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Showing posts from April, 2018

THE WHISPERING WHISPER by Racheal Bassey

Day27 #365daypoetryforadvocacyandsocialchange With my whispering whisper I warn you of the wrong Which appears pleasant The wisdom they claimed is blurred Behold the future I whisper to you I cry to stir and grid I tilt my barrel to pour out its content Do not turn a throng Let my words be your works My whisper like a little breath Sounding the hopes of the future My skin 'wheals' 'Weals' and 'Welts' My furrowed face glows Hoping to see the light of the dawn A dawn of a new era and change Racheal Bassey is a Poetess with sublimity, a member of Poets in Nigeria (PIN) UNICAL Connect Centre and Student of English and Literary Studies,UNICAL.

A NIGERIAN TALE by IG Abiaobo Jr.

Day26 #365dayPoetryforadvocacyandsocialchangechallenge # I was beautiful once; A ready slave In my own father's house, Rich as the rainbow's skin; Poor by all visible means, Till unity taught me love, Till peace kissed all I was And threw me into a lit frenzy, A fairytale type of loving, Ferociously tender! On a night that spelt pure bliss, Of bright yellowish sparks; Like port marigold flowers Dancing loops in October. I had a perfect body once; An object for mean indulgences, Like a farm where men harvested, But planted no seed; With full breasts That fed a million cavemen, From the Cattle hills Of the Northern protectorate To the Green rainforests Of the Southern protectorate, Firm fruits since fallen And made into western flip flops, Till the wind of freedom came And paid dowry on a shamed bride. I became like heated water, Emitting hope on every stage, Giving life to dead dreams, Dishing out promises Like measured cups of rice To w

THE MISERY OF AN ADDICT by Benjamin Usang

Day 25 #366daypoetryforadvocacyandsocialchangechallenge As I fall deeper into a manic state I am a prime candidate In the blood gene To receive the drug addict trait Blood pressure climbs at a dramatic rate I seem to gravitate to the bottle of codiene then I salivate Start off with the codiene like "I think I'll just have a taste" Couple of sips of that, then I gradually graduate To a harder prescription drug called Tram 200 like "Ya that's great" I go to just take one and I end up like having eight I wake up 12 hours later hungry because I haven't ate But first I need my water and my cycotec I fall back down cause I have a spinning head Smiling in a state of euphoria yet I am the living dead I start to hallucinate Speaking to my own addiction, my personal saint "I also represent anyone on the receiving end of those jokes you invent I'm your karma closing in with each take of a pill Find some remorse to show for yo

VOYAGE OF A SINNER by Esther Emmanuel

Day24 #365daypoetryforadvocacyandsocialchange My eyes fell out its socket When impurity rob me of righteousness I rode in the ship of sin Sinking deep into the belly of hell None stop urge craving for more... First the island of fornication Painted my heart like an artist And left an image of pleasures Torturing my urge to succumb to is touch Weakly my flesh submit to castles of desires Second the lying tongue It cause a rift between a nation A tongue sharp, it words bite like a vampire Tongues spit out words of malicious deeds The Lying tongue of a sinner Adventure of a sinner Gallivanting without direction For sin crowned my soul with blindness Islands of stain, drained out righteousness It soaked deep into the thick coat of the soul Voyage of a sinner No gain but pain_ I'm a sinner still, riding on the ship of sin Redemption I seek from above Esther Emmanuel is a Poet, a Model and a member of Poets in Nigeria (PIN)

QUESTION OF WAR by YETUNDE MORENIKEJA

Day 23 #365dayPoetryforadvocacyandsocialchangechallenge "Only war can settle our country's situation" How will you think this is the best solution? You who gather to place this thought Are you ready for the havoc this stranger wrought? Have you prepared a safe abode For your beloved daughters and wives Or will you love to watch their bodies Rigorously penetrated by strange men, Till they grow weak and breathe their last?? Have you packed your bags,o men of valour Are you ready to bear the inhumane starvation To inhale the repelling stench of rotting bodies Are your hearts strong enough to witness, The slaughtering of innocent children?? Can you bear to see your homes deserted With no one to care for the elders as they perish Will your heart still beat peacefully, When you learn that our father's worship places, Have been blown to smithereens?? Will your dear conscience be quiet When an unborn child is slaughtered Right there in his mother

