‘Mama Iyabo’ by Nonso Nduanya (Charcoal and Pastel, 2015).
January - March 2017 •
The Lion King
• 57
POETRY & arts
Yet a place filled with all my comfort,
Nothing brings it low until it starts to
gear.
A place with all my sorrow,
Yet a place with all my joy
The place where I do the worst
But the closing and lining of some
best
I have it all laid out for history but till
done
Can be the imprisonment of life for
life
It is the center that gathers my 5 lines
and the 6TH,
Yet the center of judgment and fate
if I do not deceive;
An inner world of good and ill.
A larger world of muse and feel
The only place where winning ever
starts
The only place where losing begins
If there is ever something to mind
I think that is; my mind.
It hold my position and further steps.
Our Nation Today
By Ewulluh Ogonna
Do we still believe?
Do we still have faith in our father
land?
Many have given up hope.
Have you?
A lot more have gone as far as saying
‘nothing good can ever come out of
this country’.
Do you agree with them?
I turn around and all I hear is
recession.
All around me everyone talks
recession.
Recession….a word that has become
our reality.
A reality we mostly blame on our
current leaders.
We fault them.
We say before them our country was
doing well.
Were we?
Can we actually say the current
government brought this upon us?
Can we in all honesty, without
sentiment agree with this?
Because the fact remains I am a
Nigerian and I feel as well as you.
So I ask again, do we really believe
that the problems of our nation arose
with the current government?
I say to you though in a voice that
rings without sentiment nor religious
beliefs, before now, for 5 years we
lived without direction.
Drifting.
Ruled by a leader who had no actual
knowledge of leadership.
And for the first time in my life I
worried for our nation.
And once again I worry.
I worry because even though we won
the battle against bad leadership
we are now faced with a far bigger
problem, ‘recession’.
They say though that without hope
we are nothing.
So I ask, if we do not believe, do we
at least hope?
Do you?
Ololufe
By Moshood Azeez
I am Ololufe, the prince of love!
Husband-In-Chief among women:
Last son of Ifelade, mother of Love
I was conceived before the first man
Birthed in terrestrial mysteries
In my own sacred abode,
We dine like there’s no tomorrow
With our hands, we eat
Through our noses, we sneeze
No anomalies, all is perfect!
I am Ololufe, a rootless stone
Firm, solid and unwavering
The Balogun-General of love,
That knows his strength in prime,
Love’s frailties are clear before me,
They are laid bare and open
I’ve been with him since inception,
Before the lands, seas and air
Were spoken into existence
As ancient as his days, so I am!
I am Ololufe, a multi-faced being
A soothing relief to some,
A flaming sword, to others
People of the unending crossroads
Dance to the sound of the bata
drum!
As the oju oro surfaces the stream,
As the osibata lives above the water
I’ll ever be above my adversaries
Love will always triumph
It is an eternal code!
