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Little Sailor Boy: A Poem for Mama by Omale Allen Abdul-jabbar

Image: Pixabay.com
Image: Pixabay.com

LITTLE SAILOR BOY: A Poem for Mama

(For Hajia Ajumayi Ojile Omale, R.I.P. November 15th, 2015)

Silence envelopes my ship of dreams
My kit of songs…
Little sailor boy sitting on the masthead
In this dust-haze and solemn cadence
Of a dreamy Harmattan night
Distant horizon… moonlight glittering on the face of the
sea
Does the sea have an end?

Nomad floating from scene to séance on the runway
Of self- discovery, searching for meaning
Tonight I bear the wrapped body of my mother
To the gate of the after-life
I, whose duty it is to usher her benevolent
soul
With salaams, kind words that opens the gate of the
after-life

Help me; help me, kind merciful Gabriel
Help me, little sailor boy, a cold chill numbs my heart
And my blood boils in my veins

Silence envelopes my ship of dreams
My kit of songs, bard devoid of words
I muster all the wind in my lungs, here at this majestic
gate
Of the after-life, this terribly cold-windy night
And utter the salaams to open the gate of Heaven
Kind merciful Gabriel, please receive the soul of Ajumayi
Woman who believed ultimately in God

—————————-
Poem © Omale Allen Abdul-jabbar
Image: Pixabay.com

Omale Allen Abdul-Jabbar
Omale Allen Abdul-Jabbar
Omale Allen Abdul-Jabbar is a Masters degree holder in Law & Diplomacy (pen name Mmaasa Masai). Ex-Chairman, Association of Nigerian Authors, ANA, Plateau chapter, as well as Ex-PRO and Ex-Officio member of ANA at the National level. He has been awarded twice the Korea/Nigeria Poetry prize and the maiden winner of the PEN/Nigeria Saraba Poetry prize 2011. His maiden poetry collection ''Behold, Your Scented Daughters'' was published in 2012. He writes poetry, fiction, drama, and essays. His work has been published in Hints, Daily Times, Weekly Trust, Fifty Nigerian Poets, Punch, THESE! Magazine online, etc. He was a Finalist on Poetry.com in 2002 for the poem "Love affair" and subsequently published in the anthology "Letters from the soul", The Ker Review, Blackbiro online, ANA Review, amongst others. His work also appeared in the anthology CAMOUFLAGE. He is influenced by the works of Toni Kan Onwordi, Helon Habila, Gabriel Garcia Marquez, Ben Okri, Isabel Allende, Margaret Artwood, Pablo Neruda, Maik Nwosu, Toyin-Adewale-Gabriel and David Njoku. Omale lives in Abuja, Nigeria, with his wife and five children.

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