Poetry: Two Poems by Olamilekan Philip

lamentations

my body became a heap of injured memories
& ooze smell of wailings
for lost souls, who got tired trying to locate home
for dark minds in dark rooms looking across a window for misplaced lights
There is no greater pain and misery
than seeing a voice become a music box of silence…

i have heard tales -sad tales of people whose body became too proud to greet dawn
of souls who never saw the light of their.tomorrow
i have lived in places beyond the idea of a home
& seen men who lived in themselves- a quiet body of corpse
i have seen women leave their home.for.the edifice of a cemetery
& i know this world is indescribable in words but voices that escape when hope died
i know, you know, we know death is the reason tomorrow looks far and near- a conflict of distance.

i have seen death
-in the smile of a mother holding her 27th ‘abiku’
-the tears of aleppo girls who live in the remnant of their dreams
-the voice of boys wandering in forest of frustration
-i have seen death burn a father with the wax of hunger

i have seen death
-twice in the twinkle of my father’s eyes- first.was a glint from his dream
-in the laugh of husbands whose pregnant wives died with their names
-visit Kano, going on feast nights after nights
-i have seen death sweep across Lagos beyond canals and gutters could.hold

i have seen death and it is in.the.voices of singers at a mass funeral

we pray for you
-for the boys who were quick to become ancestors
-the dreams that evolved into.glory
-for the girls whose sun gave up.their lights
-& for our nation- a desolate.home.for.grief

we pray death leads you into every rest.that this world lacks
we pray.your souls find God and his peace

& the rest of us
-darkness shall not overpower our lights
-our days shall count into length
-& our legs shall continue to find home

what we know

death is the reason tomorrow looks far and near- a conflict of distance
we dont know when
we don’t know who’s next
but we do know how
we know it couldnt be less than it Is in Benue
-where corpse litter the streets, tired of home
-the land is already accursed to hope
-songs have been composed to be sang at funerals
-where the only reason men still live Is to bury their last dream

we don’t know who’s next
we don’t know when
but we know how
we know how death could be
we know the forms it could take
& we also know,
death is the reason tomorrow looks far and near- a conflict of distance…

Full name: Olamilekan Philip

E-mail: [email protected]

Biography: Philip is a final year student of Chemistry, FUNAAB. A lover of art and words. He wishes his poems become a daily need for strength, hope, healing, satisfaction, fun, and healing.