First Steps to Flight: A Collection of Poems and Short Stories

By Oluwatobi Lala

FIRST STEPS TO FLIGHT is a collection of poems and a few short stories written by professionals whose background vary from nursing, medicine, to biomedical sciences. It is an invitation to share in the richness, fullness and diversity of works presented in this anthology featuring varied forms, styles, and orientations - from the afrocentric to the anglophilic.

• Language: English
• Publisher: AuthorHouse
• Release date: Aug 30, 2013
• ISBN: 9781491811689

Oluwatobi Lala

Oluwatobi Lala's passion is in the literal and performing arts. Though a Medical Laboratory Scientist by profession, he finds paper a better lab and experimenting with words a greater science. A songwriter, playwright and actor who has a few productions to his credit including "Pathology of Love" - a stage play and "The Centurion" - a feature film. His works have graced the pages of anthologies ("Letters from the soul") and online poetry journals (Subjective substance, Allpoetry, Poetry.com)

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© 2013 by Oluwatobi Lala. All rights reserved.

No part of this book may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted by any means without the written permission of the author.

Published by AuthorHouse 08/28/2013

ISBN: 978-1-4918-1169-6 (sc)

ISBN: 978-1-4918-1168-9 (e)

Library of Congress Control Number: 2013915642

Any people depicted in stock imagery provided by Thinkstock are models, and such images are being used for illustrative purposes only.

Certain stock imagery © Thinkstock.

Because of the dynamic nature of the Internet, any web addresses or links contained in this book may have changed since publication and may no longer be valid. The views expressed in this work are solely those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of the publisher, and the publisher hereby disclaims any responsibility for them.

CONTENTS

DEDICATION

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

PREFACE

black.jpg    Inception

LAWANI OLUKEMI

black.jpg    Broken

black.jpg    Mommies

black.jpg    Remebering the Journey Home

black.jpg    Spoken

MICHAEL AFOLABI SYLFAD

black.jpg    Oriki

black.jpg    Esemelitis

black.jpg    Heianhee*

black.jpg    At Twenty

black.jpg    For the Verireverend

BUCHI ANIKPEZIE

black.jpg    A Night Set for Two

black.jpg    A Spectator

black.jpg    A Stolen Kiss

black.jpg    Guilty as Charged

black.jpg    Just before Dawn

black.jpg    Patriotism or Foolhardiness

black.jpg    Mamaaaaa… .

MICHAEL ADEOLA OLAGBENRO

black.jpg    What name?

black.jpg    Omegie

black.jpg    Our Future

black.jpg    Hamarttan Dreamscape, or The Life of a Man.

black.jpg    She Comes

black.jpg    Corn

black.jpg    In Pain, I Withdrew…

black.jpg    Song of Akeregbe

black.jpg    Agbeke

WOBO BEKWELEM

black.jpg    His Heartbeat, Your Rhythm

black.jpg    An Epistle to My Brother

black.jpg    I Am Christian, Not Religious.

black.jpg    Omolara Perseveres

black.jpg    Suicide Note for Omolara

OGUNWALE ABAYOMI NATHANIEL

black.jpg    Manchester Stage 3B

black.jpg    Inception

black.jpg    The Delegate

black.jpg    A Promise to Keep

OLOWOLAIYEMO MIERIUMHE UDE

black.jpg    Dreams

black.jpg    Seed of Infinity

black.jpg    Mighty Champ

black.jpg    The Victory

black.jpg    Sunset

black.jpg    Today

black.jpg    Rubbish

DAYO AWOLESI

black.jpg    In Awe

OLUWATOBI LALA

black.jpg    I Met Poetry

black.jpg    Dreams

black.jpg    Anatomy

black.jpg    Where Yesterday Lives

black.jpg    Tribute

black.jpg    My Pledge

black.jpg    Who Picked Cupid?

black.jpg    My in I

black.jpg    Mother

black.jpg    Love Hurts

black.jpg    Ade Mi*

black.jpg    What Else

black.jpg    To His Coy Mistress; Her Response (Andrew Marvell; Oluwatobi Lala)

black.jpg    Routine

black.jpg    Hope

DEDICATION

To God

   . . . Saviour, Keeper, Muse

To bards

   . . . may the muses (ethereal or real) ever hap!

To lovers of poetry

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

My thanks to my brother, Segun, who was my first audience and fan. I promise to still write you those pieces that will be yours alone.

Pastor Tunji Odelola and Aunty J, for reading my first ramblings and encouraging me to publish, thank you. Well, here we are.

Mark Olajide Noina, I still owe you that weekend in a 5-star hotel for reading through and sharing comments. Maybe for a sequel

Paul Adepoju, you came through, eventually! Your comments were insightful and valuable.

Andrew Marvell (1621-1678), thank you for taking time to chat with me.

Wobo, Mike, Abayo, Agbaakin, Buchi, Kemi, Mirifo, let’s do this again sometime

Dayo Awolesi, thank you for your piece and for a brief but meaningful interaction.

Rexsonia, hmmm! . . . WAMH! Thank you

PREFACE

A word fitly spoken (or written) is like apples of gold in settings of silver—Pro 25:11

I met poetry a few years before I met the bards whose collection has graced the pages of this anthology but only after I met them did my love for this art form deepen. Despite the chaos of our respective trainings in nursing, biomedical sciences and medicine, our desire to pen, read and collect words that enliven buoyed.

It is that desire that has birthed this collection. I