₦airaland Forum

Krystalxxx:
Read this poem once, twice , three times. I've gotta say it's deep , it really is. I can't figure out exactly what the themes are and what it's really saying though I have some ideas in my head . But I think it's dark and just awesome and full of meaning. I'd love it if you'd explain more about it to us

Did you get the first stanza? It's about the birth of a boy. Second stanza elaborates the contrast between the boy and his immediate environ.

Tag: Laykorn, texanomaly, timpaker

Looking beyond the alacrity in this as a political tract, I will proudly say that this is one of the best poems I have read in recent time.

Painting Nigeria as though it's a woman is a great work of art and as a starter, you are indeed good. With little or much editing, that poem can be more artistic.

Write more, please.

Congratulation to the winners and every participant. Thank you, Whitemosquito and the judges.

God bless your pen.

laykorn:
OMA4U, let me read for a second time. I read your pieces 10 times over. Lol.

Modified:

Wow! This is great sir. But, I don't understand the 3rd line of stanza 5.

Oma, you dropped the rhymes at 4. Lol. Why sir?
Ayamlaykorn

Thanks boss. It's an honour to have you here, sir. That rhyme undergoes alteration. It might still be sued to court of editing, even though I have edited it countless times.

Pls, quote out the undecipherable lines. The phone I'm using at the moment lumps them together.

Echoes of My Voice

Rounding off the race of primordial time
In a confined cell of bubbled water
Knitted the fetus of an unseen soul
Pulled out amid the thighs of a seamstress
To the pool of crimson flooded blanket -
His cradle bed clasped his tender body

I echo volumes of innocent cries
From the deep cosmic hard of black clay pot;
In a rumpled heap of folded hot leaves
A solid white pap with dazzling traits came;
As though from the long cave of dark tunnel
A prism of white luminous light sheds;

From the thousand of barbarian voices
A tiny, yet compelling voice echoes;
Brimmed market of busy patronizers
A buyer stood aloof in a zenith,
Yet commanding the frenzied market square
Through the labyrinth of clumsy voices

An empire where eyes were dark as night
Crystal pupils dilate and shed bright light;
When storms call like a familiar stranger
A glyph of stiff mast of public pole stood;
In a forest of thousand wobble trees
Araba's root stood firmly in the soil

Like a refined gem from a filthy stream
Along the subway of muddy water;
Like an artifact buried in the earth
when exhumed, a treasure welcome the world;
Although my infant voice echoes from blues,
my voice that booms is yet to get its muse.

Note: Echoes of My Voice is a poem consisting of an unrhymed pentameter -there are ten syllables in each line and sestet (a six-line poem) of six stanzas

Tag: Laykorn
Texanomaly
Timpaker
Oahray
Everestdebliu
Krystalxxx
Buqqui
Firestar
Gloriaz Johnbright
JigsawKillah

Texanomaly
Laykorn
Oahray
Krystalxxx
Timpaker
Everestdebliu

Murder of Violencehood

Silently, I banged the portal of the god of peace
But before, my warmest homage I did pay
To him and to those who long sand did kiss
Before I said the words that seemed never did say

At the threshold over the frame my feet stood
My eyes closed, leaving the mind to wander
To roam, to form a mental image of him as it could:
Halos hovered around him, I saw when left to meander

I banged and banged and wide the door threw open
A ceremonial banquet amid merry and revels grew
Although as anticipated, a new odd path was broken
So strange, a rain of blood flooded like dense drops of dew

In the castle where the god of peace did reign
Savage murderers jollied in slaying throat
As though a needle pierced, my heart felt his pain
As bullets riddled his chest, left him crimson coat

I sought to see this god to retort unanswered questions
I sought and sought but no god ever lived there once
Then I asked why the castle made for peace intentions
I found an answer worth to be shared and share for years

The blood that washes the land gushes from Violence's heart
This lesson may leave the sagest in still silent mood -
if we could lay arm in arm and never from our brothers part
And in unison, vow to live in the murder of violencehood

OMA Quotes: "Absence of violence breathes life into a dead peace."

Oga o. Larrysun no go kill person.

These are my few words:

Schadenfreude
Phantasmagoria
Plenitude
Scintillate
adactylous

Tag: Timpaker

Sorry o, but why did you give your hearts to some girls at the first instance?

BTW, nice collab. Good one, poets.

