Sir