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Sweating on my mat, I curse!
As the light dimly flickers
Off and on it wavers
Like a torch amidst a storm.
For the ten thousandth time I wonder
What is wrong with mother?
My aggrieved home and country
Her pain is mine to bear.

She has many a tale to tell
Troubled much from deep her belly
Wonder how much she can endure
Till body and soul give in.
She was blessed by the heavens
Much to the envy of all
Yet! Alas, she mourns
And weeps in pain untold.

Time and again she follows
Sheepishly trusting her shepherds
She has had a quite a number
With tongues unknown and known
Her plight is not their vision
As she inevitably learns
Her wool and meat and milk
Are all they dare to care.

She breeds enough to share
And feed her dying lambs
But much is lost to thieves
Who lurk in shadows of shepherds.
Destined for royalty she was
But penury has robbed her glory
Awake! Oh mother Nigeria!
And reclaim your lost birthright.

© Raphael Uzor
Inspired by the untold hardship in my country Nigeria.
Mother, her, she etc refer to Nigeria
Shepherd refers to the leaders-elected public servants
Belly refers to her various socioeconomic problems
Body and soul refer to unity, prosperity and her survival
Heavens refers to God (Who blessed her with much natural resources)
Mourns, weeps and penury; refer to her untold hardship and suffering
Tongues refers to divers ethnic groups
Wool, meat, milk refer to her numerous mineral resources especially crude oil
Lambs refers to the masses
She sits there,
Fingers entwined,
Face showing her tangled mind.
"I don't know what to write,"
She states, and follows,
"I don't have anything interesting
To say."

I ask her what she loves...
Sometimes it's horses,
Sometimes law,
Sometimes children,
Sometimes God,
Sometimes....
Always
Something that she loves.

And when she talks,
Her eyes grow bright,
Revealing memories,
To be nudged and wheedled,
Poked a bit and needled,
To find that sliver and
Extract the thought
On which to write.

Then off she goes to compose,
To start a journey up the path
We both hope leads to a diploma,
A job, a career, an opportunity.

When she is gone, I sit and muse....
I am a father and grandfather now,
Still adjusting training wheels and
Giving that first push,
Still patching skinned up knees,
Pulling slivers...
Sending children on their way.
 Feb 2014 Marley Jane
Helen
stand up at the podium
and tell everyone
I was mad

there was not a single cell
in her body that was sane


*Each molecule was rabid
Each word out of the mouth
breathed in another's pain,
another's thoughts, another's foot
another's absolute, down to Earth
truth

She gladly swallowed razor blades
and never once, coughed up blood
She sought to hold all pain
beneath a heart that would never gain
truth

She was insane

Truth
When asked what is sadness
there are a number of answers
perhaps sadness is
what we feel when we're alone
but not completely at ease
perhaps sadness is
happinesses broken younger sister
perhaps sadness is
the thing some people crave for
more than anything else
perhaps sadness is
loving someone who doesn't love you back
perhaps sadness is
what comes when we lose love
or have never found it
perhaps sadness is
the only one that feels our pains
perhaps sadness is
a reminder that we're human
well most of the time anyway
or perhaps sadness is
just another emotion that follows confusion
sadness is an emotion we feel
when our minds just don't want to believe what's just happened
or we just don't understand...
Letting go is never easy
it's always going to be hard
that's just how it is
but if you can, I'll write you a card
giving up on dreams
is heartbreaking
believe me it's even harder
when your mind is shaking
but if you can
I'll write you a song
I'm sure it will help you
to move on
but right now you'll be sad
and you just want to be left alone
so I hope you don't mind
because all I wrote, was this poem...
Make me bleed baby please,
Make me believe that I still live
Make me need baby please,
Make me know I still want something to give

Make me cry baby please,
Make me feel you closer than the tears
Make me rest baby please,
Make me calm and forget all my fears

Make me break angel please,
Make me know I can be whole again
Make me fall baby please,
Make me realize that I can stand back up again

Make me touch you angel please,
Make me caress your soft feather wings
Make me see the light angel please,
Make me see through beauty in ugly things

Make me kiss you angel please,
Make me quench the thirst through your lips,
Make me hold you again angel please,
Make me soar across heavens with my hands held on your hips

Make me makes me me,
Make me become who I am used to be
Make me make you make me,
Make me believe this is gotta be...
Just making me write ;)
And if i choose you
id be choosing the type of happiness
that comes with the cost of pain
but id choose you forever
again, again and again
It's the middle of the day
tears flowing from my eyes
hugging a picture of you
it all came as a surprise
is the reason you don't love me
because I'm so far away
maybe not light-years
but at least a couple days
and these poems I write
all tell the same story
a girl like you
just can't adore me
and I'll just smile the heartbreak away
because I know you're much too sweet
and a heartfelt hug
I'll give if we ever meet
and maybe we won't
fall for eachother
and I may be sad
until I find another
and even if I never
see (see) you again
I can't say I'll be fine right away
but I'm sure me, him and her
will always stop to pen
another poem about how brilliant
you truly are...
breathebreathebreathe.
can you hear me?
im begging you to breathe.
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