I show my sincere gratitude to those who read the story first and and as well edited it. They also encouraged me, Larrysun and Texanomaly. God bless you, Sir and Ma.

Thank you all Nairaland writers.

THE 2014 Award SHORTLIST (January 20, 2015) Our judges have whittled the longlist down to a shortlist of
five incredible stories. Congratulations to the shortlisted writers:

Caleb Adebayo for ‘Bits and Pieces’

Hajara Hussaini Ashara for ‘The Illusionist’

Hymar David for ‘No Fireflies in the Rain’

Imade Iyamu for ‘What you Saw in the Mirror’

Dam Michael for ‘Patron of Matrimony’


THE 2014 AWARD LONGLIST
(January 10, 2015)

13 is a lucky number!! Thank you to all the writers who
answered the call. Our judges were impressed by the quality of many of the stories. We are delighted to reveal the longlist of 13:

“The Illusionist” by Hussaini Ashara.

“London Wife” by Matuluko

“I believe that One Day it Would Happen” by Francis Ugochukwu Maduako,

“What you Saw in the Mirror” by Imade Iyamu,

“Telling My Own Stories” by Ovuoda David Nkwuda,

“Memories of the Past” by Miracle Adebayo,

“Being a Man” by Opeyemi Salau

“Bits and Pieces” by Caleb Adebayo

“Little Mum” by JB Mairubutu

“Patron of Matrimony” by Dam Michael

“It Happened” by Charles Opara

“In Afikpo” by Chioma Ibiam

“No Fireflies in the Rain” by Hymar David,

The winner will be announced by February.

In fact, it's been interesting all the way. Now Mr Kaya09, I want to help your understanding a bit.

Under her thatch, she watched the group of spectacular maiden who were rehearsing Bull dance; they were clad in short grassy skirts embellished with beads, while their full grown hair stood proudly on their scalp. [b\]

Why do you think they are practising bull dance? They were actually preparing for the new year in their own unique traditional (local) way.


[b] She had woven enough baskets that would fetch her much money. She couldn't wait to see her husband; her visage brightened as she anticipated another wonderful new year.

Why do you think the protagonist had to work hard to make money?


You said the story does not add up. Stories don't just exist, one thing leads to the other.

Besides, this is a flash fiction, so I would prefer the readers to figure out what every scene depicts on their own.


Thank you, I have read countless literary criticism. Yours is just a cog in a wheel and I don't know what makes you feel you know better than the impeccable judges.

Thank you all.
OMA.

OMG!!! I never knew I had made frontpage. I'm so so happy. I'm coming back to Thank everyone who has contributed to this one way or the other.

Bamibor:
I enjoyed every bit of this piece and like ealier pointed out, your colourful use of imagery, is a literary joy to savour...God bless and increase your wisdom... I'm inspired!

Amen!!! And God bless you, too. Your comments go a long way.

Kaxmytex:
Irawe....o boi,no b 2day wey i don dey hear dat word o...me wey b say i b yoruba guy sef i no sabi d meaning not until you tell me say na dry leaf, gracias.....
I r'mba dose dayz wen i still dey watch yoruba nolly movie...dere herbalist always make use of dat word in incantations when invoking a spirit.....some spirit dey wey b say dem no dey hear dere names once,maybe it's as a result of d beat by dre wey dem dey use at dat moment...but when d herbalist decides to make use of diz punchline "irawe kan ki dajo ile ko sunna" omo, spirit no dey get choice dan to appear ontop herbalist plasma tv o.....
U go fear wireless nah,downloading speed,10gb/sec

if all dose kind herbalist dey nairaland,
bros e, i duff my head warmer o, more vaseline to ur hm hmm...

OMA4U, thanks 4 d enlightenment once again.....u 2much

Bro, Thanks so much. I used to watch Yoruba movies too and it helped me understand yoruba culture, traditions, and most especially the proverbs. I love them all. And I will still watch any yoruba movies that portray the aforementioned any day any time.

Thanks so much.

janespecial010:
Master Piece.

God! I love these two words. You made my day, baby. Thank you.

Marv650:
na so... I'm falling.

Fall for wetin?

moderatorr1:
Nice poetry
Amazing mastery
E just be like make i dey flow spiritually
as in, personally
I luv this piece seriously

Thank you, Mr Moderatorr1. God bless you.

bighead1:
irawe o ki'n dajo ile ki o suun

Beni.... Owe ile tolo. Kare, omo yoruba.

ireneony:
which copy right, infact i go copy am put for me blog.
you nor go fit do me anything

LOL.... No just try am or else I go sue you.
Thanks for your comment, baby.

ril19:
poets are one hell of a thinking group of people mehn.

kudos to y'all.

