A PLEASANT CHARACTER

The heart of gold, the tongue of jokes,
All people love her when she talks
As she her words joins with a smile
Revealing great mirth in her style.

She has a jovial look when she
Listens to people you and me.
When she hears something insincere,
It shows that talk is strange and queer.

She looks as if she weighs the man
Whose conceit claims he is someone;
Her look imparts she knows him well
And if he goes on she will tell.

She shifts in speech from tears to laugh
As if she forgets her sad stuff;
She does all that with such a heart
That fills the place with pure delight.

BY JOSEPH ZENIEH
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WHAT ELSE CAN I DO?
Where can l find my peace of mind
while each is drawing the common quilt
to his side not just for a cover,
but having it, no sense of guilt?

I shiver and beg for a share,
but no one listens to my plea.
I'm dying of the freezing cold,
but all are blind to what they see.

I look at their wide, greedy eyes,
but find them full of spurning pride.
They pride themselves on haughty might,
and look down on my pleading dread.

Am l a gent or just a mouse,
that fears to pull as others do?
I've thrown to hell my gentle ways,
and just to me the quilt l draw.
BY JOSEPH ZENIEH
____________

AGE AND KNOWLEDGE

When years roll by, man starts to fear old age.
It stirs the fear of death; it provokes rage.
No power in this world can this fear cast,
Save feeling that his heart is dwelt by Christ.

The Lord is in his heart; just he can look
And see His eyes contain a large, thick book
That includes all the love that Jesus gives
Which reassures that man forever lives.

Man tries to see how loving Christ can be;
The more he knows, the more he feels deep glee.
How can age frighten him if more he knows,
And with his ken much happier he grows?

For sure his heart will be so full of love,
And that love will the earthly fear survive
As God in his heart holds his hand and soul
And they together in His kingdom stroll.

By JOSEPH ZENIEH
____________

THINK OF THAT TEST.
All wounds are pain, and no one likes
to suffer pain and its harsh strain.
Up there, God asks about my wounds.
I say,"l had some in my life."

I put them all in front of Him
but feel they are too few and slim.
I beg His mercy to accept
my humble injuries on land.

I'm so ashamed of what l have,
but ask His kindness to forgive
what l could not do in life's time
to be the brother of His Son.

My Lord, do not be ******* me.
I've done my best for this hard test.
My trivial scratches are too few.
Forgive me, Lord, for what l show.
BY JOSEPH ZENIEH
ALL RIGHTS RESERVED
____________




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THAT'S ALL I WANT.
My love is like a ship. It sails across
an ocean long and wide with waves of mighty force.
I feel so lonely and l try to see
a creature that will bring my heart deep glee.

Some albatrosses fly behind my ship.
I throw them fish that come under my grip
as they give me a tranquil sense and ease
of fellow creatures that my heart can please.

All of a sudden, l behold a mermaid
that charms my heart and distracts my fond mind.
It gains my heart and soul as beauty has a charm
that only heaven can obtain its balm.

I follow her not caring where she swims.
Let her take me to this world outer rims.
I know she is half woman, half a fish.
To live with her pure eyes is what l wish.
BY JOSEPH ZENIEH
____________

A MAN AND A HAWK
Bird of prey, what can we say
except that you have no heart?
You **** creatures which are frail
just to satiate your own crop.

Yesterday, l saw you ****
linnets just near that green hill.
You ate them and left their blood
on your curved beak as a mark.

How can you feel happy when
you **** fledgelings for your chicks?
They are too small to escape
or to shun your vicious grip.

"You speak, man," says that big bird.
"You **** herds and eat their blood.
You **** for food and for fun,
and at times, your fellow men.
I **** just to stay alive
and feed my chicks which l love."
BY JOSEPH ZENIEH
____________

MAN DESIRED IT.
I love all the people all,
not excepting one of them.
They are all poor human beings,
who groan most of their life-time.

What are you , man, but a mind,
that can ken the end you meet?
Beasts are lucky; they don't have
knowledge of the wrong and right.

You were as pleased as the horse
which romped and grazed in the field.
Such a snake of bad intent
made you love the mind of woe.

You were so glad like a steed,
Jumping in the field of life
till that snake brought you the mind
that gave you the care of God.

God's care's too much for you, man,
but you wanted that big care,
which showed you that you would die
and God would come to repair.
BY JOSEPH ZENIEH
____________

WHO  IS  INDEBTED  ?
A man and woman fall in love and wed.
They live together in a private home
to share one life for better or for worse
and get the fruit of love, a little child.

