BY UMAR ABUBAKAR SIDI
DAWN OF INSPIRATION Hapharzarding Streak of rays Ripple down From the horn of the sky And Strike the soul Like lyrical spears Of a striking simmering song DEFINITION LOVE: I define you as that Which can only be defined By words without a definition And These words are defined By a definition Which itself is devoid Of the definition of love DROP YOUR FOLKY GONGS AND COME… Let me take you to the bearded hills Where we will dine Our recipe A lumpcious bowl of poems The rhymes Will sweep us off our feet The cadence Will swing us as it goes Forming a lyrical spear That will strip our minds of fear And Infuse them with truth Truth found in poems Oh!, drop your folky gongs and come (For UU AKEEL) I COULD NOT GIVE YOU A LOVELY KISS (For Ismail B. Garba’s ‘FOUR POEMS FOR CHARLES SIMIC) As you Twist Turn Twirl Wiggle Wriggle Waggle And moan lyrically In response To the softness of my caress I see that: Your rhymes Are static Your rhythm; Loosed Your cadence; Broken And You have no title and such I could not give you a lovely kiss IF YOU DON’T UNDERSTAND THE POEM If you don’t understand the poem Oh mighty poetess Gaffe its teeth on gabble Pierce a world of pin on its skin Then shake it vigorously Like the purse Of a market woman Being searched For an only coin of gold Then You‘ll understand Not only the poem but also the poet And the sorcery Behind the horn of his poem MUSING As the brightness of your thoughts Blinds my sight As the echoes of your poem Awakes the sage in me As fluorescence of your portrait Haunts me in my dreams As the benevolence of your smile Tickles the mucus of my brain As the countenance of your sways Stirs passionate fluids in my heart As the magnificence of your voice Pushes me further from the folds of sanity Your BEING descends And engulfs my BEING I shiver, I wail, I laugh and I think “I will seize her by the neck Tie unto a stake Strike her with whips of karangiya* Mutilate her, maltreat her, manhandle her… …till she chooses to dance to the rhythm of my beats *Thorns POETRY AT KWL The swings Give way to the riddles And Give The riddles away RIPPLES The deafening silence of night Sharpen the blades that sooth The melodious sounds: Da sunan rabbu zan fara wakata Haba waka zan yi gun tauraruwata By the throw of the lyrical spear: Tunaninki fa shine abincina Begenki fa shine ruwanshana Shiny rays assemble And permeate through the guarded walls Furucina nakeyi yau da gaske Duk a sammai ba abunda ya kaiki haske Penetrated into the inner recesses of the orb Softened the subtle fangs And forced a smile on gloomy face Behold the lovely chants Like a hoppy jump Into a stagnant pond Stirred rosy ripples In a lonely heart WEB OF LOVE (For sa’adat) Didn’t the poet Wear the sights of saints To see beyond the face of the sun? Didn’t the poet Don the garb of mourning To dance the kiss of death? Didn’t the poet Gulp the drink of madness And sing the Song of Songs? All, for the poetess’s sake? Is that why He Swaggered Staggered Tumbled Rumbled And crashed Into the wilderness as dust of dusk? Could it equally be why? He was slapped Smashed Chained And hanged Across the seven stakes In the WEB O F LOVE? WHEN THE NIGHT IS SET… In a palpitated phase And clouds swing and sway The frosty cold drizzles Shivering Beneath the cover of my sheets I dream (…Like a porcupine You emit dozen salvos Of Quills To hit my Heart Thus My feelings you shattered By a twinge of bundled sorrow From a dish of intense anguish And yet you seemed satisfied? ) But now I reckon You are But the Griot of my Heart My master muse For a poet you made Out of me
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