Cries of a Tortured Soul

By R. I. Iyemere

Since the beginning of time; sometimes some peoples chose to write about their life experiences. In these works, I have just done that but in a form of Poetry because Love is the Stranger. Who disagrees should go on and write their version of stories about me, is their prerogative!



I have been discredited by those strangers that think that they hold the powers, but I have stated the facts of the matters. The things that I heard them say about my daughter and me, but I do not possess the powers to rectify the mistakes; that have been made! As we lead our lives, we all make mistakes daily; because we are all humans and we are all fallible.



Due to all that have gone on, so many times I cried myself to bed. In my darkest hours; I was consoled by my Wonderful Daughter! Instead of being the Child, She grew up faster and became the shoulders to cry on and so; I dedicate the entirety of these works to my late daughter's foundation;
"FOUNDATION IN MEMORIES OF ADA-EMILA RUTH VALMORI Bsc.Hons"



"BECAUSE THESE HONOURS ARE YOURS AND MUST REMAIN YOURS ALONE TILL THE END OF TIME"!



To her Father; the Kindest Man truly with a heart of gold, the kindest Man on Earth of whom without; I probably would not have been here today. The Man who brought up his Stepson with the Kindest Heart as he would bring up His Own Natural Child, and To My Grandson!



To another Man, a wonderful Person of whom without; we would have been homeless for much longer than necessary! He who saw that wrong was done and asked that things should be put right! To those freedom fighters of yester years, and those of today! To they who fight for the rights of the weak due to injustices in our World.



To All the Descendants of Immigrants the World Over, those from the beginning of time, since Humankind, because they were the courageous pioneers; who set the pace that some of us followed! To those who have travelled abroad to cure their Child. To those that believe in Fairness and those who believe in Kindness. To those who believe in Love. To the Just Women and the Just Men of This Our Great Universe!




R. I. IYEMERE.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Xlibris UK
• Release date: Jun 28, 2013
• ISBN: 9781483651040

R. I. Iyemere

My name is Ruth Isabel Omona Iyemere. I write under R.I. Iyemere. I’m a Nigerian-born British poet. I was born in Delta State of Nigeria. My father died during the Nigerian Civil War. I left school without any higher school certificates to my name. In the 1980s through correspondence course, I acquired a couple of GCSE certificates. In the year 1997, I enrolled to study law with the Open University; sadly during my second year, I dropped out due to lack of funds to pay my fees. For eleven years, I studied at universities of hardships and learned how to write poems and quotes.

Book preview

My Fate

I

My little friend, head of apricots; lady, Mrs Ants,

What tails have thou not told?

I have sunk so low I must cave in,

Cave in to my intimidators; it is my fate, my fate to suffer!

We all carry our own grains, grains of insanity around with us;

It is my fault, and it is my fate!

I need friends to get by, but I face foes everywhere I am,

It is my fate; as those of us without rights are us that are poor!

Is it a world without ears but has fake eyes all over the places;

Where are the big hearts with ears willing to listen to the weak?

My thoughts were mine; my thoughts are mine so are my pains!

My little friends, called ants,

What tales would thou not tell and what tales have I not heard?

II

We are walking like the children with no one to turn to,

What stories of our lives would they not tell?

I have lost my pride I must obey them,

Obey those; yes, obey those that humiliate me,

It is my fate, my fate to suffer.

I should have woken up under a torn quilt on a wet floor,

At a cardboard village because we should not have it;

It is my fate, my fate to suffer!

Faces that tries, they tried to be kind to me,

I need to free my mind! It is my fate!

Overwhelmed by my pains that are uncancellable to the eyes;

Because if Amen becomes a curse the congregation should say;

Alleluia as we pay our debt to love and the debts we all pay!

III

They are gathering in my name; it is my fault, it is my fate;

Draw the blinds don’t watch; leave them to it!

Why must this matter now to me?

Those evening flies that are heavy monsters,

If they can multiply in their numbers and they call their selves;

EBB and the names of their cities; Gutters and Hells!

Angry; as they stare through; with their angry eyes for trouble,

Cold hearts for hate and watch their years drain away;

Because it is always my fault; my fault to suffer, as always!

Those without a voice are us that are insignificant to them;

From a distance they would detect sanities and insanities!

Emotional abuse, psychological torture and vindictiveness;

That we face; it is my entire fault; my fate; to suffer forever!

