Lying Hearts

So is it true
That when men stoop
Their heads can touch their scrotums?

What wisdom exists
In the roundness of a fat fool’s belly
Cannot compare with that of a child
His belly is big and round, yes
Like a fura da nunu pot
Yes instead of milk
There is green algae
Decomposing slowly like a chameleon’s carcass
The same big bellies unite both beings

So is it true
That when a man looks beyond his nose
He sees his forehead?
Even clowns dance in a king’s courtyard
Only when he wants to forget the enemies at his gates
So who fools who?
The jester who dances for the king’s money
Or the king who laughs in the face of war

So is it true
That when women go to war
Their breast milk turns sour?
Women who dance like soldiers
And chant the songs of freedom
Only do so for their children
The ones who know them not
The ones who call other women “mother”
When they come home
With the spoils of war
So you hail their victory
Or hiss in shame?
What do we know?

2007

This is it!

The news of his death hit me with mixed feelings.
First I thought it was a joke
He’d been the butt of many in recent times
Then I laughed
Then again I thought "how exactly did he die"
I pictured his thin frame on his lush bed
All white skin with no trace of a black spot
Peacefully (or not) slipping into the other world
What will he do when he gets there?
Will he do that astounding dance?
Will anyone recognize him?
I think Seun would...
He passed on last week
And I know he loved MJ
Maybe he'll ask for his autograph
- Me

A tragic ending to a troubled soul!!!!
Though I believe there is more to death or so I want to believe
But I was a big fan in my early childhood
When my aunties in university had the songs booming from the stereo
Into my head till it clung like glue
Those years when everything new fascinated one
Wearing my little brother skin tight jumping trousers
Imagining I had my own glossy black shoes
I would try out my comical version of the moon walk
My varied and distorted version of the waist trust
It use to send my aunties sprawling with laughter
Those were his days of glory
He had reached the very top of success
Literally worshipped
To fall apart, like that, from a god to less than a man
To fall to such a state of ridicule
Selah
- Ay

Rich Men

My mother once told me
Rich men don’t shit
The ones that do
It doesn’t smell
And if it smells
The aroma is like butter
My mother lied
Now I know better

Deep Sleep

He was dreaming
Of a place far far away
That’s why when they took him
He didn’t shake a breathe
They wept like they meant it
Spoke kind words like popes
What a world they said
But he kept dreaming
Lilies and roses
He must have slept for so long

Because when he woke up
It was all dark
Like an owl’s nest
The dream was over
He was very sure

But where am I?
His hands couldn’t move three inches up
His legs refused to make his favorite arc
This room is so tight
He needed air
Badly
Someone must have locked him in the cellar
Where is everyone?
He tried to call Adaora
Ada biko bia
His voice was hoarse
Strange like another tongue

That’s when he remembered
He saw her teary eyes
She was screaming his name
Uzoka o, Uzoka dim
But the lilies and roses
They looked so lovely

That’s when he remembered
He died
And was buried.