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Okoye Gabriel Chukwunonye

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My only Nigeria
Catch the wind now
The celebration of a blind begger’s pride
Raining in the cemetry
Black race in diaspora
Sweet sister
A pen can save africa
The song of birds in the sky (kiddies)
Quech the flaming anger
Moluwe bus

My only Nigeria

My Nigeria, my only Nigeria
The bad birds has poisoned thy grains
And infected thy food with bacteria
That has blotted thy stomach
And caused thee painful diarrhea
I heard thy cry from thy rumpus intestine
Thy anus blows thy trumpet in anguish
Yet they give thee a cup of laxative
Whilst thy bowels need a loaf of bread

My Nigeria, my only Nigeria
Yesterday is faster than thy pace
Fate has rumpled thy face
Age is withering thy grey hairs
And sickness crippling thy joints
But thou need not a stick to walk
Nor an alien back to lean on

My Nigeria, my only Nigeria
Thy strength is in thy bones
Thy glory is in thy black soil
Let thy green be thy life
And thy white purify thy mind
Thy head only need corruption desolation
And an honest resolution
For thy statue to stand out again

Catch the wind now

Catch it now
Catch the wind now
When is gone
You are gone

Swim it now
Swim the water now
When is dried
Fishes are dead

Fishes are just water
And nothing but water
We are just wind
And nothing but wind
Catch it now
Catch the wind now

THE CELEBRATION OF A BLIND BEGGER’S PRIDE

I am the blind begger that celebrates his pride
The dumping site is my shrine
My altar lies on the rubbish bed
Where people bring refuse as sacrifice
On every side they smoke me incense
Which I perceive and spit on them blessing
I am the pride of beggers in my slum
Thousands of flies bows to my blind-broom
Flocks of swine are wounded
When I hit with my blind-rod

I am the only blind begger with a pride
And I shout it aloud with my pride
I feed the sight that led my steps
I am the one that controls his pace
As he led me to the church gate
As we walked to the busy market
My hands depend on his shoulders
His belly eat from my plate of coins
People call us beggers
But I call him my servant

I am the only begger with a pride
And nobody can question my pride
I worn a costly tattered cloth
The patches felt the shirt of my servant
Mosquitoes play me music all my nights
But on his back I count the bites
Now, who says I don’t have a pride?
I know my pride, my big pride
And I beat my drums aloud
For men to know my pride

RAINING IN THE CEMETRY

Raining in the cemetry
Raining from my eyes
Not for the grave stones
Not for the dead bodies
Falling from my eyes
Raining in the cemetry

I am in the cemetry
Digging the graves
For the sand in the skulls
The world precious soil
Now in my palms
Like saw dust exposed to the wind
My hands cannot hold them
The skulls cannot revive them
They are lost, lost forever

Raining in the cemetry
Raining from my eyes
Raining for the dead discoveries
Raining for lost inventions
Raining from my eyes
Raining for the world unknown treasures

BLACK RACE IN DIASPORA

Gidi! Gidi! Gidi! Gidi!
I’m hearing the beat from my land
Is it the masquerade season?
Is it the wrestling arena?
Is it the dancing festival?
No! I’m hearing the beat of running heels

Gidi! Gidi! Gidi! Gidi!
I’m hearing the beat of running heels
In the season of the greedy hunters
The sound of their guns
Heard far away in other lands
The animals are on the run
Scattered like what is chasing their back
The arrows from the hunters’ bows

Gidi! Gidi! Gidi! Gidi!
I’m hearing the beat of heels
Running after heels
The hunters are shooting more an’ more
More than their bags can carry
More than they can eat
More than they can keep

Gidi! Gidi! Gidi! Gidi!
The animals are still on the run
Running to where they can hide
Running for what they will eat
Gidi! Gidi! Gidi! Gidi!
Black race in Diaspora

