Beauty Is A Friend Like You

Beauty is not a name, for often
Heros and villians are samely known
Beauty is not in purple linen woven
Nor engraved in a golden crown
For all have their uses
And soon tend to abuses
Beauty is not a face
whose wrinkles await its days
Which like night to the day
must haste without delay
Beauty is not in one clime or for one season
But in every mile and for every reason
Beauty is honor fought and won
With friends and foes alike
Beauty is a heart prepared to be
Content in all life makes it see
And even in the sunshine and the rain
It triumph still in both joy and pain
Freedom is beauty's horse, its saddle is peace
Whose briddle is hope and commands a holy kiss

[...] Read more

poem by Okonkwo Osamedua. Allen
Added by Poetry Lover
Comment! | Vote! | Copy!

The man died

Some say he was hit by a moving train
On the track were his blood and brain
Some say they saw him yesterday
Or maybe an apparition looking so pale and grey
Some say he was stabbed in a street fight
And in pandomonion, the murderer took to flight
And he, dying with a grin on his face
Was heard reciting ' amazing grace'
Some say he was poisoned in a lovers toast
Where he collapsed and gave up the ghost
That he left large measure of silver and gold
Which his wife was glad when betold
Some say he died at eleven- forty- five
With his own sire still alive
Leaving behind a tootless old grandma
Who couldnt talk, but only smile at cha!
Some say this, some that, till silence befell
By the mournful sound of the church bell
Then it mattered not what is true or who lied
For all was one that says 'the man died'! !

poem by Okonkwo Osamedua. Allen
Added by Poetry Lover
Comment! | Vote! | Copy!

The Sojourner

Are your herds all dead
That you walk the street alone?
And do you have your own bed
When the toiling day is done?
City nomad without his herd
Wanderer, pilgrim of the mind
Wont you rest your tired head
You herdsman of a kind?

Were your ancestors cattle rearers
Who sought where grasses were green?
But you have mingled with the city dwellers
Leaving your herds either dead or lean
Tell me, city nomad
Why did you leave your father's way
And choose the city, tis' sad
That you roam the streets day by day

Or are you of the gypsy race
And your clan, minstrels and magicians?

[...] Read more

poem by Okonkwo Osamedua. Allen
Added by Poetry Lover
Comment! | Vote! | Copy!

Goodmorning!

I see the hand of the time creep
When half the world is asleep
And the moon in the silent night
Fading into the rising daylight
I see an owl with her fearful face
Perching from place to place
And rats on the deserted street
Not caring whom they meet,
Fighting and gnashing in a ratlike brawl
Dogs bark and growl
Sniffing and digging the ground
And chasing bitches as the go merry round
I hear goats bleat in the dark corner
And bats flying in a zigzag manner
Temperature drops
Weting every surface with dewdrops
I hear cock crow in a distance
And a chorus not far from where i stand
And mourning doves mourn
A solemn tune for the waking morn

[...] Read more

poem by Okonkwo Osamedua. Allen
Added by Poetry Lover
Comment! | Vote! | Copy!

The chain starts with me

'The chain starts with me'

I have a dream, a vision
Of a better and happier nation
A recovered hope, a new Nigeria
Where at last
From east to west, from north to south
The tempest of change shall sweep our dirty past
Where in the nearest future shall spread
Before us, a new era.
And we assembling together again
In one spirit, with joy like a river
Shall rise to rebuild again
Our fallen institutions,
Our ruin places, and battered legacy

A nation more pure and verdant
Where we shall live in true unity
Never in chaos nor ethnicity
Never in darkness

[...] Read more

poem by Okonkwo Osamedua. Allen
Added by Poetry Lover
Comment! | Vote! | Copy!

Tonight, Am In Love With The Rain

Tonight, am in love with the rain
The beating sound on my window pane
The howling wind, the dripping water
Man and beast seeking shelter

Am in love with the flashing light
The roaring thunder deep in the night
Am wondering how frightening it would be
To meet a storm in the open sea

Am in love with pools and puddles
Splashing water and the ripples
And waving wipers of cars driving by
Lighted images of raindrops from the sky

Am in love with cold water on my feet
As i take a walk on the empty street
And i love to have a bath in the rain
To melt away this lingering strain

[...] Read more

poem by Okonkwo Osamedua. Allen
Added by Poetry Lover
Comment! | Vote! | Copy!

Mercy

'Wake up son, the city is about to go up in flames!
Sins are many, they heap upon me all blames!
Take thy household, nothing else and flee.
To the hills, look not behind thee
Take no silver, take no gold
But thy coat to keep thee from the cold

Take no livestock, call no friends
Lest it pass from friends to fiends
wake now, wake all, hurry soon
Before the rising of another noon
Run now, to the hills begone
Lest my mercy upon thee undone!

But if thou has any word to say
I bid thee hence without delay
Pour out thy thoughts, say it now
For in thy flight no word will I allow
Speak now for thy earthly sake
And upon thy words, will I my judgment take'

[...] Read more

poem by Okonkwo Osamedua. Allen
Added by Poetry Lover
Comment! | Vote! | Copy!

Night and Day

I painted a picture of the day
Nature in her sweet tranquil
Her beauty was dazzling in every way
By her sun upon the hill!

I made her grasses the color green
Blue the color of the sea
In pink and red her flowers sheen
In brown, her rocks sit solitary

I painted a picture of the night
But nature has lost her spark
I colored her beauty in black and white
What glory is there in the dark?

I made her sky with dotted light
Of stars in their endless space
But there was no color to make her bright
But the moon with her golden face

[...] Read more

poem by Okonkwo Osamedua. Allen
Added by Poetry Lover
Comment! | Vote! | Copy!

Lamentation of a deity

The god laments:

Ewuru! Ewuru! You have uncovered my nakedness!
You have thrown sand upon my banquet
And joined strangers to vilify me.
I, who was once your fathers pride
They neither ate nor drank until they feed their precious bride!
I, who once craddled you in my arms, now i prove
But a scorn to you and your new found love
You thrust a knife into my heart and say 'die'!
Die! Die! Can the breathless die?
Not even a decent burial will you arrange
But your fathers, such entreaties to my shrine would they engage!
For then when i hiss they all begin to cry
The god is angry! the god is angry! , even when i sigh
The women run into their rooms in terror
Aru! Men shake thier heads in horror
For my visit is mixed with a terrible anger
Grains, wine and blood they lay before my alter
A sacrifice of bribery, yes of bribery!

[...] Read more

poem by Okonkwo Osamedua. Allen
Added by Poetry Lover
Comment! | Vote! | Copy!

Hungry Pity Pete, Five Days Long

'Pity' Pete, as hungry as he can be
Shot a patridge on a pear tree
And took home the fowl to roast
With rum he bought for a toast
It was winter and Peter had no coat
Nor a cosy home, but a shant by the dry moat
On his right arm were woods for fire
And in his left bills of hungry looking Peter
With a ransom on him alive
To any who catches him before the guards arrive
For Pete at every christmas is a menace
That made his Majesty wear all day a grimace
'Tis'' said Pete, ' an excellent meal
For one lonely soul down the cold dale
The meat such a sweet delight
With fire and rum to keep me warm all night
Then by morrow, straight to the castle for mercy
Will i go before his Majesty'
But what had 'Pity Pete' done, if you may ask
That all, the king now must task

[...] Read more

poem by Okonkwo Osamedua. Allen
Added by Poetry Lover
Comment! | Vote! | Copy!