R.I. Iyemere

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To: Ada-Emilia Ruth Valmori

Inveigh

I

I can relate to your life experience in this instance,

As we are living through these ourselves!

Kindness has long been exiled on earth;

Truthfulness has long been abolished in our universe.

Noise pollution of any sort does not help a child’s progress,

Many lessons were missed, but now many have been learnt.

In every system, there are unseen flaws within,

These days, my doubts and fears grow by the minute;

As so many greats have abused their powers the world over!

Free now from my doubts, and my confusions,

As I can see their arrows and spears pointed at my child!

And as they are chasing us through their valley;

All that I am doing is call out thy names.

Though I know that thou would answer,

As thou have always come to our rescue, still I am filled with fears!

But I know they will all fall on their faces;

And victory will be ours at last!

II

All we asked was our peace and all we still ask now is our peace,

This is due to us by right, and is our rights and nothing more.

III

Dames and their dolls, ladies and sonorities,

Lions and their Lords, they whisper softly;

My quiet ways they all despise!

And sometimes; my frankness upsets them!

They tried, and tried, and tried in vain!

We cannot continue to swallow;

The tides of their actions in silence!

Their friends from Naples paid me a visit,

And the evidence; is in front of my door!

Their friends from Sicily have paid me a visit,

And the evidence; is inside my flat.

Their friends from hell and their dogs pay us visits;

Edozhia, Edozhia, Ubohuru’bo, thy children are calling and begging.

Gegeru, Gegeru, Efe Na Oru’gbo; protect and defend!

Thou were once a warrior who defended thy peoples against danger!

Icheri, Icheri, guard, Inene protect us from dangers!

Not too long ago thou were the power of thy peoples!

R.I. Iyemere

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To the Mountain

Love Ballards

I

Each passing moment, the reasons multiply,

As thy thoughts still linger.

They hardly know one, so the other said,

Still here reminiscing through thy yes and no;

And so far nothing concrete.

Still engaging myself in anticipation,

And in my dreams I’ve begun to blame myself;

As my dreams have become so hurtful!

Oh heaven above! The echo of my voice troubles thee!

In spite of all that’s been left in that, that rings,

No response from thy end; walls have been built between two.

These walls have become so high and thick;

And this is just too hard to bear.

II

The fears within fear of being hurt,

And questions why in love with the other;

Is to question why the rivers float; or to question why the wind blows?

Though not so easy when trying to express myself to thee,

But; I must not try to be what I am not; in order to please!

III

The line was not crossed, from start, the gate was always closed.

The flame is burning and always will because;

Even though the doors are closed; love will always do its things.

I knew it was supposed to have been removed but on a purpose;

It was left as a shield; just as a shield for me.

IV

Never would thou be a cloud shadow passing over the sea,

Because no words could ever explain why!

Sometimes true love, have rough rides,

Or; ’am I just a fool loving a wronged man?

Where did things go wrong along the line?

Why no communications between two?

Oh bumpy roads! Thy pains and sorrows are hard to conceal,

But the world has more stories to tell about the oceans and the seas!

Neither their waves nor their winds are kind;

As their hostilities are felt the world over!

Their lies are as long as the universe,

And for every fault a leopard has;

The cheetah has twice as much!

R.I. Iyemere

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Muted

I

And so the flowers forgot to change to melons,

So they talked, and talked, and talked about this love.

Then the trees forgot to bear fruits,

So emerged more stories to occupy their idle minds!

All over my face, shrubs turned itself to trees,

So the Roman Goddess of love;

With a bow and arrow, refused to let me through!

And so the intervals became longer and longer;

On it went, and went, and felt as though it was forever!

Then through the grapevine the news came,

Rumours spreading about things that might be lies!

About invasion of privacy began,

And within me, was a body filled with anger;

As it felt as though I will never live again!

II

What more can a lamb do other than eat grass?

Each time the gazer is with a congregation;

Waiting for the sermon to be delivered!

But in my mind I know it’s untrue;

Old new tricks played over and over are just to annoy.

On the other hand, what others do that none talks about;

Why does it become stories if done by some others?

Never trust a man, who lives with a cat,

Or a man that still lives with his mother!

A woman, who lives alone with a dog, just needs protection;

Never trust a stranger, let alone fall in love with a stranger!

For all it’s worth, the tiger would not visit lion,

And then the mouse calls the tiger, but each time,

The tiger refuses the lion an audience!

