I can't fit my feet into
your shoes. So, I do
not know where it itches.

I haven't walked on your
heels. So, I do not know
how it feels to walk on
the roads that you walk.

I have not struggled to
unshackle those chains
that have for so long held
you captive. So, I do not
know how it feels to fight
your battle.

When I look at you, I see
sweet laughter fermented
into sour smiles as you try
to turn your back against
the world. The scars you
carry are a souvenir of the
many injuries you incurred.

And although I haven't
passed through your
experience, I can look into
your eyes and tell you this;
"I feel your pain".

for muna

my dear one, I have learnt this;
that even hills crumble
and a path surfaces
where once there was no way;
it is called a miracle

do you know that life
is in two shades of paradoxes
every event carries a parallel lesson,
every shadow is cast by an adjacent light,
that these pains you feel
are a consequence of the advent of healing,

in the evenings when the setting sun casts silhouettes
upon our views,
it is the knowledge from within
that assures us of our intact wonders,
that we are more than we seem

we are lanterns
the light in us only needs the oil of belief to glow..

you are on a journey,
you may seem discorded,
everything may seem like an entropy,
you may seem to have lost your grip,
you may be lost,
everything may seem so dark now,
but remember your light,
the one that lives in you,
remember belief is the axe that breaks the dormancy of it,

darling,
breathe and believe
and let the seed of your light germinate
into the dawn of discoveries,
for nothing is hidden from the eyes of light,

for when you become light,
all that you seek shall come
rushing to you like nocturnals.

Sometimes a poet's muse
                            comes

          e
        r
   ­       r   a
               t  
               i c
              a
             l
               ly



like     a
           puzzle
                           s  c  a  t  t  e  r  r  e  d
on
          the            marble
            
        of
                      his
                               imagination
    

       then
                   he
picks
              his     quill
with

                 his
                          witty
hands
                      
and arranges
his  thoughts
into a poem.

When you came into the picture, I
Felt the pieces of my life's puzzle
Scattered before your advent
Fall in the right places.

As I look back now, I can
See how God had held a lily
And stretched it's beauty towards me
Dealing me an appealing gesture, an

Invitation to behold your splendour, A
Path to a place where happiness blooms
Like lianas in a beautiful bougainvillea
From where I was ushered into the eyes

Of Venus. My pains were stung
With fangs of happiness
Then I beheld your smile
And walked straight into the arms of love.

i am listening to a song

sitting alone on this sofa,
where together we once sat
a piece of the headphone on my ear
the other piece on your ear
as we listened to this song-- the song that flashes before me
all the memories of our days together
when we sang along and demonstrated
these emotions to each other
and your smiled mirrored a beauty
that I can't find words to describe
just that slices of beauty lay embedded between the closed spaces in your teeth

the only solace i can wrap my arms around
is the memories, so, i come back listening to this song
as i embed my mind deep on the visuals
of flash backs made audible
by your ringing laughter in my head-
the light your kiss brought
illuminates my heart
it is a mirage realer than a mirage--
what is formed by memories from this song

yet it is this mirage of a memory that
gives me the comfort of a shade away
from the desert of your absence

believe me when i say:
"I don't want to get this headphones off my ears"
it is the only thing that hides me from the monster, 'reality'... but for how long?
as the monster soon breezes in like
a slap in the face
waking me from my sleep into the sweet voyage of your memories

i think about picking up the phone
i want to ask you to bring back those days
i want to ask you to make this memories real again
then i remember where you have gone
then a dark cloud befalls my eyes.

Your smile.
.
endlessly,
my heart  searched
for a vibe on another
heart with which to
resonate and found none.
finding none, it  wandered endlessly like
Infra-red rays seeking a
suitable tempo upon which
to strike an interference.
i  wandered in search of a fertile
land in a heart upon
which to grow seeds of
love, my head burrowed
deep in a shell of
restlessness...
.
but on that fateful day,
too-good-to-be-true was
your smile--- it caused
my eyes to twitch,
borrowed a beat from my heart, transforming my
thoughts to an ode-- a
prelude to better days
.
i still see that smile,
lucid--- your lips opening
like windows of love,
revealing shiny white
louvres of beauty (teeth)
which opened to your
tongue-- a valley flowing
with sweetness as it
goes down your palate
like a parting curtain
welcoming love... then
you said "hi".
.
this friendship began with a smile,
it deepened with the " hi"
.
i have tapped from the
happiness let out from
the windows of your heart--
your smile..
my heart no longer wanders, in your smile,
it found rest
.
my greatest wish is
to make this smile mine
someday,
plant a kiss on your lips,
the happiness that
dwells in there becoming
a remedy to my malady.
.
.
Chukwudera Michael