₦airaland Forum

I eat the tuber of hope
I drink from the stream of hope
now I am full
tomorrow I know is stellar
today is a promise
I dare to dream!

odun tuntun de o!
Edumare a sope
it is a new year
it is a new birth
it is a new life
it is a new odyssey
let's embrace it
may God's speed be our lot
bon voyage!

new
friend
foe
soil
toil
welcome
I shall trudge with God!
I shall adventurate!
I shall live!
I can't wait.
But I can and will wait.
God's speed Isaiah!

old year
friend
foe
good
bad
ugly
thanksgiving
great
grand
you came, you saw, you surmounted!
thank God I was there!

yuletide
rice
eba
banga
burukutu
ugba
plenty of dining and wining
children feasting and playing
adults happy and gay
let me wish everyone
a merry christmas
is santa claus coming today

Eleduwa, mo ju ba
Edumare, mo sope
thanks for being You
You Lord are
You Master are
You King are
accept lord my humble worship!

dawn breaks
nature wakes
ojumo ti mo
let all that live jirate
let all that live elevate
for our lives is full, complete, round
yes our centre is true
Edumare gba ebo wa
our praise sacrifice is due!

alone
empty
voidful
searching
yearning
my heart races
my eyes opens
my ears alerts
my feelings erupts
my scent smells
who is she?
where is she?
my own
okan mi!

ife laye
love is life
life is love
there isn't life without love
there isn't love without life
love life
live love
ife ni gbogbo wa n wa
let's love one another!

greatness
strength
power
authority
might
dominion
presence
essence
let Creation shout
let Life celebrate
let spirits ring out
kindly accept my humble adulation!

otito le
truth stinks
truth provides no solace
truth's canopy is porous
otito koro
truth is bitterness!

the heavens glorifies
the firmaments speaks
the day testifies
the night adjudicates
speech silences
word mutes
voice dumbfounds
earth limit extends
the world's boundless
glory sings
dalu chukwus!

mo n du ro
du ro fun Olugbala mi
waiting patiently for my salvation
for it close is
my moment now is
my time a force is
it worth the while is!

yellow
black
mama
eclectic
mistress of trade all
cobbler
seamstress
trader
doctor
business mogul et cetera
you are greatly missed
continue to rest in Jesus's shalom!

though you are broke
no wahala
though there is no food on the table
no wahala
though your rent is due
no wahala
yes you are in rags
no wahala
though friends stab back
no wahala
though family abandons you
no wahala
though your account is red
no wahala
though God is silent
no wahala
no wahala
no wahala
as it is twice wahala for the dead!

On the occasion of Nigeria's 54th Independence Anniversary
nation state
black
proud
green
oil-tainted
dignified
glorified
corrupt
lighted
dark
united
divided
my country is beautiful
my country is ugly
Nigeria
motherland
I am proud to be a Nigerian
happy birthday Nigeria!

telepathy
cleric
healer
man
mind
prayer
damnation
compulsorily neurotic
aiye oni ya e ni were!

kindly refrain from absolute evil
do not spoil me
do not harm me
do not obstruct me
let me live in peace
for I am but a child
ori mi ma se gbabode o!

pater!
like drops of gold
pater!
like diamond drops
let me usher in the child
child
child
child
children
frolic with abandoned recklessness
yes let's have some fun!

friends I no sabi find
click I no sabi sef
all I know is how to post
even for that one,I no sabi type well
share, I no sabi
make una come see me see trouble o!
but sha God dey
one day bi one day
me too go sabi am well well
me too go become Facebook guru!

simple are men
like Tobi and Tade
men are ordinary
like Shade and Bunmi
jeje laye
this life is nothing
it is little by little

hair-do like a sky-scraper
pan cake here
pan cake there
lip stick for mouth
eye shadow dey too
ha, make una come see
women palava
nobi small thing o!

of people, things and colours
let me say, son, they are simple
simple are they, though some
assume super-ordinary nature
but it is true always that they are
ordinary and ordinary are they
your odyssey will last long and dry
with many contours and swamps
but be you strong and courageous
for the world has been conquered
be of good cheer and strive on
on this land sojourn as slow and steady
the race wins; no hurry please for
that grease will slow you down
though your faith shall last forever
to the dregs drink knowledge
and your stoppage time you'll not see
of these people, hold your pack
for they are angels of mercy sent
to minister to you; always have
a kind word to say and never hurt
any deliberately but with Deity on
your side, seek and strive after calmness
I am an old fool presently
but these are my little nuggets for life
so i say: take a chance but be real
for it is always half by half
and when your time has come to an end
may, in a flash, your whole life
be a story told with honour
dignity, simplicity, honesty, and charity
God's speed son!

The poem is a definitive statement of who I am. It is a story of self-acceptance and a declaration of my identity as a Nigerian African!

I
it is just I
my path has been made
but the choice is mine
the journey has just began
for everyday is new
this moment is mine
I shall savour it
the future knows bounds no
the past is gone
my life is before me
like awon aiye
my hopes I will not stultify
like a choked chameleon
oh Deity, master of the world
face me and save me!

my home is without pomp and pageantry
my furnishings are bare and basic
just like kulikuli and garri
carpet grass perforated
just like ase and garri
books, young and old, line every wall
like the soldier ant to their Queen
clothes, hanging loosely
like a man an escort
cups and plates in the adjacent kitchen
stand like tall lords of the universe
children playing outside
oblivious of my reverie
make mammoth noise
enough to wake the dead
the shallow ceiling, lined by staccato wires,
will seemingly envelope me
by my double bed, ;like a mighty fortress,
stands the Immaculate Conception
on the wall, glued like gladiator to his war horse,
is the memory of the Holy Family
constant companions are found in music
CDs and DVDs ensueing with its player
on a rickety old table
toilet and bathroom en-suite
let me say I am neither Wale Adenuga
nor as poor as a church rat
I am a happy man
my essence is the One
my creed my craft
my word my bond
and if you ask me where I am going
I will tell you the Promised Land
I can see it for it is not far off
yet there are no lunches free!

on a path where three roads meet
my crib street is laced with dry splendour
whereas up the road there are gallopy wet ways
and down there is a steepy dark canal
as for its prisoners, we have angels and demons
the angels fly by day and the demons by night
many a man is indignant, wicked and wild
just as some are warm , loving and mild
this street habours gossips, cultists and robbers
in the very same way it houses mystics and the pious
for not too far are catholic, cele and pentecostal churches and a mosque
my crib street is the best place to be
not because it is safe and sound
but because there is never a dull moment!

i am neither a sinner nor a saint
i am neither rich nor poor
i am neither anointed nor demon possessed
i am neither a scar nor a star
i am neither brilliant nor dull
i am neither proud nor humble
i am neither handsome nor ugly
i am neither sound nor sick
i am neither religious nor anti-religious
for all these i am
i am all these
one
many
true
believed
justified
my name is Akpomovine
i am a Nigerian child!