R.I. Iyemere

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Slurs

I

As they preached,

Indirectly they insight hatred amongst,

And yet, our prophets they are.

II

Inflammatory words, falls from wall to wall,

Oh, prophets!

Now in the eyes of the one above, counts no more;

As in this instance, it does not sooth.

Though the world is moving and moving on,

Bigotry still on standstill!

Prophets or not,

When it comes round it;

Human beings are all the same.

III

Though prophets you are; and call yourselves,

Your toes, I would not want to step on,

As forgiving minds, you have not!

These that are hounded have not trespassed,

Nor committed crimes that’s punishable these days,

Neither have they sinned.

Oh, Lord! Forgive us our sins they preached,

I heard, they preached, I heard to my ears,

An expert of sins or in sins ’am not but;

Their sins, I cannot see and fail to understand.

IV

Oh, God of all creations,

One is allowed to lead a life they choose.

Everyone has a right to rule their destiny,

Living as one wishes to live cannot be a sin or a crime.

V

Or should I say I need a moment to think?

Maybe I’ll need some time for reflection,

Or should I say that this world of ours; has to mend its ways?

As it feels as though, is lost its ways.

VI

Oh, everlasting Father!

Does it have to be this way?

Why is life so hard?

I believe we’re all born into this world,

With open minds so we can be tolerant;

If only, we could all mend our ways.

If only we could all practise what we preached,

This world of ours would be a better place!

VII

I know how it feels to be hounded, I do,

I’ve been there and I am still there,

At times it feels as though, millions of people, unknown faces;

Are running my life for me, and this, can be soul destroyer.

VIII

Will I ever forget? How can I?

The fears of the unknown,

Gossipers and scandal mongers are still around!

Some have forgotten that God is in existence;

Some have forgotten they’re only proposers,

And some even actually think that they are God!

’Am no longer afraid, because, is only God, that disposes.

So many misfortunes over these years I’ve faced,

All that ’am yet to face the Almighty God knows,

Because he is the Alfa;

And only he is the Omega!

R.I. Iyemere

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Pull

I

If only rivers could float together at once and wash away my sorrows,

Because hills, mountains, seas, and oceans are all between us!

So glad I have not ended up resentful of thee,

Nor resentful of those who were behind it!

I seek nothing more from thee than an answer,

And need nothing more from thee than a minute,

As never did I want thee drawn into my orbit!

I stayed a side to see if thou would call and say,

A word or two either way as I deserved to know,

Yet nothing done, nothing said, nothing came close to being any word.

Then it got to a stage that I got confused, and became weary,

By the seconds, minutes, hours, days, weeks, months, and years;

As they all came, went, and left me with emptiness!

Millions must have been fooled in the past, though now they’re wiser!

II

World which suffocates me with thy name, thee who fears the unknown!

When the feelings of love beckoned me to fall for thee,

I was ready to follow thee to the moon and sun;

But as my love arrived; thou said goodbye to me!

Even though time after time, thou gave me thy word;

As tomorrow came I was there on my own like a fool!

I had thought that with thee beside me, I would conquer this world,

Every now and then, thou show thy self and just disappear again;

Hurt once or twice, cried the last time around, oh, my beloved!

Now afraid of being hurt again the lamentations I heard!

We gaze at the stars as they wisely glow on our skies;

We feel the heat from the sun as it smartly shines on earth!

Though we can also see mother earth sometimes as is calmly on standstill;

It has now decided to move on, as poetic justice, it can no longer stand!

R.I. Iyemere

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Motives

I

I dreamt it all, I made it up, and I sent it out.

On the twentieth day of the green month,

I noticed that a telephone pole was wagging convulsively along my lane;

Then a black snake emptied itself on the grass!

The gale force, the rain, and the wind,

That set my soul a blaze began;

Oh lover that wasn’t meant to be!

Kiss me once for the first and the last time;

Make me want you like I never did before,

Hold me close and so you can set my heart at glow!

Say those words in haste once again then leave!

Let my eyes become fountains,

And so my foolish heart can ache forever!

Merciless in all they do, heartless in their own ways;

And hard liners of different kinds!

I must sometimes, dance to the rhythms of my pains, but the jokes;

That made me laugh in all my saddest times I will remember them always!

Or perhaps I should sit and wait for the bells to ring?