HEAVEN'S CALL by Lawrence ONWUAMA

Day22 #365daypoetryforadvocacyandsocialchangechallenge The way death pays visit to my friends And family without a receipt Makes me think I am the next on the list The silent treading of death, I hear from afar My heart beats so fast, Like drumming... When I am gone, You can forget I ever lived But don't forget I ever existed For the disaster is about to strike I feel the cold breeze of the night sinking into my pores These innocent people would soon start tearing themselves Please don't weep Like you have been whipped Don't let grief own your world Sooner or later I would be sleeping Quietly below the ground Away from the profligacy of life The flowing river would wash away my name on The sand of time I plead it be engraved on the rock of ages @Onwuama Lawrence

MIRAGE by Happiness Jacob

Day 21 #365daypoetryforadvocacyandsocialchangechallenge You held my hands As we walked through the valleys of ancient Nostalgia Like sweet smelling Fragrance Caressing my nose in lullabic rhythms You have perfectly dug So deep into my cheeks with Loveliness that my dimples opened up Their mouths and spat clean waters of Joy You have broken the thousand walls Separating us with warm hugs that Last a life like dependants Roped around a tree's study body You have kissed these lips with Warm breathe that my lungs long To inhale your oxides and exhale Fresh oxys exterminating piercing cold Sneaking in to my veins like tenants in debt Occupying the nights of the landlords' absence You have loved me beyond Blackened body and forest armpits laced With malodorous scent that ignites ages of Chicken shivering nights under rent free bridges And days under vicious furnaces of sun And you have seen me through and True you know my hood, my street, my squa

THAT FANCY ROAD TO SOLITUDE by Elizabeth Ndukwu

Day20 #365daypoetryforadvocacyandsocialchangechallenge It all started here On this platform of Listening to tattletales Of your sweet breath Captured in emotions Of your expressions Living my life Dancing to your tune And breaking pauses to the musical line With Eyes melting to your touch Channeled to keep me safe On life's caressing chest It's rhythmic beat Dhib! dhib! dhib! Playing through my head Like a pendulum Incited more passion and pleasure Hell bent on keeping still Unlikely to arouse the husky voice That began at the beginning I watch it all fade away I'm on that road To solitude To break free From cords that can't bind To let go Of pains that may not heal To try… To live again Elizabeth Ndukwu is an ardent lover of books, who loves Innovation. She fell in love with poetry when she noticed, she could break an important conversation just to write down an inspiration. She loves Social Interactions,She is a Writer, Editor,

THIS IS NOT A POEM by Vivian Ofre

Day19 #365daypoetryforadvocacyandsocialchangechallenege This, is not a Poem It is words from my heart That seeks to reach out to you With a part of me It is a tale of a thousand words An anthem of timeless worth A prophecy of endless possibilities This, is not a Poem It is a word of prayer, for the thousands of people Who, lose their lives daily, From one crisis to the other It is, the answer to a prayer made by that man Often ignored in the corner, silently whispering; Look at me, am right here! It is a flashlight that points to the truth An anchor, to the waves of life's many challenges This, is not a Poem It is a weave of words, hanging like strings To the nodes of an acoustic guitar It is rhythms, rhymes, and melodies For your itching ear It is words dancing to the sounds of an Ukulele A heartfelt song, a far reaching gong This, is not a Poem It is the epiphany; Of mothers taking pride in the joys of motherhood Of fathers taking a stand to the ch

A Letter to Politicians by Kerry A. Kennedy

Day18 #365daypoetryforadvocacyandsocialchangechallenge Dear Politicians, I write tonight to address some issues That have been burning in my heart,and Many conscious and logical citizen There have been many times, I've wanted to speak to your Consciousness and today is one of Those days that has me contemplating Why you've really been elected So, give me your ears! As you're aware, you've been put Where you are, because we believe you Have the ability to change the current Pace of this country; You're at where you are, Because many people believed you, When you came with your bittersweet Lies, and sour-sweet tongue I still remember how well you faked Liking "your people", during the elections I still remember how you came to us, With many bags of rice, oil, and many 'Nutritional' foods Or have you forgotten your many promises? "I'll build you roads" You told the Younger ones, Underprivileged, and unabl

SHATTERED by Ruth Okani

Day17 #365daypoetryforadvocacyandsocialchangechallwnge SHATTERED; Giving myself away This mess was not birth in a day I was whole like a candle light Burning away every single night Giving myself to everyone Never did I matter to anyone What I wanted was love Affection and to be cherished What they wanted was my service They took it from thrusting And I mistook it for trusting I wasn't the only candle Waiting to be waxed Rightly was I replaced No one paid me back in my coin Ruth Okani is a student of the University of Calabar, Calabar. Studying English and Literary Studies. She is also a member of Calabar Literary Society,Poets in Nigeria and FIN.