Who is indebted to the other side,
the child or parents, to the end of life?
The parents have the crown of gold they wish ;
the child abruptly finds himself around .

On earth, man has great chances of renown .
One can enjoy his life and bounteous gifts .
Yet life can be big worries and much toil ;
he may not like what they for him have done .

Who bears the palm and who has borne the brunt ?
This life has its surprising ups and downs .
In your opinion, who would get more gain,
the child or parents who know what they want ?
BY JOSEPH ZENIEH
____________

TIME OR ENDLESS SPACE ?

So great is life if it's like space,
No years to count time's nervous pace,
No dates to sever people's lives,
But space to join as it contrives.

That man lived hundreds years ago,
And this, years later time did throw.
They are joined on one land and earth.
Why should time sever them by birth ?

How great is life in boundless scope,
With no days tied to gyroscope,
But just an endless view where all
Are joined in space outside time's rule.

We live with all those whom we love
And share the rule of space above.
All joined in one group with no years
To bind us with time and its fears.

BY JOSEPH ZENIEH
____________

THE *******

I have no one to think of me;
A ******* none would see.
I'm thrown on my abject wheel-chair
With heart too void of cheer.

My years are running just like yours,
But no one turns his eyes.
For some respect my heart waits for,
But with no hope to hear.

Like you, l need a touch of love,
But no girl cares to give.
I am a ******* who should not
Have normal heart to beat.

Don't look with pity; l'm fed up
And always drink this cup.
Treat me as normal just for once;
That's what l really miss.

BY JOSEPH ZENIEH
____________

A PRECIOUS GIFT

God has rewarded me with rhymes,
Well noticed by some men and dames.
They like these ropes between the hearts
And what my pen to them endites.  

This mystic gift can fast avail
To world of flesh and world of soul
As it conveys joy to the mind
And soul in this and afterworld.

It gratifies my mind and heart
And brings them both a great delight.
Don't ask about the joy of coins
As when l write l own two crowns.

A crown that makes my soul prevail
And live in heaven's happy dale.
A crown that towers on my mind
When thoughts bind me with those around.

BY JOSEPH ZENIEH
____________

THE TORMENTED MOTHER

The land was cracked for lack of winter rain.
That caused the crops to die, the foremost grain.
The people and the town got famine struck;
Those who could leave had fled; the poor were stuck.

Beside my house there was a leafless tree;
Two birds had made their nest; l loved to see.
They got two chicks that made me stick to sight.
As parents cared for chicks through day and night.

The father died, the mum was near to fall;
Too hungry, she came to my window sill.
I held some grains to feed that hungry bird;
Her hunger was much bolder than her dread.

It perched my thumb and ate her fill and went
Towards the chicks that waited her advent.
She mouthed them all the grains that l gave her
To make them flutter, stand, and twit with cheer.

She came back to my sill, too weak for want,
And thanked me ere she died for my great grant.
Her look begged me ere she sent out her soul,
" please feed  my little chicks; they are too small."

BY JOSEPH ZENIEH
___________








THE TORMENTED MOTHER

The land was cracked for lack of winter rain.
That caused the crops to die, the foremost grain.
The people and the town got famine struck;
Those who could leave had fled; the poor were stuck.

Beside my house there was a leafless tree;
Two birds had made their nest; l loved to see.
They got two chicks that made me stick to sight.
As parents cared for chicks through day and night.

The father died, the mum was near to fall;
Too hungry, she came to my window sill.
I held some grains to feed that hungry bird;
Her hunger was much bolder than her dread.

It perched my thumb and ate her fill and went
Towards the chicks that waited her advent.
She mouthed them all the grains that l gave her
To make them flutter, stand, and twit with cheer.

She came back to my sill, too weak for want,
And thanked me ere she died for my great grant.
Her look begged me ere she sent out her soul,
" please feed  my little chicks; they are too small."

BY JOSEPH ZENIEH
___________

ASKING FOR YOUR FRIENSHIP
I'm in need for someone as a friend
who can listen to my words and sighs.
When the world gets dark to me, l go
and tell him about what l go through.

Why don't You, my Lord, accept my link?
I confide in You and Your deep thoughts.
I can't trust in omens and portents,
but in you, l have all my heart's trust.