Because this is no longer the time for sobbing I would like you;

To believe it; because I am not crying and heating my head!

II

At a moment eternal voice of Christ was speaking,

It was a misunderstanding of a silly lady!

I, with the wit and the wisdom of an evil,

I, the one who twisted everything with my peering eyes,

To sooth my advantage; I, the robe of sorrows!

All I can say is the feeling was real; it was much more than just a little,

And in my soul, it will remain more and much more than just a game;

But why must I be the one that you choose to be your model of hate?

I, with the legs and the wit like a fly,

House of horrors; why must I be the one you call?

To watch your games; I, with the wit and the mind of a child!

Given the chance before today, all could have been forgiven.

I lost my hearing aid and my mind to the fair river,

But I have now read your lips and I have also put two and two together;

I have now chosen to abide by the old school rules.

I was just a daydreamer, so those from the beast planet should stop!

Yes, just one of those moments I made up things to sooth;

They were just my days of dreaming and you were not wrong.

You are so scared of a hopeless wind and shadow that are harmless;

Because I made up things and I sent them out!

R.I. Iyemere

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Gape

I

The waters from my rivers does not smell,

Neither the fountains that came out of my eyes!

Thou do not know, so thou could not commit thyself,

And thou would not say yes, or no, as I asked;

Nor even phone and commit thy self to a date!

Story of my life has become known to the unknown,

My love life has become an open page for all to read!

By thee ’am perceived a high maintenance lady;

Pretend to love the mother, through mother to get the daughter.

II

As thy fears grew, I was called a poser,

By thy henchman and women;

Thy female agents and thy henchmen all sprang into actions!

Some double-crossing me everywhere I went,

Things unfounded inside the books of my life unfold;

Even the pages I cannot think were about me; the irony of it all!

Yesterday was the turn of a female passenger, whose head,

Was like the back of a bus, with an obsession to leak her fingers;

Whilst she looked at me and laughed as we rode!

III

That was so foolish; as that passage, I clearly remembered!

The stories of my love life, has travelled far and wide,

Much more further than envisaged and painful experiences of my life;

Displayed clearly in the open; as they were read out to my face in prose!

These took me back in time all I could do, whilst the bus was still in motion,

Was to listen and watch in anguish; though unease I felt;

Myself I refrained, as life and freedom is sweet!

And coming back into the happy valley where I reside,

I laughed and cried; I sang and talked to myself!

IV

I know certain things are done to hurt, as the world loves to see tears,

Some people would like to rap audibly with their knuckles!

An invalid like myself, I am a waste of space in some eyes,

A damaged good to the world in their eyes and their minds!

All I can say is life inversion could happen to anyone, anytime,

No one is exempt or immune, not even the trees, as they shed their leaves,

And sometimes, their branches fall and their bark dries!

After my introspection about all these; and many, many more;

I can only ignore them whenever and wherever, as it is the best medicine!

R.I. Iyemere

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Facts

I

Then they had no phones or fax machines,

So inaccurate documentations might have been!

Then they could not read and write; so upside down they held the papers!

Evidence written down might be untrue,

And the most unfavourable, might have disappeared!

The truth of it all we may never know,

Because the versions in books might be biased!

The heart is still bruised about our past and this I know;

As the bitterness, sometimes, shows in your actions!

How bitter still you feel I don’t know, but I can understand why!

II

And I can also understand why the distrust you have towards me.

But with you on my mind today, I wish to say as follows;

If these words of mine that ’am putting down today,

Could in any way ease the pains, I will be pleased to know!

I would also like to stress those bad intensions; I have never had towards you;

And bad intensions; I will never have towards you.

Neither you nor I could be blamed for our pasts,

As we were both not born at the time!

Never have I spoken badly about the past events;

Regarding the line in which you came through.

III

I will never insult you, not even in my dreams,

And I hope you would do the same about me!

We must not hold grudges against one another;

Moon has been part of the earth since time immemorial.

Though the resentment is evident, one heritage still we share;

And this binds us together as one forever!

Earth and skies, moon and stars, hills and mountains, lanes and roads,

Oceans and seas, lakes and rivers; all have histories.

You and I, a unique one we have, we know and the universal world agrees;

And this; will remain true until the end of time!

A Tribute to the Greatest Continent on the Earth

R.I. Iyemere

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Grapple

I

Then they smiled at me as I stood,

Friends we became just for the moment.

Pains from the past forgotten.