STREET by Tukur Ridwan

Day 16 #365daypoetryforadvocacyandsocialchangechallenge the street is a beautiful garden oozing the scents of weed in fragrant flavours . & when they walk by busily, or stand by the roadside to await the next napep or bike to board  . on their ways to stone throws  or busttops beyond, these foggy  sights & clouds of igbo . permeate their stares, like we are there observing sango rites, & someone would still say we are not gods. . we are the lungs pulling heaven  into our bodies through these tubes  of tobacco or with hookah pots  . & of cyber gangsters on vintage wears & crazy designer-jeans that redefines the trends of fashion . & of hollow-shows dating & getting us laid because of how papers pay for pleasure. . & of the relief from consciousness by the overdose of trams, codeine & refnol . & of slangs, & melodies lost but found in the maladies of mad music that giv

CHILDISH POLITICS & HELD AT RANSOME by Gerry Sikazwe

Day 15 #365daypoetryforadvocacyandsocialchangecallenge CHILDISH POLITICS Unweaned pranks Played by stony hearts With insatiable crave For power Spoken in words 'Sugar-clothed' And 'mint-spined' Yet; Deception Poisonous Crude and rude, Staking the future At the fattening Of a few proud Childish gluttony HELD AT RANSOME Political slavery Is the new order Of life Here, were we Worship a system Erected from Steel lies and Concrete crookedness Blood baths Poverty And doom its roof Here were Power and greed Are our rulers. Gerry Sikazwe is a Zambian poet and Blogger. He is the founding editor at a Zambian online literary journal called New Ink Review.  He has works featured in different online  platforms such as Tuck Magazine, AfricanWriter.com, Tipton Poetry Journal, Dissident Voices,  The Global Zambian Magazine, Nthanda Review, Scarlet Leaf Review, Apricity Magazine, the Zimbabwe We Want Campaign -Brave Voices Poetry Journal, A

CRY, CHILD CRY! by Tydale Bassey Abigail

Day 14 #365daypoetryforadvocacyandsocialchangechallenge Cry, child cry! Cry aloud for the day to hear Let the sun rise to the beginning of your tears Out of the yards Into the streets Across the avenues Let your tears flow Although there are noises of the feet busy on the road Let your tears flow in tones And let them never stop at your cheeks But flow into the streets Cry, child cry! Feel no weight from the tray on your head Look not far at the miles you've covered From before your face Into the distance And within your breasts Let your tears flow Even when you can seize to cry And abandon the goods to rest Cry, for your voice can save you Cry, child cry! If your father is living And if your mother is wealthy It'd be, go to school Read your books Get a good job. But, let your tears flow Cry with utmost freedom that you cannot have Only the streets have crowned you worthy. So, to the people, cry! Cry, child cry! Since you cannot afford a

BARONS OF INCOMPETENCE by Chinatu Blessed Orji

Day 13 #365daypoetryforadvocacyandsocialchangechallenge Barons of incompetence are; Those Kleptomaniac fingers You Take all You Take Anything You Take Everything You Take From the High You Take From the low You Take From the  Rich You Take From the poor You want to take from ME? Tufiakwa!! Irrelevant space occupants In guise of Big boys In guise of Slay mamas In guise of Brethren In guise of the "Holies" In guise of Workers In guise of Servant In guise of Friend In guise of Leader In guise of Teachers In guise Ambassadors In guise of High In guise of Poor In guise of King In guise of You You deceive Us You deceive you your future you kill alone Official Loot Lords Our Ambassadors so acclaimed Are you patriotic still? Please reverse all over Barons of Incompetence Your Hands stretched abroad Your Eyes are abroad Your Legs wandering You know your grave site right? Home! Your age grades are expecting crispy dollar Oh! your father died

PLEASE PRAY FOR NIGERIA by Veralyn Chinenye

Day 11 #365daypoetryforadvocacyandsocialchangechallenge #PleaseprayforNigeria Put her/he under bended knees and blend into change Casting forth hungry incense Please pray for Nigeria... Stretch forth possible hands and grasp hold of tomorrow's sceptre Let not tomorrow waggle it's tongue at us Pray for Leadership... Nigeria, my country, our country... WE CAN!