Give me tokens, my great Lord, to know
that acceptance is endowed by you.
I will be so happy if you do,
and l'll never leave Your precious hand.
BY JOSEPH ZENIEH
ALL RIGHTS RESERVED
____________

THE NEGLECTED OLD MAN

He has a place for smile on face
Though nearly crippled in his house.
Nothing his good heart can replace
Though nearly thrown out with despise.

He was much loved and so agile,
And all the people loved his acts.
They loved his gifts that were worthwhile
As dear gifts could bring great impacts.

When old with broken leg in bed,
No one remembered his old days.
So near to blindness with eyes red,
No one would tread his distant ways.

Despite all that, his laughs are loud
As if he sees a group of saints.
They bring him joy deep and profound,
And leave no place for his complaints.

BY JOSEPH ZENIEH
____________

WHAT  IS  IT ?
Joy is what you seek in  life.
It's imagined you can find
in success or through a job
that can fill your money bag.

Safes and pockets are filled with
what is called some untold wealth.
Glorious terms are poured on you,
but your goal is out of view.

Inner voice is heard aloud,
"There is something more profoud.
You can't touch with hand but feel
it's endowed to make you grand.

"Once you get it, you feel life's
cheerful with no death to spoil.
You love all, creatures and beings.
Nothing your clear blood can roil."
BY JOSEPH ZENIEH
____________

TRUE LOVE

Love, you are my soul's most freshing breeze.
You can help my soul to flow with ease.
You make me forget myself and think
Of her tender eyes and charming blink.

Love, you make me sail on seas so sweet,
Not minding strong sharks or hostile fleet.
Just to get a glimpse from her dear eyes,
That make me live far, in depth of skies.

Life and soul get cheap just to please her
Not caring what in return they stir,
Yielding all that l have, in her hand
Nothing for all that, l will demand.

I give all my life but never ask
In return, a gift or any task.
All my aim is seeing her quite pleased
Living all her life happy and eased.

BY JOSEPH ZENIEH
____________

LUCK OR WHAT?
Do you think that there is luck
and it rains on one while he
is so thirsty up a dune
and he quenches burning thirst?

It is said that luck can make
rainy days become quite clear
when a woman wants the sky
for a picnic to be fair.

Lots of people get so rich
through a business of no worth.
They have little mind to use,
but their dumbness is the cause.

Is it luck or is it skill,
or can it be lots of work?
Some would say that luck is all;
others laugh at what they drawl.
BY JOSEPH ZENIEH
ALL RIGHTS RESERVED
____________

WHERE YEARS HAVE TAKEN HIM

He takes his folding stool and crawls
To sit outside a nearby shop.
He just sits there watching who pass;
That's what his health and his age suits.

He gets so bored with his ground floor,
With what he does and those around,
What his wife wrongly does at home,
But can't advise to shun a brawl.

Outside the shop, he spends his time
With his free thoughts roaming the realm.
He has a ready smile on face
For those who greet him when they stroll.

His smile is sweet and shows deep gist;
It shows the tranquil life he lives.
He is so glad with what he has
And nothing can disturb his dreams.

His content face just conveys this:
Don't care for what in life you miss
But just enjoy what you possess.

BY JOSEPH ZENIEH
____________

THE PRICELESS PRESENT

Present time, how much l wish
To stop you and keep you fresh.
I wish those who are around
To stay with me safe and sound.

Nothing in life is so sure;
Moments pass and bring us fear.
Nothing can satiate my heart,
Save the present that's in sight.

So dear you are present time.
You'll be past, just fit for rhyme,
That can't be displayed with ease
But with tears, and welling eyes.

Mothers, sisters, and old friends,
Whom nothing in life amends,
Lived this present for some time,
Whose worth we did not esteem.

If that "present" could return,
Their feet with kisses l'd burn;
I'd press them to my fond soul,
And their side would be my goal.

BY JOSEPH ZENIEH
____________

THE HEAVENLY SONGS

An angel is inside her jail.
She is a really charming girl.
No one beside to see her charm
Except the viol on her arm.

She plays on it a lovely tune
That brings around a great fortune.
The birds of sky gather around
To change to heaven her pure ground.

She lives with angels around her
Who move the pious love in her.
They appear as white charming birds
That coo their lovely, sweetest words.

Between her tunes and their love songs,
Her jail to heaven then belongs.
The land around and highest space
Become her heaven and dream house.

