A Poem A Day For Gani

And we will let the gong make its own music
For this is not death
But a befitting return –
A return to greatness
From greatness…

As we say by his stripes we have been saved
So also I could say by your voice silence is silenced.
Now let me see, supposing the map of Nigeria
Was a crucifix – I say supposing it was – what
Could you have been?
The mascot of justice or the symphony of truth
Maybe the two… supposing!

If we look beyond soon-come desires
If we look beyond one-day-e-go-be-my-turn-to-grab
If we believe that a mighty sea could manifest a Runway
If we realize that an illusionist is just a person
Then too we will know how to work the darkness
For indeed it has a key
That can open the dawn
It has a key…look.

But there are many paths to paradise
One voice alone can open road-blocks
If we consider that death begins at birth
That there is nothing to lose
When you fight like a ghost
Consider this,
Like a glorious star

We can mourn and move on to the positive lane
We can laugh and move toward a soulful lane
But, now, any laughing or crying
Has to take place inside our head…

Shall we consider that inside an egg
Is a hidden world, which a crack might reveal…
The ancestors say life is deep
For a moment might take a lifetime to unravel
But every step of destiny is an unraveling
So if I throw a few oracle seeds
An ancient voice might reveal
That no matter the cracks
A chicken might unfold
As a metaphor
As a period
Or a mid sentence
Or as a full sentence
The audacity of courage…

============
============

December 2010: Rewriting a Lost Poem

Like a lost dream
Floating at dusk,
Floating into a reality without dimensions,
Like momentary thrills
Like seasonal confetti
Like the edge of glass
I am outside of things
Outside of the story
Just looking on from the audience
Outside of the stage
Fleeing from a broken tale
Stale from a thousand re-telling…
Like twisted melody inside a bowl of ceremonial food
I am outside of things
Outside of fragmented amnesia
Fragmented roads
Fragmented waves
Fragmented histories
Outside of things
Outside of the noise
Outside of the smoke
Outside of the screen
Like a lost dream
Floating at dusk
Floating into a reality
Without dimensions…

================

(c) Angela Amalonye Nwosu