TO THE GIRL by Gloria Lawrence

Day 10 #365daypoetryforadvocacyandsocialchangechallenge To the; -Girl whose childhood was a pain. -Teenager who became a mother. -Lady dressed in suppressed memories. -Woman of broken purity. There is life after RAPE! Breathe and become. Your brokenness is but sheer beauty - a beauty scar, endured by the strong.      Gloria Lawrence says, "All I know is - I am a wordsmith who still explore the world of poetry and is fascinated by it. I really do want to be a master in the art of POETRY. I love words, breathe words, explore words. And I am an Undergraduate in the University of Port Harcourt. Umm, I am also a cook,  a photographer too though I make use of my phone for now until I get a digital camera.

ON THE PREDATORS AND THE PREY by E. E. Ene

Day 9 #365dayPoetryforadvocacyandsocialchangechallenge your teethed tongues leak our sugared heart, Our secret turquoise emeralds swell your empire's fame Our heads, a ladder's rungs of your climb, Your nurtured hand feeds our hungry mouth, The relics of your several rapes Of our virgin wealth and health, And you post first in our pedigree. Hear oh hear thou predator, From nature borrow some wit, The prey goes extinct in continuous gaming And the predator's famed pretence is laid at bare E. E. Ene, teach Poetry and African American Literature at the University of Calabar, Calabar. He is Poet, who spends most of time, coaching students on leadership and today matter's.

UGANDA ACID RAIN by Ibrahim Clouds

Day 8 #365daypoetryforadvocacychallenge Mother's green parrot told me, "Acid falls like rain in Uganda" with a bucket I journey, we need some in the chemistry lab I wished for red roses  but found blood, for how lips and noses  were found burnt!. In the falling of a button of tear, a babe's face is wrinkled like foams of bear In the short snapping of fingers, beauties wilted like dead flowers, head blessed with hair turn bald! bones exposed as skins scald! Acid! a terrible fashion designer folding the head with the neck, giving a permanent mask to Uganda, a scary mask! what a wreck!. See! the madness caused by a drop as it splash on a lion's tail, should Uganda be left unsolved? or this become an annual tale Let those flowing rivers of acid, be drunk by the thirsty sun! or let the devil drink it like gin, for how many more skull shall it burn? Ibrahim clouds is a Scientist, Poet, a Muslim and an Architect in the making. He loves

FOR THE LIVES THAT FAILED by George Oluwadamilare

#Day 7 #365daypoetryforadvocacyandsocialchange Today, Let us cry into the dusk, while watching our stinking selves Stand unstirred beneath the feet of the hills in ìdànrè To find partial answers, to the hunger singing rustless hymns In our heat-burnt heads While semi-famished worms bite deep into our grey shadows . Today, We'll go tongue-tied to the evil forests of Àkùré And hunt after bushbabies and their mysterious mats But do not break the mats, lest the yoke of Adígbónronkú be on us We'll burn down their abodes instead So that the ashes might sting our intestines And kill us before the approach of dawn Into the impenetrable walls of odi-ikeji. Tonight, Read the tales on the envious eyes of our male-childs, And make their manhood rise That nobody might know what immaturity looks like. Let them trudge the deep way up Into the short skirts of their own sisters, And bear abominable children Who'll roam the streets to tell tales of the repeated lives that faded To b

MADE IN CHINA by Glorious Akpegah

Day 6 #365daypoetryforadvocacyandsocialchangechallenge Like flowery icing on a birthday cake, So is "Made in China" attracting Nigeria's attention Like shit attracts the company of houseflies Like flowery icing on a birthday cake, So is "Made in China" on the label of  "Aba" products See how much affection is spilled on "shinko" to the detriment of our indigenous beauty See what brings our glory to the corridors of insecurity? We notoriously itch for growth  But at the sight of sprouts, We lift hypocritical fingers and uproot our progress into a cage of nothingness Like a newborn in dire need of colostrum, So is "Made in Nigeria" yearning for the satisfying taste of recognition it deserves, Yet begs for and rarely gets. * Foot notes* •Shit- a slang for faeces.                      •Aba- a commercial town in eastern Nigeria.                                  •Shinko- a slang in pidgin English to describe

