IF TEARS WERE IN BLOOD

To say tears be blood

walahi I for don dry finish

I too cry I swear.

As I dey wake every morning

na to first cry be my own

na tears be my morning food

na im still be my night food

see as I don bite all my nails finish

na to begin bite my fingers remain so oh.

Caro my babie, nor be my fault I swear

na my village winch(witch) too strong

na plasma dem take dey watch me

dem don upgrade from mirror

na wetin make I misbehave be dat

nor be my fault biko

nor be me wan slap you

na dem make my hand begin stretch like ‘kini’

to say I know I for nor try am

cos baibe(baby), you be better woman

nor let me dry finish bikonu.

Sweetie I dey for ground oh

I nor go gree stand

till you forgive me

I wan go bring ma papa and mama come

you say for wetin?

make dem follow me beg you na

 even that nonsense Bimpe go follow come

na we all go gather beg you.

I swear I nor dey look her waist again

She nor even sabi ‘do’ reach you

My eyes nor dey shook again I swear

Just try forgive me Nkem

I nor go ever try am again

If I lie make I naked baff(bathe)

Nor vex babym

If I try am again, abeg nor forgive me.

Oluwole

WHO SHALL KISS THIS MAID

Who shall kiss this maid

once for this she was paid

for long her tide was in the high

but now no wares to trade

like a flower, she’s wilted.

Who shall kiss this maid

a veritable courtesan

glossy and silken-haired at prime

now but a bag of grime,

wrinkled and withered like age

the younger ones have taken over

 it’s a vicious circle they’ve got.

Again who shall kiss this maid

she’s as a ball that has lost its bounce

doomed for what they were

doomed more for what they are.

Who shall kiss this maid

you perhaps but not me

faces coloured like billboards

advertising a fight long lost

skin marked and stretched thin

arid, parched and worn

soiled pores of her rotten fruits

so soiled they’ll defy redemption.

Oluwole

THIS IS WHERE WE STAND...!

This song they always sang
is clothed in some olden melody
far and removed from our new tunes.

The one we seek
is feed, meant for the soul.
Should a crown rest on a knee
when the head goes uncovered
or beads on a pole
when the waist goes unadorned?

Too long we lived here

same games, same players

same scores, same winners

even nollywood, is better scripted.
Let them be as relics

 these practices as of old

and their high priests

banished into folklores

night-tales,

confined to corridors of history
so with modern injections
we can cure modern malaises.
Surely a typewriter can only wish
it’s a computer that parlays with internet

‘cos whilst the candle dances in tune
with the melody of the night breeze
a bulb stares in defiance
daring the breeze to a standstill.

This is where we stand!

Oluwole

THIS IS WHERE WE STOPPED...!

Now that we’ve stopped being human

let fathers go on a drilling spree

raise their daughters skirts and bore holes

brothers and sisters alike

let the fun be not stilled

and you sons, raise thee your mothers skirts and plunge

Now that we’ve stopped being human

let the sky rain blood

bomb ye the infidels

raze to ground all that stands in your paths

let bodies litter the fields

filth to filth, triumphant putrefaction

Now that we’ve stopped being human

let us go on looting spree

where are the cranes,

and the empty containers they bear

fill it up, will you?

Its time we strip the nude nation more

Now that we’ve stopped being human

tap deep into thy evil recess

that we may in wanton wallow in evil

let us paint the sky black

let chaos pay us visits

so that the rich darkness can swallow the light

Now that we’ve stopped being human

some ten score maidens will not do

more of them shall we harvest

we need human materials to build our harems

let dip our wick into their wells

nubile thighs to satiate our palates

Now that we’ve stopped being human

let it be known the end is near

for when we stop being human

we die daily a thousand deaths

a gradual spiral into the grave and grim beyond

for we can only live, by being human

Oluwole

THERE IT IS!

I see the stars, Akanke

in the twinkle in your eyes

oh starriest of the maidens.

It’s there in the allure of your touch

the soft caress of your voice

in my ears

and the liquid way, it warms its path

I see it, in the stir

the quickening of my heartbeats

when the glare of your gaze comes my way.

Jingle jingle it goes

The ringing of your laughter

and the bounce in your steps

as you saunter by.

It’s there, in the silky feel of your skin

the heat of your touch

the taste that pleasantly assaults my nostrils.

It’s there. All there.

Oluwole