Wants and wishes emerged.

II

Hopes and dreams we shared;

Likes and dislikes we exchanged.

Dos and don’ts we agreed,

And none mattered at the end.

II

So small the amount of fire,

But so high the heat it generates.

So few those that are against,

But so much the damage they have done.

III

Many knock up and down,

Caught unawares, hard to cope,

Eyes peeled and widely opened;

Unspoken words still lingers on minds.

IV

And so I say To Whom It May Concern!

Read the lips and faces of mud throwers,

Then soon, you would see and know their motives;

Their determination to discourage the weak minded.

V

Though disenchanted, but not surprised,

All their slanders and provocative behaviours to intimidate;

Fights, slurs, Innuendos, hatreds, and struggles and coping!

Their actions and all that’s been said have no base.

R.I. Iyemere

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Intent

I

Oceans and seas floats from pole to pole,

In the hours of darkness, the moon is on stand still!

Whilst the earth rotates, the heaven waits;

And only it can wait forever.

II

As the wind blows, sometimes, a change comes with it,

So, life should not be on standstill!

Forever, is a word frequently used;

How true this is, only the hearts know!

R.I. Iyemere

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My Loving Mother

I

Why should you be a part of me now?

An absent face I have long forgotten since I was a child;

Hands I cannot remember holding when I was in distress.

Several occasions, I tried to picture what sort, you were or could have been,

And what could have become of you at your old age?

But I cannot place you, even though I jogged my memories;

For another thousands of years to come if I am still here!

Yours to me, has always been a closed book,

Because you were never there for me;

Mine are still as open as ever because the wounds will never heal!

II

Oh mother! Living inside this field of troubles,

I can’t help but crave for that motherly advice.

Having been on my own for so long;

I have since learnt to do things differently!

I am not implying that I’ve become taller than you;

Because I will never!

I am not implying that I have more wisdom than you,

Because I can never!

III

A tree never grows bigger, or taller than its planter,

And even though I’ve got so many clothes now;

I will never ever be able to acquire as many rags as you have had!

So today as the weaver birds are migrating to Africa for warmth,

The only thing that comes to my mind is that they should;

They should tell my mother, that I salute her!

Mother, I salute you because still I remember how you have suffered for us!

I speak on behalf of all your children, those gone forever and those still a life!

Tell mother I said that out of sight is not out of mind!

Thank mother for me, for all her love and protections towards me!

IV

Remind her for me that time is a great healer,

Thank mother for me for all she had to do all on her own!

Thank her for me for the education she could afford;

Thank mother for the foods that we were fed on daily!

In order not to be without and not to starve she worked so hard;

To make sure that we were looked after and all on her own!

Tell mother that there are very few that could do all she did without help!

Dear mother, I salute you!

A Tribute

R.I. Iyemere

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XIII III MMIV

I

As the clouds spread over the river,

Slowly it creeps into the sky.

Patiently, it waits for the tide to turn,

Then rainbow across the river shows;

And so the sun rises over shadow dreams.

II

Soon, I shall choose the day, but the time will be thy,

A place of my choice it will be!

The last words I shall say, and not know nor understand;

Nor choose clothes to wear or feel any pain.

And within my dreams, I will see; that the time,

Has come and nothing can be done.

I will then be asleep as I embark on a lonely journey;

That would be one way; I and I alone.

I and I alone will be there waiting for the verdict of all I have done.

III

In time, the bells will be rung and a hymn of my choice shall be sung!

A church built with mud it must be,

And the rich and the poor all must sit on the floor.

The attendants, I will not know their names,

Neither see their faces, nor feel their presence.

I will not choose what they will eat,

Nor where they will stay, and for how long!

So, I will make no pledges nor make promises,

But, please, I say to you all, have a drink on me;

Be merry for all your nastiness towards me!

IV

A coward goes half way then stops!

But the brave-hearted will see things through.

Which group will I belong?

Only time and those that will remain behind shall tell.

There will be no more labour, taken away from me,

No rat race of any sort nor the crave for earthly things;

No debt collectors at my door or a postman,

No hate mails will ever be delivered to me.

There will be no paparazzi running wild, chasing stars for pictures,

But life will be so pleasant, as we all, will be stars in his eyes.

V

So hostile with their did and their words,

Even as I lay in my sick bed, no pity,

Those who engage themselves in idle talks,

Oh Dear Lord! Let there be no room for them next to me;

So that at last, I can have the peace I’ve been denied for so long!

