Saturday, December 13, 2008
BLOODBATH IN JOS
Your natural landscapes are painted red again
Your cool and fresh weather heated by hatred
Your once open hands of brotherhood amputated
Your loving heart for love mutilated
Only hatred is sprouting from your once green soil
You have massacred women and children
As your leaders shamelessly watch with an approval nod
Their hands are full of blood of the innocents
Oh Jos! Oh Jos!! What befell you?
I heard that you hate settlers
But if I may ask the older settlers of the Plateau
Where were they when the settlers came?
Where were they when they settled?
Where were they when the settled toiled robustly at the mines?
Where were they when they built your so-called capital?
Were indigenes on the hills busy drinking burkutu?
I heard that you are becoming puritanical
I heard that what you want is a purely Christian State
Where no other creed or belief shall flourish
Could you be self sufficient in a nation of multiple faiths?
Can you afford to be isolated by other Nigerians who share other faiths?
The nation is sensing the shadow of puritanical paganism looming
The professed faith is loosing its clasp of your hearts
The love preached by Christ is gradually being battered by hatred
Oh Jos! You cannot go on like this
Those heartless butchers must be brought to book
And the spirit of those murdered shall keep them awake for eternity
Never again! The settlers have spoken!
December 13, 2008
© Yusuf Adamu 2008
Saturday, December 6, 2008
THE CARNAGE ON THE PLATEAU
The Devil walked up and down,
Thinking deeply, reflecting,
On where best to land,
And so he studied the list,
Of possible places and decided at last
In his pestiferous way, to land on the Plateau.
He looked around, along with a band of his fallen angels,
At the cheerful faces of the people,
Walking around with their cherished ambitions
And decided to select among them,
Who best to anoint with his deadly fingers,
He dicided at last, to anoint the people living on the Plateau.
He orchestrated the chaos, and perpetrated it
At its cresendo, men, women and children,
Where all running up and down,
In a frenzied situation, and peace was then
A strange word, in the ears and minds
Of the people living on the Plateau.
People kept scrambling, hiding,
Prisoners they turned themselves, in their houses,
Eyes dazed with horror, some crouched in bushes, and in ditches,
Neck outstretched, they looked and corked
Their ears, only to scrambled at the cry of ''they are coming!''
Pouncing on the people living on the plateau.
And when all was over, after six days from,
That fateful Friday that has no weekend,
The seventh of September it was, a sunny day,
"Perfect" said the devil, in his scurrilous way "Well, almost perfect,"
He observed, as he studied the anguished faces,
And counted the heap up bones of the people living on Plateau.
As far as he is concerned,
It was an odyssey. But it was in fact
A carnage. For he did turned his back,
Along with his fallen angels, and retired to the hills,
Nay, to the dormant volcanoes, happy with himself,
With this wrapped up anguish, death and despair,
He brought as his 'Godly Seasons' Gift to the people living on the Plateau.
Men walked around, and women too,
Picking the broken pieces of their
Once happy, prosperous and peaceful
Heritage. With scowling faces they now
Looked at the once cheerful faces of thier neigbors and friends
The people living on the Plateau.
"Happy survival'' is now the greetings
That replaced the "hello" and ''good morning''
That was only yesterday, the salutations
That graced the lips of the joyous people,
The fun loving, friendly and ever busy people,
The good people living on the Plateau.
It was indeed a sad September
And October, November and December
But who will bring back that lost Amethyst
Called Peace that was snatched away so suddenly
From the people living on the Plateau?
© MARYAM ALI ALI, 2009
(I wrote this poem after the September 2001 Jos massacre, and it was published in the JOSANA anthology Echoes of The Rock. We thought we have seen the end of it, but it appears that the devil was still lurking around)
Thinking deeply, reflecting,
On where best to land,
And so he studied the list,
Of possible places and decided at last
In his pestiferous way, to land on the Plateau.
He looked around, along with a band of his fallen angels,
At the cheerful faces of the people,
Walking around with their cherished ambitions
And decided to select among them,
Who best to anoint with his deadly fingers,
He dicided at last, to anoint the people living on the Plateau.
He orchestrated the chaos, and perpetrated it
At its cresendo, men, women and children,
Where all running up and down,
In a frenzied situation, and peace was then
A strange word, in the ears and minds
Of the people living on the Plateau.
