Tony Cemaluk Egbuonu

Nkea na amamu ahu jijijiji,
Ikedo mu na nmazi uzo di
n'okpulu ugbo mmili anyim,
...

PROMISE not pounded yam when you can't
pound pounded yam; worst, under oath,
when you can, but compromise instead to pound cocoyam.
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Struggling to stain, smear a saint so dearly,
solely endears the saint —
so dearly to all.
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Force never succeeds. It fails.
It mimics, mirrors, mocks, and mourns.

It holds no water on the soul,
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n the grave?
The grave of a life lived alone?
It could be so solitary.
Surrounded by soliloquy.
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Ngwa ngwa.
Ngwa. Ngwa ngwa, ngwa ngwa.
Mweghachi hiri nne — ngwa karịa ngwa.
Ahụ, eweghachila.
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Surpassing is allowed.
Suppressing is not.
Depressing is not.
Debasing is not.
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As a whistling pine, the void whistles,
Voice high-pitched, violent —
Like pines dancing to harmattan wind.
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They ate from the good hand,
then stabbed it at the back.
They called goodness foolishness.
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The reception, really receptive,
As marketing public relation, was repetitive,
To be solely so; so the trick was to ignore all,
As an ignorant, even the sonorous singing ringing tone,
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N'okpuru ụgbọ Mmiri

Ọ na-ama m oke egwu n'ezie,
na-ekekọta m na rudder a.
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However this load, it is an overload,
Whenever there's overloading, there's an urge to offload.
I will rather go off the road,
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Sincerity reaffirmed, all
In its ramifications,
Verily, knowing and meeting
As the Yuletide was young.
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THANK YOU,
for all that we shared.
The irrationally-laden meeting,
dry-cleaned with humble hearts.
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LIKE THIS, before they came,
Shattering, we were chartered,
Chattering; chanting choruses and songs,
From souls for souls, by souls, to souls.
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Son begets father; daughter, mother.
Doesn't foetus beget all?
Rest in peace, foetus
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Star four plus.

Knocking on the door of giants:
Angelou. Shakespeare. Blake.
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Don't fight, no gain.
Fighting is grossly misconstrued,
misunderstood,
misapplied.
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So strong, the name synonymous with strength,
Stallion-horse, the uncastrated horse
Known for horse power in fables and physics.
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On tenterhooks I stand,
Heart strung tight between high hope and heated harm to hand and head.
Not falling flat. Not flying forward. Just suspended, swinging.
Waiting on words to ward off wasps' stings lurking, to settle.
...