BY JOSEPH ZENIEH
____________

GLORY ON EARTH

The Child is lying in the creche,
And we're around Who gets in flesh.
We are surprised with eyes in tears;
God Himself comes to bring us cheers.

I rub my eyes to clear my sight
And see Him more; can that be right ?
The Lord is here in crib He lies
Just near my heart and amazed eyes.

The Child extends His hand to dry
The tears that well from my stunned eye.
I kneel to kiss His little feet;
Toes like pine nuts with charm complete.

All people come and Him surround.
Their hearts cheer up with cherubs' sound
As they sing with a voice so sweet
The word of Gloria they repeat.

BY JOSEPH ZENIEH
____________

CAN WE TRUST FLESH?

Frank and sincere l have been in life.
I can't do what provoke doubtful strife
In the mind of those too little ones
As that will lead them to full ruins.

But the mettle of my heart is strict.
I want all my thoughts to be exact.
Don't give me a part of what l love;
Give the whole or it to hell you shove.

Flesh, you can't convince me of your state
As time to a servant you abate.
How can l place all my trust in you,
And little worms will all your might chew?

Days are passing and flesh gets too frail
Slowly to grave it crawls like a snail.
Hope can't be sought in flesh or its might
As it's hopeless those weak worms to fight.

BY JOSEPH ZENIEH
____________

LOOKING FOR A TREASURE
Show me love and take my heart.
Beggar l am for true love.
It's the hope that l look for.
Far from it l can't survive.

People search for this great wealth
in the eyes of some cute girls.
I peruse and hope to find
my great wealth hidden somewhere.

Love is what my eager soul
hope to melt in to meet peace,
which l've looked for all my life,
valued treasure, hard to gain.

Lucky are those who don't care,
but l am in serious search.
Just one promise l can find,
my great Master, Jesus Christ.
BY JOSEPH ZENIEH
____________

THE JEALOUS FROG
Men whose pride blinds their good taste
if they aren't always the best
are disliked by all the world
and they lose their kin and friends.

Frog, you can't compete with cows.
Stop your drink as your inside
will explode and end your life
while the cow will look and laugh.

Why don't you think that you are
amphibious and you can dive
while the cow cannot compete
though a big size all cows have?

Each in life can have his turn
and none can contest with him.
Men of pride, look for your turns
instead of your killing whim.
BY JOSEPH ZENIEH
____________

WiLL I JOIN HANDS WITH SIMEON?
I thought of faith and Jesus Christ
and toiled to reach a sublime state.
That state for me is supreme joy.
When l see Jesus, l attain.

I met a priest so dear to me
and talked about my joy and faith.
He said when Jesus was a babe,
His parents took Him to the shrine.

When Simeon held the glorious Child,
He looked at Him and thanked the Lord.
He said,"My God, You have fulfilled
Your promise of my jubilee."

Then Simeon was so pleased and charmed
as he saw Christ before his death.
I wonder if my joy of faith
will let me feel what Simeon did.
BY JOSEPH ZENIEH
ALL RIGHTS RESERVED
____________

TRUE LIKE THE SUN

Once you love you can't have your love undone ;
It starts to stay and outlive the bright sun .
The sun may discard its light and its heat,
But your heart will join your love with its beat.

Love is a passion that enslaves your soul ;
It starts to stay and be in full control,
But such a slave you would delight to be
As your life's meaning through this love you see.

Love can lead you to sacrifice unknown
That makes you understand what Christ has done
When He along the way of passions walked
And put on painful cross yet never balked .

You go through hardest paths just for a smile
Which once beheld, you find it quite worthwhile
As love has its own rules and queerest lore
Which only those who live it can explore .

BY JOSEPH ZENIEH
____________

SELF  CONTENTEDNESS

Little frog, don't drink much
Though big size does entice.
Water can't your aim catch
And you'll pay such high price.

Don't you know that your size
Won't match that of a cow?
Water brings your demise
But no bulk will endow.

God gives you certain height;
Don't reject; don't abhor.
That will bring you a plight
If you look for much more.

Satisfaction's a gift
That makes life smile to you.
Your low height toil can lift
To see what you should view.

BY JOSEPH ZENIEH
____________

A LITTLE WHITE KITTEN

Your blue eyes, my little cat,
And your nose of little spot,
With your small mouth and soft mew
My fond heart and eyes draw.

Cute and small but value grand,
Boll of cotton on my hand,
With a tail of purest white,
You fill me with great delight.