VI

There will be no talks of incurable diseases and the deceased.

My anger still ebbs high! But myself I must refrain,

Yes, I know my immunologist; if I had one;

Must have badly failed me for many years now!

I can see that the disembodied spirit of the evils still haunts me,

It might still hunt and hurt me but not in heaven or in hell!

Should I be ashamed of a name that I bear?

Or I should be ashamed of myself, but why?

I see no need to do so now or even for the foreseeable future.

VII

I will have no need to cover myself with muslin,

I will have no fears of getting out of my door;

And there will be no room for yobs or yob cultures!

The poor, the elite, and those that ruled supreme;

Will all be judged by the works that they did on earth!

I know that all my gestures has not been enough,

All the incredible things I might have done over the years;

Shall be judged by our Lord above; because I know am not exempt!

And all the gladiators of the World Empire shall all be silenced;

As we will all be of equals at last inside our six feet!

VIII

There will be no rooms for father’s or mother’s superiors!

There will be no dreadful nights, to pile its powers!

I will not be afraid of those that think they hold the powers because;

In there, our Lord above will be the only one that asks questions!

There’ll be no investments, so I expect no profits or losses to be made!

I will have no fears of getting old without foods and fires for warmth,

But I suspect that my sins; will be heavier upon me than I had thought;

I pray as usual, that our Lord when is time that he forgives my sins!

There is no doubt all that shall befall me, only I and I alone, will know;

Oh Holy Father; when the time comes, Accept My Soul!

R.I. Iyemere

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Alcazar (Fortress)

I

Pouring rain none for so long I was told,

Now ’am told that sunny days are here to stay forever!

As my imagination ran free and wild,

I fell deeply more and more and as it came to a sudden end;

Stings of wasps were nothing compared to what I went through!

Caged birds that were gagged, in actions none stop!

Endless passing out parades of dogs, days and nights,

And still I must not complain!

Frightening creatures all over my body,

Stop! Please just stop!

For a long time, it seemed that streets and roads have joined two,

Yet never had I heard thy agents time after time speak!

Let those hills and mountains that divides two disappear;

As only the oceans and seas that joint two must remain!

With our own hands and minds, we created devils and saints;

Under these devils and saints, live compassions and fires!

Though I count the days that are left for me,

This news means nothing to the world;

And long after my time, lovers and haters will dwell on earth!

Devils and saints will still be amongst those that will rule the earth!

R.I. Iyemere

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Torments of Life

I

Our little world without pity, where are you?

Is been so long since we spoke, all rise; let my nightmares commence!

Take my heart, take this heart of mine in a casket,

This heart of mine, that has been in pains for so long;

Take it to them, tell them to have it for their supper!

Those high flyers who said that I sleep my days away;

I have erased your numbers, out of my memory.

I have forgotten your names and why we met.

May the oceans and seas, be kind to you and never dry on you feet;

May the sun always shine for you!

May the moon, always be outshining wherever you will be!

So judgemental you were; as yours, are the closed minds.

Now, the only thing I remember of you, is the soldier’s wife,

With little faintly voice, unable to count very well!

The soldier’s wife who said, her husband;

Received twenty ten lashes for abusing her emotionally.

Nobody understood her, because she was a poor little lady,

But I did; as we once met when we were still on the same boat!

Her surname and that of her child were Help-Us!

Though I do not know where or which lane her journey began,

Nor where or which lane her journey would lead her through;

Several times in my dreams and thoughts I prayed for her!

And sometimes I sit down I reminisce through those wasted years,

Due to ill health and troubles that came and went with those years!

All the troubles and hardships we went through,

What always comes to my mind are;

Mrs Help-Us, her faintly voice, her child, and her burden to the state!

And most of all;

The humiliations she encountered; and yet she was not an exception!

When one is in their clutches; one is bound to encounter humiliations!

I often remember how careless moments of cancellations and then reinstate;

With their yeses and no; careless decisions made in a rush a times,

Seems to have brought miseries, sufferings, into lives of too many like ours!

But as dawn breaks, the cocks croak, and those that creoles will do so!

An actor of dreams like myself; can only dream!

That someday, this little world, without pity, that we share;

Its skies; its darkness, its moon, its stars, and its sun!

