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POEMS BY JOHN ONYIDO |
POEMS OF SOUL |
TIDAL WAVE As I sit pensively, lost in thoughts by the rocky steppes I observe your transparent beauty as it cascades down those Inclines unobstructed, uninhibited and unsullied by all that Is impure, untried and inexperienced within life's steep steps. You are radiant and full of vital impulse, your innocence Primordial and primitive. You emanate from a far source Tossing your self uncaringly over the precipice, oblivious to sense And to any dangers that may abound in the abyss that is life's source. The foam of your powerful impact generates heat, energy And activity that is translatable by man in beneficial ways. Luscious greenery abides in your presence and your synergy Nourishes with life giving effulgence and the warm embrace of days. Within your bosom emerged the first forms of life In minute sub-atomic particles. Yes in your primitive womb Were the first living things cradled and sustained with rife Until the time was right for their emergence on terra's tomb. Your beneficence has not ceased in the least since that remote Early times when the world was young and unweaned. Beloved, you are the embodiment of all that represents life's rote, Unceasingly providing for man's sustenance through eons on end. Together with the other elements creation becomes complete And revealed in its many forms and appearances. You are loath To destroy or to harm except when your warnings and cautions replete Are disdainfully ignored and unregarded and man's solemn oath Forfeited. He then pays fully the ultimate price of non-reverence to thee. Your name is Unami "the turtle" and the bull frogs moan and croak On your lily pods all through the summer night, creating a melody of symphonic Sounds that reverberate hither and tither on surrounding rock. The wild geese come and go and the turtles randomly appear phobic. Within your boundless fringes reside the great creations Of our mythologies and folkloreour fairytales and legends. Those ancient beings that have forever existed in our imaginations, Our deepest realities. Indeed I wonder how old you are My mind cannot fully fathom nor conceive of your true origin and era, Of your scope, of your boundlessness. You have witnessed and perchance Engendered all the transformations and upheavals on terra. Your ageless Wisdom leaves me speechless and insecure at a glance. All these and more cause me to honor thee, to acknowledge Your love, your supremacy and your strength, against which power I am helpless and ignore at my peril. And after I am long gone You still remain as you always have been, even before man ever Made his entrance upon Terra and inhabited your shores edge. John Chike Onyido, Sumneytown, Pennsylvania |
THE LEAST ONE, by John Chike Onyido merging from beyond the far reaches Of space and time and of phenomena. Extending into the denseness of matter. Projecting your radiance by reflection. Submerging your vastness encased in form. Containing your potential for millennia. Inhibiting your infinitude and wisdom. Constraining your expansiveness with effort. Restraining your powers from God endowed. Withholding your transcendence for life's gifts. Constricting your abilities to propel upwards. You have become the least one, man's soul. |
BACK TO AFRICA, SWEET HOME Beloved Continent of my birth, my sweet home, How I desire your warm protective arms, Once again enfolded in your safe motherly bosom. Many of your sons had left in search of pastures Green in far and distant lands across endless seas, Holding unto dreams sublime, both conceited and Altruistic. Many moons it has been since the pale Ones landed on your shores and were naively welcome With open arms by your sons and Daughters. But alas! the pale ones desecrated your land, Taking your children and along with them, Their heritage and culture, denigrating their Consciousness and self-pride, dehumanizing, Brutalizing and branding them. Your sons Cried out to you Mother and their wailing Reached your ears. You rescued them through Your mysterious and inimitable ways. Ways Known only to an elect few of your priests. Suddenly the struggle began in earnest! The struggle for equality, fairness, justice, Against the strong arms of oppression, Subjugation, segregation and racial domination, Became real and intense as time receded. Lives were lost and your sons' blood shed. Oh Africa, you beckoned to your Children From the far reaches of the Diaspora, reminding Them it was time to retrace their Steps and reclaim Their wondrous heritage from the brinks of extinction. Some of us were sent to reclaim the lost ones. Mother, will you recognize your children when they return? Our names are no longer Nubian; our ways are alien, Our thoughts inverted, our spirits crushed. As children of the Sun we yean for your succor Once more and for Kemet's glory and brilliance Of yore, in times misty and dim. We long for The land of the rising sun and the radiance of The Nile yet unsurpassed. We long for thee Beloved Mother Africa, our sweet home and pride! |
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