That red ribbon on your neck
Matches your fur of white flake.
Beauty on a beauty charms
My heart, my eyes, and my arms.

How much l would you embrace;
My heart is your right place,
But l fear my so fond hand
Harm to cause to white and red.

BY JOSEPH ZENIEH
____________

TRUE  GIFTS
I see no hope in life, but through true gifts
when people set no limits when they give.
They see their love in gifts that can free them
from fear of death and its most horrid grave.

Place your heart in those gifts and feel their taste
which  is much sweeter than all what you take.
No sense can be as sweet as that you feel
as it will free your heart from what can break.

The boundless gifts make you attached to whom
you love to give and keep him close beside.
True gifts can join the hearts and make them one
as love unites those hearts which gifts can bind.

The Lord has placed survival in this world
on acts of giving between man and wife.
They both give all, their flesh, their minds, and souls,
which keeps their kind and saves them from all grief.
BY JOSEPH ZENIEH
____________

AN ANGEL SERVES A SAINT.

None can wipe off what your hand has done.
It's depicted near the flaming sun
By the Lord Who dwells in His high skies;
None dare look at it with human's eyes.

Your acts are towards a mother dear.
You don't want another to come near.
All the time yours replace her old hand
And no one but you she would demand.

You have been in such a post for long.
Words from you sound like her sweetest song.
You are locked beside her for long years.
Just an angel lives such life with cheers.

Mum and daughter you have been for long.
She sang lullabies when you were young.
Songs of yours have been so sweet to her;
Dreams of past days in both hearts they stir.

BY JOSEPH ZENIEH
____________

WHAT IS THE REASON?

Men of various colours come and go.
Wherefrom, whereto,who can ever know?
Tourists passing through a foreign land
With a sojourn no one can expand.

Why do parents bring offsprings to earth?
Is it love of kids to give them birth?
It's a question that needs lots of thoughts
None can answer ere his body rots.

For my little mind, the Logos plays
Roles that fill this world with sense and rays.
We aren't cows that crawl to their sharp knives,
Forced by sticks  to live and end their lives.

God has endless talents which  He used,
Through the Logus, Whose great work transfused
Empty space to fill the endless sky,
And created life, and birds that fly.

Then He formed  His man with talents which
Could make him a master wise and rich.
Logos made a logos to give life:
Is that not a reason quite enough?

BY JOSEPH ZENIEH
___________

A  PAUPER

I have no field to plant, to irrigate and chant
and wait for crops to come to dance and beat my drum.
I have no trees of fruit to sell and buy a suit;
I am a street ambler, or just a mere pauper.

No movies are for me; these are what l can't see.
I know the place from out, but l can't poke my snout.
A film for me is like a sharp and hateful spike
that causes me much harm as l am just a ***.

No social life is mine as all regard me down.
They address me with scorn as all my clothes are torn.
Still l'm  a human being and ask why l'm so mean
that coins l cannot reach as they're just for the rich.

I have no girl to see; a kiss from her to plea,
to play with her blond hair and smell her perfumed air.
I have no right to that; girls think l have no heart.
I dream of wild amour though l'm too mean and poor.

BY JOSEPH ZENIEH
____________

MY COUNTRY

You are the house in which l lived.
You are the old neighbour l loved
Who told me stories of the past
Whose image in my mind will last.

You are the streets in which l walked.
You are the friends with whom l talked.
You are the people who were old
And died but left their shapes in mind.

You are the school to which l went
Whose sweet and bitter tastes are blent.
You are the teachers who taught me
Whose figures in my heart l see.

You are my father and my mum.
You are the shopping with my chum.
You are my failure and success.
You are the wife who shares my house.

Another country may give gold,
But not the past that l have lived,
And not the tissues of my heart
That these old items slowly built.

BY JOSEPH ZENIEH
____________

A PART OF HIS HEART

A sense of love has stirred his heart
And driven him few words to write
To show the motives that drives him
To scribble what he calls a rhyme.

His love is great and seeks a vent
To pour on what he can create.
He gets his thoughts to fly so far
To depict what seems too obscure.

He finds his love's expressed in front
And what his heart for long does hunt
Is drawn in front of him so clear;
A part of his heart can appear.

He loves it much and says,"That's me."
He is so glad his thoughts to see.
It gets so dear, a part of heart,
As man of God's thoughts is a part.