Its soils; crops; its natures, its fires, and its waters,

Its air; its legends, its heroes, its science, and its sicknesses;

Would sometimes in our lifetimes become mellow!

This is just my dream and my wish to all.

And this is allowed; as those who dream no more,

Are those who have long gone; those that have left our world;

For a better world over the glory land!

R.I. Iyemere

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Demon

I

The stars glowed and showed the way though I took no notice,

The autumn leaves fell outside my door,

And as the saints; were waiting to collect their covenant;

I was dining with a spy who claimed to be a friend.

Our dinner was quick, and he looked at my feet and said nice shoes,

Alone with him and stupidly, my panorama I read out.

My fears and thoughts, all in his hands, my shining armour;

Through the windows into my flat came a loud whisper,

Then a loud whisper that only I could hear.

Angel Gabriel was warning me but the warning came too late.

An impulse, not prudent, that’s me, at a point he said, ‘Guess what!’

‘I am not good at guessing games,’ I replied to him,

Because, if a pig came up to me and grunted;

I wouldn’t know if it wanted my arms for its dinner.

I do not play dangerous games; I have always tried to avoid them!

I couldn’t pick all the signs, heartaches, and so many delays for so long,

Evening’s terrible storm, the morning after another storm,

Lightening, thunder storms and rainbows all fighting for supremacy,

Inside this little miserable world; which I belonged!

How was I meant to know or predict to myself,

That antelopes would all be on the loose?

Or, all the young squirrels, would joyride on our roads?

How was I meant to know that a kitten would chase strayed birds?

I am sick and tired of hearing about the peninsulas!

Or reddish lake, I can’t stand a river that thinks I am an ocean;

Nor a bathroom that wants to become a lagoon,

I’ve had enough; enough is enough about so-called peninsulas!

Some old folk tried to mend things by playing cupid;

I’ve just found out that he is a traitor too, and this has caused me stress.

All was very dodgy he was being too friendly,

To start with I saw no evil, so I could hear no evil as they spoke.

Yes, the supreme commander is so articulate, he reads the sermon.

As the clouds began to clear, I began to see through the man,

Who was behind the mask for so long!

How was I meant to know the secrets behind all his visits?

His behaviour was peculiar as accidentally;

I felt that, that rolls inside his inner pocket!

I wouldn’t be surprised if he has had sexual intercourse with the dead;

So sorrowful, he was a bit invective with his speeches;

Not too long ago, my mind was free, though now is occupied.

Why waste time on a person who does not care who he hurts?

I have been, I have learnt, but I have not conquered;

And if one of these days I ever succeed in conquering the world,

You would be the first to know.

R.I. Iyemere

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The Grand Tradition

I

Trees that were on the streets I walked on as a child have disappeared,

Rivers, I swam as a young girl have dried out,

Mango trees, easily picked from the woodlands have been cut down.

My old school buildings, no longer where they were;

People I knew and my old friends, I left behind,

Have all moved out from where they lived.

We all prayed for peace and progress,

The happiest and sweetest times of my life!

These sweetest memories of this town, I took with me;

As I was moving to faraway land; still lingers on my mind.

Songs of our land, its words of wisdom still I cherish,

As still I uphold the honour and the glory of our land.

Even in rain-reek, I will remember to uphold thy honour and glory!

I pledge to carry thy tradition from generation to generation with pride,

Our ways of life that I was taught, I will teach my next generation;

Our rich culture must not die in the woods,

The land and its winds must be obeyed!

We must be proud of who we are, our culture and heritage that’s so rich.

Let good fortunes be ours; so our ancestors prayed and so I pray.

May our yams grow bigger in this year’s harvest, Ise!

May the rain fall more frequent this year for our crops, Ise!

May all our poets, prophets, visionaries and voodoo priest,

Lead us with their wisdoms as always, Ise!

Oh, so you too have been and seen them perform?

As a young girl in this town I’ve seen them perform,

Wearing dangling gold earrings on their ears;

Beads, corals, worn as their necklaces!

Corals, cowries, worn on their wrists, braids and locks,

Kolanuts must be broken and served as an accompaniment to ogogoro,

Oh, remind the worshippers to serve worshippers from bottles to glasses;

Olosu li kokodia, usi and owhoewli, plantains and yams must be served.

Musicians must beat their drums and bottles as usual to make some music,

Let our dancers do the rib dance, tap their feet and shake their heads!

Let them scream, sing and say wadooooo; as