Thursday, December 12, 2024

Top 5 This Week

Related Posts

Remake Africa: Poems by Dela Bobobee

Life

Life is a sweet melody
only where love is the witty lyrics
that makes it a beautiful song

conquest is just a sword
only where trials are the sheath
that hides its nakedness

man is a smart acrobatic swinging monkey
only where woman is the cluster of supportive trees
that keeps him from falling off the vacuums

a poet is a good wordsmith with prophetic vision
only where verses are not coerced from spontaneity
that aggrandizes awards and laurels for altruism

the much touted science is a genius
only where the noble arts are the only light
that brightens its grime path from self cataclysm

positivism soars high in the region of the normative
only when realism is the ideal tandem
that tilts its imbalances through tact of diplomacy

good shall triumph over evil
only where the forces of darkness are negatives
that equates the positive opposing dual fields of electricity

world supremacy is just muscle flexing
only where unipolarity is the biomass
that recycles its cowardice of a bully

religion can nurture true repentance
only where virtue is not made out of necessity
that can make nobility acquired and not inherent

immortality can successfully thrive
only where infinity is the captured vestige
that accentuates its invincibility

==========

First Flight

Along the smooth tarmac marks
my red drum taxied the runway
in frenzied palpitation of initiation
as the reluctant huge bird spurted
unbelievable lifting force of gravity
reversed vertigo into the clear blue sky
fresh mounds and tower lights dimmed

Sailing five thousand feet high
among fluffy cotton fields of clouds
set ablaze by the glowing setting sun
ignited in me blissful Icarus exhilaration
before the dieing sun’s saturation point
behind the smiling clouds lurked threats
of frowning dark boulders on our path

Jagged flashes of lightning hissed
at us from the whirling turbulence
the flying coffin lurched and dodged
potholes and gullies of the sky
calls of the Sultan and Bimbo in tempest
unto one God on the Deutschland
or is it that they cried for the crown then

The blooming shortest way home
may not always be the quickest route
for short journeys do last for eternity
but man’s will had smothered the fall
and set free my imprisoned infinity
from the dungeons of trepidation
Icarus wings of wrought lion hackles
had waned my fistful first fright
naivety fled on my very first flight
and yoked uncertainties with light.

==========

Africa Must Unite

Oh Africa!
When your vision is in tandem
with your new political will to seek
clear prehistoric fountains of hope
shall flow with passion to obliterate
the ills of greed, pillage, inhumanity
of years of rape and inhuman slavery
and focus with clarity into the future

Your bangs of slavery begot colonialism
this invited neocolonialism to dinner
where greed fragmented your lands
your hopes and dreams in blatant disregard
to your creed, socio-cultural affinities
your ethos and eroded your values
with strange tongues and feuds

Oh! Africa!
When you resist their beckoning evil urges
and insatiate hunger for subtle greed
they sowed the seed of insane hatred
termed you land of hunger, poverty, disease
but we see through their furtive glances
of impatience for more exploitative trysts
for we know better than that what they call you

Oh Africa!
Now is the time to unite as one
there is no other ideal time to start
a journey of a thousand miles
starts with that uncertain false steps
of a toddler fraught with falls and cries
the strength of the chain is its weakest link
United we stand passionate or die trying

And I see a new Africa
and a new people of conscience
for the vent of a new wind of change
is now tilted within reach of the meek
and the downtrodden imprisoned
by walls of societal false sense of value
to ascend the true throne of prominence
for God does not work with weaklings!

Oh Africa! You show plenty of signs
that you are on the right track and
beginning to overcome many of your problems
your tinny breast once beleaguered by poverty and war
is now clean, safe and enjoying economic growth
more than twice as fast as the U.S. or Europe
Oh Africa! Feel the signs of a turnaround
and plenty of reason for optimism and hope

Now is the time
To dig the mine!

==========

Remake Africa

I long to remake my Africa
in symmetry with America
as a fuel to remake the world
which exists with just a word

I crave to heal the earth
in defiance of the dearth
of man’s sane premonition
which leads to annihilation

with my heart…
to do my part

with my mind…
in all I can find

with my soul
in definite goal

with my bones…
in silent tones

with my brain…
refuting drain

with my hands…
in hungry lands

with my voice…
in every choice

with my blood…
in desert flood

with my pen…
in lion’s den

with my poem…
in every realm

with my breadth…
at mortal length

with faith in God
So help me Lord.

==========

Love is Fire

Love is like a bushfire in harmattan season
it starts with just a tinny spark without reason
when not carefully tendered it consumes
all jealous lovers disguised in costumes

love is like a mother hen scratching for food
it steps on its chicks that are part of its brood
when not properly fed it licks its own eggs
sucks yolk and albumen to the last dregs

Love is like a splendid strong tower
it shelters the lovebirds with power
when from the start not strongly built
it crumbles under the weight of guilt

Love is like a blind in trudge
it bumps often without grudge
when walking it learns to grope
its fears trained always to hope

Love is like the sad rainforest
it dwindles with man’s unrest
when showed long indifference
it chooses deserts as preference

Love is like a very deep well
its depths abysmal as hell
when its fountain is not in use
it stinks and rusts with abuse

Love is like the planet earth
it provides life and warmth
when not nurtured in health
it may lead to man’s death

Love is like dry seeds
it thrives on good deeds
when sowed in fertile soil
it yields fruits without  toil

Love is very scarce
it dries when in farce
when often ignored
it becomes annoyed

Love is a bird
open your nest
lay your bed
love to rest

Love is food
it is good
the end
to tend
fend

==========
– (c) Dela Bobobee

Dela Bobobee
Dela Bobobee
Dela Bobobee was born in Aveyime-Battor, in the Volta Region of Ghana. He was educated in Ghana and Nigeria. He holds a B.A (Hons) degree in English, and a Masters of International Law and Diplomacy (MILD) degree, both from the University of Lagos. He is a published playwright, poet, short-story writer, and also an actor who had most of his literary works published on the internet and in the "SHUTTLE", a campus literary journal while still in the University of Lagos. He has won several prizes and awards for his literary works. Dela Bobobee is regarded in most circles as an environmentalist poet as most of his thematic preoccupations are on environmental degradation, and very vehement in calling on the industrialized nations to ratify and implement the Kyoto Accord. He plays the guitar, piano and tenor sax. He sees multilingualism as a very great asset, be it African or foreign languages. He is also very enthusiastic in learning foreign languages such as French, Spanish and German languages. Dela Bobobee is also into professional video production, directing, scriptwriting, and video editing. His video production is mostly directed towards wildlife preservation, animal documentary, and very passionate about the preservation and promotion of the rich African cultural diversity. He is currently working hard to produce his first feature film about the "Trokosi" vestal virgins syndrome in Ghana.

3 COMMENTS

  1. Great poem Bobobee! Could possibly be a greater poem from my own little point of view if you could find a concrete title – ‘Life’ is quite abstract because i can’t hold anything. Also, a single poem cannot answer, solve or mirror all the answers, problems and images, respectively. It only makes your voice preachy and philosophical – what a Nigerian critic described as ‘intellectual subtleties’, and not poetry. Take stanza 6 for instance. Senator Ihenyen is the author of Colourless Rainbow: Poetry of My Childhood (forthcoming, Coast2Coast)

  2. Generally, i really enjoyed your poems. Strong themes and subject-matters, well modulated tones. Just consider my humble suggestions and see how they can be equally useful in your other poems. Keep writing!

SAY SOMETHING (Comments held for moderation)

Please enter your comment!
Please enter your name here

Popular Articles