Africa - poetry

AFRICA
(to africans in diaspora)

africa here i come, africa
africa of the black soul
the soul of an antediluvian background
the civilization of your timid tribes.

its your voice i hear africa
your voice of the chatting drums
your beaded drums and the royal trumpeter
the metal gong of your town crier

i have come to see your music dance
i have heard of your everlasting minstrels
have i not heard of your fluctuation hips!
i have heard an adequate amount and have come to watch
wouldn't you dance for me africa

africa here i come africa
would you not show me to your tribes
the timid tribes of your sickly tongues
the different tongues of your good men

africa, black soul africa
tell me about your gods
your gods of the sky and of the care for earth
your gods of the hills and of the rivers abound

show me to your kings africa
your kings of the antique dynasty
the antediluvian family of rusted spear and shield
africa, here i come africa

HEAVENLY GUEST

heavenly guest
heralding thunderously
in its own awake
pelting on men
as well, the gods
gathering itself
drop by drop.

as rivulets you flow
passing on slopes abound
downward,
it's rhythm goes -
romancing all corners
cutting out its lonely paths
along our farmstead's.

beside your gathered pools
we stand
with tears of joy
naked
we danced
we played
making mounds of wetted soil
splashing
little you, unto us

seasonally guest
you have grown -
at length,
in breath,
we are in you
you in us

CONCEPTION

My father,
out of your seeds
emerged i,
millions of us swarm crossways the eggling waters
looking for her, that harbours
and, i the selected morphed into fluids
. . . the races of life began at conception

dear mother,
days stumbled into months
egglings, from your womb harboured me
and the fluids created into being
enshrouded in you, body and soul;
eating and sucking all day long
. . . this, is the building of me

. . . DETENTION

distanced we sat, barred from
spoken words
masked, our lives became one
volume of feelings race
our concerned minds
ideas,
morphed into forms
flow among us

. . . unspoken,
we had said volumes
neither by mouth nor scribbles
of our dried fountains
we have rocked minds;
and common unchained thoughts
. . . who can seal or hold in captive
a bothered mind

DRAUGHT

tensed we watched
as our fathers beforehand us, has done
we watched as dawn streaks diagonally the neighing sky
another day has come
with it, hope that lingers

we watched as the crops, whither
as the herds check by the river beds
we saw the cracks all about us
and, the sun
scorched bleakly upon us

we watched as the skies refuse
to fall its tears and to aid our parching thirst
the field has broken, in piece!
threatening,
to acceptable our decline bones

MAN

i be grateful for
adore
praise
envy
the habitats called man

i worship
sanctified
consecrate
glorify
God, that bent man

i'm disappointed
betrayed
disgusted
dismayed
in the very character of man

poems by Chime, Hilary Uchenna

Chime, Hilary Uchenna works as a creative comedian in Lagos, Nigeria. He graduated as a visual artist in the Fine Arts Department, of the Institute of Management and Technology, Enugu. A conventional artiste to the core, who increasingly has transformed into the world of digital arts. He educated as an interactive disc developer, his works span from illustrations to image, video and audio editing. He has worked extensively on more than a few compact disk CD titles, he exhibits occasionally, and have his works in classified and communal collections.

To him poetry comes naturally, he believes it is an annex of his ballot and 'paint' he must, also with colours or in words. He draws his topics from his burning background and similes from Igbo folklore. He is at this time preparing a album of his poetry and short stories which he hopes to broadcast soon.