At first, the dark rain-clouds
cast a gloomy spell
over the eye
of the day,
...
One irksome, prosy afternoon
devoid of interest, time hanging heavily -
to have my stripling fling,
I digressed into a bush
...
Palsied dewy touch, knell-swathed-
a flawed crust of chrysalis
burned into exile.
...
The water is dark and silent, reflecting sparks of the night’s fire
that bedeck a window of sky.
Your voice tonight does not thrill me at all, poet wind.
...
The hills are alive, awake;
real are the voices raised by
the jaded, stirring trees.
Moderately diminishing against the metropolis,
...
Kodi Azuonye is a Nigerian lawyer, activist and poet. He has been on the editorial board of the Supreme Court of Nigeria Judgements, a periodical Law report with wide circulation within Nigeria and elsewhere, and has had his poetry and legal articles published in several international print and electronic journals.)
The Rain
At first, the dark rain-clouds
cast a gloomy spell
over the eye
of the day,
boiling and thickening
like some infernal broth.
Then the rain walked
stealthily, with measured steps,
over the tops
of trees and houses,
like a murderer
stalking to kill.
And now, growling
like ten prides
of enraged lions together,
it rain pounced
and stormed
with a violent
burst upon its prey,
gnarled fangs
and claws poised
to ravage, and brutally
dismembered the naked
body of the day.
Kodi Azuonye
(Kaduna - Nigeria,2002)