Wake up

Wake up

The earth was never mine.
But I seized it
With all my might
Was it not wrong?
 
I snatched the right
To live in this planet
Treated the earth as my own
Knowing well it belonged to many more.
 
I plundered the forests
Till a few trees remained
Most fauna retreated into the dense
And what remained domesticated.
 
I harnessed animals
Placed yokes of slavery on bullocks
Bridles on horses
Goads, whips and spurs to nudge.
 
And then it tumbled over,
The sea breached the shore
The rivers in spate flooded the villages
The floating corpses told all the tales.
 
I finally rued and vowed to change
The life I led,
Shedding all my ego to help
Restore the world to where it belonged.
 
Wake up and coexist
Put aside the role of a master
Care for all that live on earth
Flora fauna and everything created.

The boy's treasure

 

The boy's treasure

A boy brought home
Three rabbits and a peacock
All made from shells
Glued together by deft hands
 
His first school picnic
And first visit to a sea shore
Walking through the sandy path
The sound of waves loud and clear.
 
Kiosks lined on either side
Curios all made from shells.
Shapes and shades unimaginable
Crafted by street artisans
 
The sea just yards away
Setting sun soon to disappear
Silver sand a golden hue,
Slowly darkened by the dimming rays
 
The waves roar and break away
Hit the shores and meekly return
To leave behind discarded shells
Once home to snails and clams.
 
The shells lay scattered on the beach
Each crafted by nature’s hand
With colour and perfection
No skill could match.
 
Floating in the receding waves
Some shells to the sea return
And some lie in the sand
Embedded and never to return.
 
Three decades later
The boy’s treasure
Showcased in his living room
Made him walk down the memory lane.

I remain truly yours

 

I remain, truly yours
 

I am yours, truly yours.
My love for you will never fade
Undeterred by what you are not,
Your goodness keeps me bound.
 
Hidden like stars in a clouded sky
My love for you will remain high
Somewhere tucked in my heart
Where the worldly cannot pry.
 
My like for you will continue
Till emotions erupts in all its glory
Though only for a while, my like for you blooms
Into love, as a bud into a flower
 
Love or like is all in the mind,
All it means is want
Wanting to be by your side
Every moment in my life.
 
True love and true like
Strengthens, mellows and glows
To outlast love and strife
And even life.
 
Truly yours, is all that matters.
Call it love or call it like
It binds one another
And makes my world move on.
 
I am yours, truly yours
With the dark clouds blown away
The twinkling stars declare
I am yours always yours.
 
Whatever or wherever,
It doesn’t really matter,
I will always remain,
Truly yours, forever.

 

The Pearly Gate

 

The Pearly Gate

The train whistled and passed 
Over hills and plains
Spewing smoke as it sped
The Pearly Gate my destination.
 
Safe inside the coach
Under mama’s loving care
Hands tightly wound around;
Never was a place as safe.
 
My brother and my papa sat next to me
The train tirelessly chugged along.
My grandma sat further down,
Her journey soon will end.
 
I climbed down my mother’s lap
And handed the space to another one,
Then another and another
But soon all freed themselves.
 
The train moved along and, on its way,
Villages, hamlets, towns and cities
Whiffed past like a theatre screen,
The Pearly Gate nowhere in sight.
 
It then stopped just enough to start again
The elderly alighted; their batons left behind
With their batons in hand, energized
The siblings reared to go.
 
The train moved on and on
Letting in people, at every stop
Spouses, children and all
Enthusing the journey with their love and care
 
Seated at the window, amid the glory of dusk
And the beauty of deep colours
My journey continues on and on
The Pearly Gate, my destination.
 

The Satin Mask

 The Satin Mask

There was this lady
A neighbor of mine
Whose tresses were knotty and
Disheveled,
 
Hoping to see her messy locks
Well kempt at least once
I kept my gaze at her balcony door
Morning, evening and sometimes noon
 
Having lived in an era bygone
Her carefully carelessly maintained hair
Did not dare me
To make a judgment on her style
 
The tresses all over her lovely black eyes
Quickly blown away by a gentle breeze
Just enough for me to partake
In the beauty of those angelic eyes.
 
It was not far back in time
When her aquiline nose and pouted lips
Would have drawn my gaze
Further down her face
 
But now visible are just the contours
Her nose and lips
Covered in that tightly woven
Double layered pink satin mask. 

The world then and now

The world then and now
 

The world then small and sweet
Life quiet and calm and in that quietness,
I lived and matured to grow
Tall enough to walk the talk.
 
The school in the church compound
Plasters cracked and paints peeled,
Stood like a mother with wrinkled skin and sunken cheeks
Beckoning children with love and care.
 
Reading, writing and arithmetic made me literate
But the real takeaways from my school
Kindness to all
Malice towards none,
 
Decades passed, the good world of mine
Grew beyond but its goodness
Dwindled to vanish into memory
Happiness and values soon redefined.
 
Rules once pursued now disregarded,
The goodness of life snatched away.
Self now an object of devotion
Mind blind to the greatness of others.
 
Knowledge and conviction then an asset;
Now, a dagger out of its scabbard,
Not to defend beliefs,
But, to conquer and rule the world.