GHOSTS CRY TOO by Agele Ayo

Oh Beast! Why did you pluck the King's heart? His royal body you did feast, Taking away from him precious breath Oh Monsters! Why did you murder her? Her precious body, You dumped into the lagoon, From you monsters she did met her doom Daughters of Jezebel! The beautiful lovers of Lucifer; You've succeeded in taking the breath of Abel, Cutting short the precious life of Methuselah But their spirits cry out their desire, Not just for your doom, but for your trial They all weep blood Without uttering a word You sons of Cain! You took the footstep of your father by killing your precious brother Just for your worldly desires For their loss, you have no reason to bother You consider yourself brave By digging their shallow grave For you think against you, they have no witness? Their souls indeed cry for your foolishness Soul brothers in Haram! You that live to do evil behind the mask You think of yourself to be just By cutting off your brother’s dre

GIVE US THE BALLOT by Vivian Ofre

#Day4 #365dayPoetrychallenge #Advocacyandsocialchange Bang! bang! bang! Its the sound of gunshots Bullet to the chest Fear grips the heart One, two, three… four men down Give us the Ballot Our man must win WHAT WENT WRONG? by Solutionist Clementina Poof! poof!  poof! There's exchange of punches How dare you say that about our man Fingers go pointing Punches come flying Weights come landing Who gets the ballot Weooh! Weooh! Weooh! Its the sound of  sirens The police to the chase Bullet men on the run With the ballots in their arms We have the ballots Our man must win Ring!  Ring! Ring! Its the sound of the alarm two, three, four…its five 5am 1001, 1002, 1003, 1004 The numbers look good The ballots won't lie Our man must win Bash! bash! bash! Its the sound of victory Clicking of glasses... With dancing and singing The deed has been done Party for the people Our man has won Flash! flash! flash! On the headlines today The people have v

WHAT WENT WRONG? by Solutionist Clementina

- Day 3 #365dayPoetryChallengeonAdvocacyand #Social Change Hey dude! Yesterday, you confessed professed, we witnessed the killing of cows and exchange of vows But today, You rock the seat of murder constantly murdering her being and now she’s tired of living Your once chilled presence burns her comfortable essence For she ceases to be a mother yet, you never bother You lost your friend; the very one you took to the alter and promise till forever ends Your heartbeat is altered transiting you from who she use to know into a beast that finds pleasure feasting with fist Before now, she was your companion after “I Do” you became her onion controlling her tears with punches slicing her butt with lashes Did you forget? She is the bone of your bone double portion of your strength complement when alone You left your home to fuel this car, your relationship by signing a deed of partnership Tell me, What went wrong? What’s the need for fist feasting? W

THE POET'S PEN by Miriam Etim

#365daypoetrychallenge #Advocacyandsocialchange Day 2 I fell in love with these lines: 'Let your heart bleed Let the ink float and make it stain every sheet' Inhale! Most times I talk while I walk Because I'm so stuck in my thought Countless times my brain gives up! What my Doctor calls seizure! Damn! But my teacher once said "you've got to talk" And if you can't talk You've got to push the pen  I asked... How can I push the pen When I know not the powers of the pen? Mightier is the pen To the sword of men Birthing liberation and salvation When intent is judicious Libelous and seditious When intent is malicious Consecrated to the freedom of kingdoms And the faith of legions Painting portraits of fictions And predictions enclaved by visions Of innate decisions Enslaving generations unborn With the most deadly weapon A single creature called The signature Damn! My country got liberated With the power of the same

WHO WILL TELL? by Davina Francis

Day 1 #365dayPoetry for Advocacy and Social Change challenge "Who said men shouldn't cry?" You never dare Because one shouldn't speak when muted This story is hidden between your loins And tears cupped, but they flow still Who said men shouldn't cry? When you're raped out of consciousness And the virgin of your heart stuck You writhe under skirts of kicks 'n' hits Of shoves and slaps amidst chokes Trails of blood encrypted on tiles Are the longest of your memories Words for cops fail you Because you think this pain is your course Photo credit - Facebook Davina Francis is a Poet and writer, She hails from Cross River State. She is one of the Co-representatives ,Poets in Nigeria, (PIN) UNICAL Connect Centre Davina says, "society inspires her to write"