BY JOSEPH ZENIEH
____________

THE MAKER AND HIS TINY IMAGE
We are whirling with the Earth and turning round
in an endless space that none can ever bound
while we are like grains of sand that forces keep
stable where we stand on this fast moving ground.

What are you, size pulling force, that fixed the stars,
all the planets and the Earth, the little one?
All are pulling and exerting their deep cores
so that man exists on Earth and use his mind.

Thinking minds have learned all that, but they are small.
They can deem the forces that can push and pull,
but they are too frail to know all what occurred
or what force has prepared all for man to live.

Force of life, You must be One That can create,
with a mind like that of man but of great might.
You could make the universe and then made man
as a tiny image of Your mighty form.
Later, You sent man Your Son to teach him all.
BY JOSEPH ZENIEH
____________

COINED FOR CHRIST
I've asked myself,"How was the word 'God' coined?"
I've found that "G" is for the nice word "good".
Indeed, God is the source of what is chaste
as seen in our Lord, pure Jesus Christ.

And "O" is for His "omnipresent" soul
that fills the world and exists in us all.
He sets Himself on earth, in space, and skies,
and exists in all hearts and saintly eyes.

And "D" is for the "deeds" that show His truth
as what He says is true without an oath.
He said He came to die. He came and died
and three days later rose as prophesied.

So fit's the word we use for Him as shown
and suits His deeds and painful crown of thorn.
It had been coined long time before He came,
but seemed as if it had been coined for Him.
BY JOSEPH ZENIEH
____________

THE BEAUTY OF A FLOWER
I can touch the petals' tissue
which is soft and lures my fingers
deeper than the surface to go
as l expect something softer.

They reveal a lovely colour
which can touch my loving pupils.
It arouses eager eyesight
to see more of what is inner.

Then the smell comes to distract me
moving me from top to bottom.
What is hidden underneath them
must convince me to go deeper.

When the petals fell, l hurried
to encouter what was pleasant,
but l saw what made me cower
as the beauty was the cover.
BY JOSEPH ZENIEH
ALL RIGHTS RESERVED
____________

A JUDGING LOOK
All fathers want their children great and wise,
and my dear father would just like the same.
He was a self-made man, and very strong.
I wonder what he thinks from up of me.

I love my father and death makes me feel
I miss him quite a lot for such long time.
I want him to be happy with his son
as he expected me to work and gain.

I look at heaven and l fear to see
his loving eyes looking with blame at me.
"I did a lot," they say." What do you do?"
Is it enough to answer, "l write verse"?
BY JOSEPH ZENIEH
All rights reserved
____________

WHAT'S THE SECRET OF THE CHANGE?
The apostles were afraid
and escaped from place to place.
After resurrection, they
did not care about their death.

What could make them bold and willed
to defy abuse and pain,
with no wish to shun an end
passed through boiling oil or worse?

They beheld in Christ the might
that could make their world so cheap
when compared with what He'd done
that submerged their hearts with mirth.

Kinds of mirth equal to joy,
seen in heaven, rare in sorts,
like resurrection which man
never witnessed in the world.
BY JOSEPH ZENIEH
ALL RIGHTS RESERVED
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IT NEVER DIES .
She is old, scarcely can go  outdoors,
but her heart still beats for that old love.
As long as her heart beats to send blood,
it will beat for old love that once ruled.

Love is grace endowed by the great Lord
to join two and keep them like pure gold.
They get all their flesh needs and stay chaste
as their souls God's full blessings unite.

Human hearts live to love and to pump
to feed veins and the flesh with life stuff.
Love is stirred in the heart by the soul,
and like it, love will have endless life.

The sweet sense dwells beneath a thick veil
to give love a deep role in man's life.
That's why God joins the two to get one
so that none can sever or take part.
BY JOSEPH ZENIEH
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TIME
No wonder, time, you are so fast.
You use the light to pull your cart
and take man and the world with them
to gratify your hidden whim.

You are sadistic and you join
your hand with death and years that run.
Years take all creatures to old age
to make death find them in one cage.

Evil you are with all your friends,
but all the group on time depends.
Why don't you be kind and slow down
to give us space to rest and yawn?

But time and rays of that high sun
complete each other and are one
as both collude to make a year,
which man looks at with utmost fear.
BY JOSEPH ZENIEH
ALL RIGHTS RESERVED

SEPTEMBER

Falling leaves, you were small buds.
Now, you fall to kiss the ground.
What kind Spring used as green studs
With no mercy Autumn browned.