Yeah. That's the spirit. Deep thoughtfulness.

gottoboy:
Nice1 bro, next time tag me

Yes, I will. Thanks, bro.

donifez:
Wow what a piece...with vocabularies springing every where like weed, I doff my hat.

Donifez boss. Thanks for your comment. I appreciate you, sir.

JigsawKillah:
nice piece......wish I can write like this

Okay o, I hear you. I still hold you in high reverence. Jigsaw boss, na you o.

texanomaly:
Wow! I knew there was some story behind this. You did a great job with this poem. I got so much of its meaning without knowing the Yoruba proverb or what "Irawe" means. I knew it was significant though. Thanks for explaining. Lovely

Thanks, ma'am. Did you also get it that the last stanza represents 'cemetary' and 'tombs for the dead'?

timpaker:
From my observation you wrote the first and sixth stanza(s) in verse(s), the second and fifth stanza are written in blank verse(s). Free verses aren't suppose to rhyme or follow a particular rhyming pattern bro.

Some few features of Blank Verse
1. Blank verse poetry has no fixed number of lines.
2. It has a conventional meter that is used for verse drama and long narrative poems.
3. It is often used in descriptive and reflective poems and dramatic monologues — the poems in which
a single character delivers his thoughts in the form of a speech.
4. Blank verse can be composed in any kind of meter, such as iambic pentameter. I hope you understand?

I got you clearly. I purposely made stanza one and six quatrain(s) to call attentions to those particular stanzas ( just like chorus in a song is repeated ).

Thanks for enlightening me on Blank Verse. Any more observations?

Beautiful poem! If tomorrow never comes, nice thoughts. More please?

Wow! I read two beautiful poems here. Thanks for sharing, Missmossy.

laykorn:
Dammy, check this:
www.nairaland.com/2097730/word-picture-recharge-challenge-submission-thread

I have been there. It's going on well, but eliminate the requirement of 5 lines. It's a weekly thing. You garrit?

HizMissy:
some are born great,
some are made great,
some strive till they become great,
while some are too damn lazy to try.

always felt i had some thoughts worth penning down. But i just couldnt reach deep enough into my self to bring them out.

countless times, I've been told 'write!' and then i tried today and this is all i get? oh well, i guess its not really my thing.

For the fact that you could scribble, writing is in for you, believe me. All you need to do is to think deep, look deep within yourself, scour memories and experiences (good and bad), write your thoughts and let emotions walk through your pen. I wanna see you write some more.

laykorn:
Link?

Lol, I tried to write some myself. Not good enough to be shared lol. One hard thing to write.
Ayamlaykorn

I will scour through and repost in this section.

laykorn:
Ol' poets still in free verse. Inspire us Dammy, abeg. We need sonnets.
Ayamlaykorn

Sonnets? I will have to SIT down and write that. Okay, I wrote one erstwhile. How about that?

timpaker:
Nice one bro! I sure can relate with this piece. What form did you use?

No definite form, it's free verse.

texanomaly:
What is Irawe? I Googled it and I got a Yoruba Nollywood movie. It's a lovely poem, but why do I get the feeling there is something I'm missing because I'm not Yoruba, or even African?

Irawe is a yoruba word for those dead (dry) leaves. You aren't missing though, there's a yoruba proverb that says, "when leaves get dried and are ready to fall from tree, nothing can stop them."

That means the leaves change their home from the 'tree' down to the 'ground', so it's a metaphor for humans, every mortal life will surely depart the world (Mother Tree) into the ground irrespective of their ages. In the poem, 'green, yellow, and gold leaves' represent various ages. That is death does not consider age. 'Gold leaves' are the accomplished old humans. 'Green leaves' are those who die young.

Now I think this helps and you're no longer missing. I wanted to write it in Yoruba, but to reach wider audience. Ayaf type enough abeg, phew!

Thanks for reading, Tex.

Lianzer, read and review, please.

Tag: Laykorn
Texanomaly
Timpaker
Oahray
Everestdebliu
Krystalxxx
Buqqui
Firestar
Gloriaz
Johnbright
JigsawKillah