People kept scrambling, hiding,
Prisoners they turned themselves, in their houses,
Eyes dazed with horror, some crouched in bushes, and in ditches,
Neck outstretched, they looked and corked
Their ears, only to scrambled at the cry of ''they are coming!''
Pouncing on the people living on the plateau.
And when all was over, after six days from,
That fateful Friday that has no weekend,
The seventh of September it was, a sunny day,
"Perfect" said the devil, in his scurrilous way "Well, almost perfect,"
He observed, as he studied the anguished faces,
And counted the heap up bones of the people living on Plateau.
As far as he is concerned,
It was an odyssey. But it was in fact
A carnage. For he did turned his back,
Along with his fallen angels, and retired to the hills,
Nay, to the dormant volcanoes, happy with himself,
With this wrapped up anguish, death and despair,
He brought as his 'Godly Seasons' Gift to the people living on the Plateau.
Men walked around, and women too,
Picking the broken pieces of their
Once happy, prosperous and peaceful
Heritage. With scowling faces they now
Looked at the once cheerful faces of thier neigbors and friends
The people living on the Plateau.
"Happy survival'' is now the greetings
That replaced the "hello" and ''good morning''
That was only yesterday, the salutations
That graced the lips of the joyous people,
The fun loving, friendly and ever busy people,
The good people living on the Plateau.
It was indeed a sad September
And October, November and December
But who will bring back that lost Amethyst
Called Peace that was snatched away so suddenly
From the people living on the Plateau?
© MARYAM ALI ALI, 2009
(I wrote this poem after the September 2001 Jos massacre, and it was published in the JOSANA anthology Echoes of The Rock. We thought we have seen the end of it, but it appears that the devil was still lurking around)
Saturday, October 11, 2008
LOVE CONQUERS ALL
The unseen but your shape and image
Beyond the creation of the mind
A cause of serious ailment,
Yet cure is no where save in you.
No heart so hardened beyond your
Penetration and no heart so hard to
Destroy you.
The young, the old, the men, but
The women need you most.
Many souls are tempted be them
In sadness or in joy. Let them be
In agony, let them cry or rejuvenate,
No soul can play odd so far you exist.
It’s so ridiculous to make a ‘boohoo’ cry.
A soul at forty behaves the same.
© NURA AHMAD 2008
Beyond the creation of the mind
A cause of serious ailment,
Yet cure is no where save in you.
No heart so hardened beyond your
Penetration and no heart so hard to
Destroy you.
The young, the old, the men, but
The women need you most.
Many souls are tempted be them
In sadness or in joy. Let them be
In agony, let them cry or rejuvenate,
No soul can play odd so far you exist.
It’s so ridiculous to make a ‘boohoo’ cry.
A soul at forty behaves the same.
© NURA AHMAD 2008
THE HEARTFUL MINDS
I have been told by my mind
Truly I need you
Surely I’ll have you
Not only to keep you
But also to love you
Not only to love you
But also respect you
Surely I need you
Truly I love you
It takes two to love
Love is blind
It takes two to ride in tandem
To be happy along together
To love is to hurt
Never to hate
To love is to care
Forgive and forget
To love is to have in
To be ready to give out
We have a good time together – Together we belong!
28/6/’99
© AWWAL B. A. DANGODAYI 2008
Truly I need you
Surely I’ll have you
Not only to keep you
But also to love you
Not only to love you
But also respect you
Surely I need you
Truly I love you
It takes two to love
Love is blind
It takes two to ride in tandem
To be happy along together
To love is to hurt
Never to hate
To love is to care
Forgive and forget
To love is to have in
To be ready to give out
We have a good time together – Together we belong!
28/6/’99
© AWWAL B. A. DANGODAYI 2008
PLAYBOY
Old in every inch
Young at heart
Lydia call you “sweet Daddy”
Maria “uncle Joe”
You dress in fine Safari
You dress velvety dress
You ride your sleek Ferari
A white velvety dress
You ride you sleek ferari
A beautiful ltalian breed
Your scares and strategem
Begin at evening times
A programme
Running almost by the day
“I get them young”
Has become a recurring sentence
In your prayer book .