BY JOSEPH ZENIEH
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A FEW DAYS AGO

It was just like few days ago
When biggest worry was to go
To school and do what teachers asked
And get our nape so harshly slapped.

With eager tongues we bade the days
To pass so that they would us please
With stronger bodies and bigger brawn
Which we were glad to grow and own.

We got great pleasure when we had
All that we ate which made us glad.
It was quite wont to run and dance
As then the normal step was prance.

Just yesterday we played with girls,
Not minding their eyes, clothes, and curls.
We pulled their plaits with loudest laugh,
And they got angry and so rough.

We lived like birds caring for mouth
Flitting wherever we found mirth.
Life was made to enjoy its days,
And nights to sleep waiting sunrays.

BY JOSEPH ZENIEH
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A GIRL IN THE WHEAT FIELD

Youth and beauty are her gifts;
They are what give her such lifts
To float lightly on corn ears
With a heart so full of cheers.

Stretching her arms means a lot:
Charm and softness she has got.
All life gifts are in her hand,
Like a princess fair and grand.

Cheerful are the wheat and stalks,
Kissing her feet as she walks,
Hoping her stroll not to end
Till their harvest is at hand.

Wheat and men enjoy her sight
As she runs with flying feet.
Their joy casts out all their fear
And what cruel time will bring her.

BY JOSEPH ZENIEH
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PASSENGERS OF TIME TRAIN
The olden time came back to me
When l was reading Shakespeare.
The crowds were at the outer gate
and he was pleased on his old stage.

He wanted larger crowds to come
as he desired more income.
He did not see how years elapsed;
his eyes and mind were reading plays.

Abruptly, he observed his hand
while he was writing a new thought.
Some wrinkles caused him little fright;
he noticed time had done its job.

You are in my mind , great playwright,
as you are such a dear seatmate.
Long time has gone to sever us
but we are in the same time train.
BY JOSEPH ZENIEH
ALL RIGHTS RESERVED
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MY CONSTANT LIGHT IS FREE FROM GRUDGE.

I see a mild and constant light directing me
towards the truth, the shining faith l love to see.
I have been working all my life to pave its way
as l see that it is the path to that great day.

A man appears to say my light leaves us at night
when it is needed most to help the obscured sight.
We need a light that we turn on just when we need
to help the wise when night is quiet to think and read.

Another sees  my shining light will fade his own.
He wants himself to be the sun that weaves the dawn.
He tries to destroy all the lights and darken life.
His light should shine or let pitch darkness be so rife.

BY JOSEPH ZENIEH
ALL RIGHTS RESERVED
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WHAT'S LOVE?
I've thought you're joy and utmost gain;
I've found you, love, an extreme pain.
You've pushed my heart to get attached.
Then you've got supreme in my heart.

In spring, when fair, the clime can please,
but still, l fear the touch of a breeze.
When time cheers up, l laugh but say,
" Good times have got a shortlived stay."

Love gets the whole of my fond soul
but care makes my soul soft and frail.
It gets too spent under love's yoke
but for love's sake, l cannot talk.

Love gets the master of my life
that for it l wage fiercest strife.
It makes me ken the life of Christ,
Who for His great love His life lost.
BY JOSEPH ZENIEH
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THE GAP

The gap is wide and none can bridge
Between pure love and hateful grudge,
Between who love to beatify
And those who live just to decry.

Some live to see the smile spread
On lips of beauty with cheeks red,
While others want those lips to ail
And make cheeks' redness seared and pale.

Some love the rose on branch to live,
To give its charm and love receive,
While others break the branch and go
And cause the flower greatest woe.

Some speak with smile on their cute face
That heartens you to start discourse,
But others say just one rude word
That makes you hate them and the world.

My Lord, Your creatures are like verse,
Some to adore and some to curse.

BY JOSEPH ZENIEH

GLORIOUS LIFE
It's glorious to pass through the world
though there is death in its last scene.
Its start is great, the joyful child,
who lives a period of delight.

He grows up and he feels his mind
start to unfold the hidden wealth
that life conceals inside its time
and he starts diving in its depth.

One gets so famous for his rhyme
and lives with angels in their sky.
He enjoys life with rhyme and thoughts
and glides in heaven where he floats.

One finds in science various fields
with Einstein his fame will bloom,
while some are charmed by Napoleon.
All feel glad when their planes are flown.
BY JOSEPH ZENIEH
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