SWEET SISTER

In a long bus the journey struggle began
People squashed like sardines in their tins
Her struggle became a pipedream
Missing a love in the crowded bus
From outside through the open window
She poured the remains of bridal flowers
Over my body like a snow fall in the winter
The gap between her incisors attracted the sun
And added glamour to her sweet smile
Is true she bade to me
But she never said good-bye
She whispered into my ear
My love! I have a story for you
On her way far behind
The long distance seems wet
But it never rained
Hooting! Hooting! Counter hooting!
Creaking brakes and pedals
Raising of eyes in despair
Shouting-gushing-groaning-stretching
Her bloody silent kept my hands akimbo
Her foot sprint on the dark mud
Walking across the grasses, rivers, deserts
And up to the mountain
Look at her up there
Hey! Look at her coming down
Like glaciers melting down the valley
That will never return again
Is this another horrific tale by granny?
Like the heavy bang on earth
It left scars in my memories
The story she promised to tell?
The story of a sanguinary phenomenon
Is this the same smile among the bridal party?
I know she never wish to say good-bye
But death has taken its quota
Sweet sister, farewell!

A PEN CAN SAVE AFRICA

Lying skyward in my cloth
I dreamt of the pens in my great continent
Some of the pens are in the wrong fingers
Dancing to the rhythm of our agony
Some of the pens are in their grip
Like slaves squelching in their chains
Some of the pens are still sleeping
Waiting for the days to awake
Some of the pens are leaving
For an endless tour
Sparing the ink in their pipes
Some of the pens could not dance a bit
Afraid of the ink in their veins
Brimming in the legislative cups

But after my dream
There came a revelation
A strong optimistic revelation
That conquers all my nightmares
A revelation that a pen can restore
The riches in our black soil
A revelation that a pen can cease the finger
That is pulling the triggers
A revelation that a pen can recoil
The thought of killing our own brothers
An unbeatable revelation
That a pen can save Africa
FOR THERE’S NO WORD
A PEN CANNOT WRITE

Kudos! To all the fingers
Who are dancing their pens right

THE SONG OF BIRDS IN THE SKY (KIDDIES)

High to high above the hills
The blue and white occupies the sky
High to high above the hills
The skylark flying in the sky
High to high above the hills
A melodious voice heard in the sky
High to high above the hills
I saw the stars in the sky
High to high above the hills
The sun and moon in the sky
High to high above the hills
I saw the eclipse storm the sky
High to high above the hills
The dew and snow from the sky
High to high above the hills
I saw the lightning in the sky
High to high above the hills
The thunders strikes in the sky
High to high above the hills
A peaceful rain from the sky
High to high above the hills
A beautiful rainbow seen in the sky
High to high above the hills
I feel the breeze from the sky
I take a look above the hills
The song of birds in the sky

QUECH THE FLAMING ANGER

At the reek of the spice “ogiri”
Who does it retch?
The pounded fufu that stench
Who blows it a raspberry?
The bitter olugbu leaves
Makes our soup delicious
We delight in rancid delicacies

Our sheep destroys our garden
Our goats invades our barn
Yet we gather them palm frond
Rain falls on useless weed
We allege it of blindness
We roof our hut from the rain
Yet our thatch fall the rain
Dripping drops into our drinking bowels

Our hut is on fire
With the sticks of our fortress
Flaming ablaze ablaze
Not water to quench the fire
We chew utazi leaf is bitter
But when we take in water is sweeter
Quench the flaming anger
Quench it with forgiveness

MOLUWE BUS

From the brink of the road
I jumped into moluwe bus
I jumped into the world
Fast fast it runs the road
Sometimes it slows
When it stops it still rolls
What is it ME smelling?
Akara, bole, agege bread
The rich and poor dinning
Moluwe, the rich you journey
Moluwe, the poor you journey
Moluwe, where laughter sometimes thrills
Moluwe, where everyone’s anger spills
Moluwe, where curses speaks language
Moluwe, deprived dignity beyond salvage
Moluwe, your conductor smokes igbo “weed”
Moluwe, ogogoro “alcohol” is driving you mad
The noise is louder than the music
Gossip bewildering logic
Oh! I’m grey haired, my destination?
Is moluwe a world I can bury?
Isn’t life all a misery?
Is it stopping? Is it going? Nonsense!
I jumped down back on the brink
And pity the eagerly waiting babies
Jumping from womb into commotion