RANDOM BLUES 519 (In Gun We Trust)

Posted By: Rilwan On: In: Niyi Osundare0
NRA
In this Land of the Brave The god of the gun is on rampage again Say, in the Land of the Brave The god of the gun in on rampage again A brainless rifle mows down a score souls We’re thrown into panic, the customary pain   Columbine, Sandy Hook, Las Vegas Corpses, more corpses, in all a rowdy row Say, Columbine, Sandy Hook, Las Vegas Corpses, corpses, and all the rowdy row In these morbid orgies and their rivers… Read more

SNAPSONGS 23

Posted By: Niyi Osundare On: In: Niyi Osundare0
SNAPSONGS 23
Having been sane for one magic moon Who says we are not entitled To a season of madness? Ask the jinx in our furious frenzy     We are all devotees of that Egyptian goddess* Who moulded Truth from its myriad fragments Variegated verity confounds the mind The Temple of Falsehood reverts to basic dust     Truth falls from the sky And bounces off the earth like a seasoned gymnast Falsehood lands with a thud And scatters into implacable… Read more

SNAPSONGS 22

Posted By: Niyi Osundare On: In: Niyi Osundare0
SNAPSONGS 22
Some think They are too young to live Others think They are too old to die     Life’s riddle is a rolling stone Which gathers all the moss Today’s magic answers May twine into tomorrow’s confounding puzzles     The Universe is a drum Beat it with a tender stick When you walk the road to the Future Don’t wear a shoe of thorns     The cloud plays around the face of the sky Some think it is… Read more

RANDOM BLUES 516 (War Blues)

Posted By: Niyi Osundare On: In: Niyi Osundare0
RANDOM BLUES 516 (War Blues)
Now that the cameras and crowds have left Time to think and tell the truth   They lied their way to war And set the world on fire Haba, they lied their way to war And set the world on fire Like hogs fed on a hoax We grunted at their bloody desire   Jane came back without a leg Eugene returned with a missing arm Say, Jane came back without a leg Eugene returned with a missing arm And… Read more

RANDOM BLUES 515 (Heartsong)

Posted By: Niyi Osundare On: In: Niyi Osundare0
RANDOM BLUES 515 (Heartsong)
Ditch the dirge, undo the gloom Let sweet songs perfume the night Baby, ditch the dirge, undo the gloom Let sweet songs perfume the night In this brief moment between our sighs Hold me tight, hold me right   Let quiet chuckles unwind the hour Beyond the endless sadness of a sour state Say, let quiet chuckles unwind the hour Beyond the endless sadness of a sour state And the powerful barons of blindness Who infect our world with their… Read more

SNAPSONGS 16 (a few knotty questions for Eden)

Posted By: Niyi Osundare On: In: Niyi Osundare0
Eden
If Eden was so benign What was the Serpent doing on its tree From where did it derive its venom Who was its teacher in the school of deceit?   Who gave Satan so much power Why was the Gardener So far from his garden Who planted that Tree with the Forbidden Fruit?   In what strange language Did the Serpent cajole its audience What adjectives adorned its nouns How dire, the adversity of its adverbs?   Did the Serpent… Read more

SNAPSONGS 18

Posted By: Niyi Osundare On: In: Niyi Osundare0
SNAPSONGS 18
Will the carpenter Eat sawdust for dinner Will the laundryman Drown in the sewer of his trade?   Will the butcher Slice up his biceps for sale Will the barber weave a wig From the clump of fallen hairs   Arigisegi* labours through Its mountain of sticks The house which springs from his labour Will always be its unintended prison   The swamp swears It has nothing to do with the rain The sky is listening Another dry August is… Read more

SNAPSONGS 16 (Melodious Miscellany)

Posted By: Niyi Osundare On: In: Niyi Osundare0
SNAPSONGS 16 (Melodious Miscellany)
The Valley has a thousand lessons To teach the Mountain Some nights are brighter Than the clearest day   What is rice If not grass with golden grains A lobster is another scorpion With a harmless tail   The master's fanciest dream Is a nightmare for the slave A house built for the pigeon May not be a pretty home for the partridge   God created the world In seven days On the very next day He laid the foundation… Read more

Dear Olukorede

Posted By: Simeon Nwakaudu On: In: Niyi Osundare0
Mr Olukorede Yishau is one of the key editors of the most prominent APC newspaper  in the country. The Nation is a key propaganda tool for the APC, where information  is manipulated to protect the battered image of the failed political party in every situation. The reason for this is not far-fetched. The paper serves the political interest of its proprietor. Mr Yishau on Friday, October 20, 2017 wrote an open letter to the Rivers State Governor, Nyesom Ezenwo Wike… Read more

RANDOM BLUES

Posted By: Niyi Osundare On: In: Niyi Osundare0
RANDOM BLUES
The world has raised its whip Where will it descend? Say, the world has raised its whip Where will it descend? Some look up in utter disgust While the others hiss and just pretend Will it fall on the beggar Who has no legs to call his own Asking, will it fall on the beggar Who has no legs to call his own? Or will it just land flat Like a symphony without a tone? Will it fall on the… Read more

SNAPSONGS (Ode to Kleptocrats III)

Posted By: Niyi Osundare On: In: Niyi Osundare0
SNAPSONGS (Ode to Kleptocrats III)
The money which should have built our schools Is heaving in the Governor's bank account Our children roam the streets Like orphans and futureless urchins   The billions voted for healthcare Are multiplying in the Minister's hide-aways Common ailments rake us up like hapless leaves The morgues are full to their stinking brim   They budgeted crazy figures for public roads Sharing them up in their nocturnal caucus Expressways are thoroughfares To a gross and speedy death   The sums… Read more

SNAPSONGS (Ode to Kleptocrats I)

Posted By: Niyi Osundare On: In: Niyi Osundare0
SNAPSONGS (Ode to Kleptocrats I)
Those who have food Have no appetite Those afflicted by hunger Are in search of food     The tears from Kenimani’s* eyes Can sail a ship But deep in their hearts Is a dire, derisive laughter     They have a long stick And they know what to do with it When they laugh like friends eternal A sword waits behind their cloak     They ate the child for breakfast And roasted the father for a sumptuous dinner… Read more

RANDOM BLUES

Posted By: Niyi Osundare On: In: Niyi Osundare0
RANDOM BLUES
Brick by brick by brick We build the bridge to Perfect Freedom Yes, brick by brick by brick We build the bridge to Perfect Freedom The road which rules the street of life Is tense and tortuous, but never random     Is it your fancy to flee your face Is it your scheme to escape your skin Asking, really your fancy to flee your face And your scheme to escape your skin? Some folks’ trust in their inner being… Read more