© ALIYU ABDULLAHI JIBIA 2008
Young at heart
Lydia call you “sweet Daddy”
Maria “uncle Joe”
You dress in fine Safari
You dress velvety dress
You ride your sleek Ferari
A white velvety dress
You ride you sleek ferari
A beautiful ltalian breed
Your scares and strategem
Begin at evening times
A programme
Running almost by the day
“I get them young”
Has become a recurring sentence
In your prayer book .
© ALIYU ABDULLAHI JIBIA 2008
ABUNDANCE
Look upon me with love
I implore you
Caste your imperial eyes on me
With love in abundance
Your sweet laughter is all
I want to hear
Echoes of my hearts desire
Are what your words tell
Wake up with me and give me
The little of Queen of your heart
Bring out from me
The beauty of cupid’s words
Whisper into my searching heart
Tell me you’ll never leave me.
© NANA SHEHU BAYERO 2008
I implore you
Caste your imperial eyes on me
With love in abundance
Your sweet laughter is all
I want to hear
Echoes of my hearts desire
Are what your words tell
Wake up with me and give me
The little of Queen of your heart
Bring out from me
The beauty of cupid’s words
Whisper into my searching heart
Tell me you’ll never leave me.
© NANA SHEHU BAYERO 2008
AT THE TRAFFIC LIGHT
The amber, then the red light
Raised their invisible hands
Persuading me to stop, I did
Looking and searching on both sides
I stole a glance
Of that glorious face of hers
By instinct she turned and stole a glance
We exchanged some orphaned smiles
Just then the amber, then the green light
Impatience from behind noise build up
She turned right
I without choice turned left
Who owned that radiant face?
Where was she going from there?
I wonder!
I wonder….
© YUSUF ADAMU 2008
Raised their invisible hands
Persuading me to stop, I did
Looking and searching on both sides
I stole a glance
Of that glorious face of hers
By instinct she turned and stole a glance
We exchanged some orphaned smiles
Just then the amber, then the green light
Impatience from behind noise build up
She turned right
I without choice turned left
Who owned that radiant face?
Where was she going from there?
I wonder!
I wonder….
© YUSUF ADAMU 2008
A CRY IN AGONY
CRY IN AGONY
(For the Corp members that died recently on a motor accident)
After hard moments of seeking admission
the hustles of registration
years of frustrations
long hours of lectures and practical
the mad rush for a seat on the bus
the shanty taxi spaces
the agony of dirty toilets
the strategic 101 formula
the beating of the rain
the heat of the merciless sun
the trial of missing tests and missing results
the tragedy of failure
the hour of glory came
just a second to the launching pad
all these sufferings came to naught
the young graduates were destined by fate
their bus crashed and went ablaze…
..few survivors …all others dead and mutilated
unidentifiable at death
what a tragedy for our nation
what an indictment for the State
‘we will stop night journeys’
is all they said after shading crocodile tears
what about renovating the roads
expanding them and making them safe
God bears witness in the burnt flesh of the victims
Of the corrupt nature of the system
May those who perished be forgiven by God
May they be compensated with His bliss!
© AISHA ZAKARI 2008
September 2003
(For the Corp members that died recently on a motor accident)
After hard moments of seeking admission
the hustles of registration
years of frustrations
long hours of lectures and practical
the mad rush for a seat on the bus
the shanty taxi spaces
the agony of dirty toilets
the strategic 101 formula
the beating of the rain
the heat of the merciless sun
the trial of missing tests and missing results
the tragedy of failure
the hour of glory came
just a second to the launching pad
all these sufferings came to naught
the young graduates were destined by fate
their bus crashed and went ablaze…
..few survivors …all others dead and mutilated
unidentifiable at death
what a tragedy for our nation
what an indictment for the State
‘we will stop night journeys’
is all they said after shading crocodile tears
what about renovating the roads
expanding them and making them safe
God bears witness in the burnt flesh of the victims
Of the corrupt nature of the system
May those who perished be forgiven by God
May they be compensated with His bliss!
© AISHA ZAKARI 2008
September 2003
WHY THIS BLOG?
This blog is intended to publish literary works by the members of the Association of Nigerian Authors Kano State branch. It is also going to publish news and announcements about what is happening in Kano's literary circles. A Hausa version of this blog is being run by Ado Ahmad Gidan Dabino. I run this for those who write in the English langauge.
Happy reading.
Happy reading.
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