LIFE, LOVE AND HOPE
by Ezekiel Archibong 

LIFE, LOVE AND HOPE


I try to reach high to the sky
and admire the simplicity of life.
The lilting song as it floats through flowers
along a brook of fairy bowers.
Where I can’t find my voice in the rhythm,
I just keep singing to the lyrics.
I live, love and hope with a will,
with loud laughter like explosives.

Life is a fickle fortune.
Like the scented nectars
spewed from the steep of radiant flowers
and sour herbs that torture the cheeks
with a shooting twinge.
The same sun that dries the wood
dissolves the ocean ice,
for one thing leads to another,
the gypsy moth Caterpillar to the charming butterfly
and the sun bringing on rainfall.

Love is a Jigsaw Puzzle.
Pieces are aliens at inception.
We keep moving them around,
shove ill-fitting pieces,
searching for the right ones,
until we find those that fit in,
until we find where they belong.
Some pieces come together and start a cold war.
Hey! there’s nothing like finding a true paramour.

Hope is the crisp dew
that perches on the skin of a Lilly
with such refreshment
that sings a tune without the lyrics.
Find the words and that is what to say,
create the path and that is the way.
The wisdom of age
and the truth about all of our lives is that;
no matter what path we may take,
in the end, what will be will be.

PEACE ALERT


I rode with the wind swelling with grieve
sour tales of violence fill my ears and rings
and my nostrils a drunkard of despicable fragrance
such that could sully without reluctance.
The land overflows of river of scarlet colors
with hundreds of bodies hipped like piles of saw dust,
beckon vultures to hover and feast.
Turmoil was unleashed
from the cave,
swaddled the environs in disarray.
Tear stained face of an innocent child
in conflicts he knows nothing about.

Should it be heard that Nations search for peace
with innovations of atomic and nuclear?
Little wonder Peace becomes scarce like a dog’s tear
The book of human race
is chaptered, barren of glue to consolidate,
each day slips by,
the leaves keep falling apart,
with the next volume ripped off in bits
like solvent dissolving a lactase pill.

Should we remain a walking shadow
on the face of a meadow?
Let us loose grip of the withered leaves
for anew dawn of colorful spring,
for our beauty has been marred,
and our souls twisted and scarred.
Let us not be caught
in the frenzy of shattering dreams.
Let our story be; this moment
we drop our guns and bombs
lifting our brows to behold
the perching of peace and justice.

Let’s hold arms in love
and not arms to kill and destroy
Let us pick the scepter of unity
for upon it shall we find dignity.
Let the only song on our lips be song of peace,
where the rhythm of tolerance rings of bliss.

LIFE SPIRALED OUT OF CONTROL


We were kids with keen sight kits
and exceeding adrenalin
to climb trees like monkeys
and pluck from the precipice.
We listen to the birds sweetly chirping.
We cling to branches like political loyalists
When we finish devouring into our precious within
we wipe our mouth with the flip side of our fist
and gaze as the sun fades into space,
signaling the night is set to reign
and it’s time to close for the day.
We back down with our faces sowed of glee
even as we surmounted our mats about to sleep.
We said our lord’s prayer and shared in the grace,
and slept with such peace alien in our world of rat chase.
We were not from the lineage of Dangote
but we were still okay.

The cock caws to usher in a new dawn
The day light pierces our rotten faces
through the windows standing ajar,
as we stretch our body, yawning like cats.
Looking up, the sky painted dark sinister,
and the clouds heavily pregnant.
It began to pour in a geometry progression,
we bounced up like excited springs
peeling off our cloths like a snake discard its skin.
We carry the slaps of rain on our body,
the zinc roof plays swift beats
transcending into sweet melody
and we dance in pure ecstasy.
We flee from the shouting thunder
and chased the wind and fling.
In truth, we enjoyed every bit.

We are Adults now.
Afore dawning, we check out of our homes
hoping to fill the holes of our dreams.
We reappear late at night with weaken feet
and pores soaked from fatigue.
Like a book left the shelf,
we drift apart from family and friends,
and wear stress like a ceremonial Apparel.
Our life is spiraled out of control,
Our life is a reality show!

DIGITAL ATTACHMENT


No man has a face anymore!
With every one’s head buried
on the lighten screen clutched in their hands.
A man with his eyes glazing the ground
knocks a road passer flying,
falling on his face after tripping over him.
Upon realizing he could see,
there arouses an inferno of seethe,
and he apologizes for his sins.
My fear lies more with those behind the wheels.
They could die and kill.
Once, i could have been hit.
I ran to the other side of the road
and he ran straight into a pole.
An addiction that sweeps the age
has climbed to an epidemic stage.
Like the rising of Phoenix from ashes,
we buy into a franchise that robs us of our sanity.
They are catching fire and the smoke
attracting a grip so strong over our psyche.
Twenty-four seven, we lay waste hours,
tweeting our time away, and surfing our minds off.
Even as we wear an underwear, we are still texting,
spending donkey years in the toilet no longer bored.
We are enough by the world in our hands,
caressing, cuddling and cradling it.

UNFINISHED CONVERSATIONS


I go to sleep in the night, continuing in my dream
the conversation I begun on phone with my lover.
We were perched on a lofty balcony,
discussing our trivial annoyances and petty gossips,
staring as the clouds cling to the roof of the earth.
Then there was the yellow sun with a shade of orange
that surely only angels could have sent
reflecting brightly with such ferocity.
Like a cosmic magnet, I pulled her close to my heart,
took her hand, whispered her name.
In a symphony all in harmony, we burst out a song
that transcends through the leaves and orchids,
and the breeze lending its beats and the trees dance.
We did, till the sun got tired,
tucked its head in the cloak of cloud
and darkness gave way to heavenly glow.
It’s the simplest exchange,
one I would be glad to give much return to once I wake.

About the Author:

Ezekiel Archibong (Oluwasalvage) studied Law in University of Benin and was called to the Nigerian Bar in November 2018. He currently practices with Aina Blankson LP, a leading law firm in Lagos, Nigeria. He is passionate, resilient, resourceful and always digging opportunities to impact lives.