THE CUPID'S DANCE

She came
By the silent night
She came,
Defying the rain
That pattered
Against
The wakeful time
For the usual
Prowling beat.

She came,
In answer
To the string
Pull
Of the rake that
Raised
A pool of
Golden mirage
That dazzled
Her lustrous eyes,
Pinned the heart
To a hope
That took her in.

This one,
Trapped
By the wiles of man
That prowls
With forked tongue
Cast as meshes
That entraps
The unwary birds
Returning home.

She answered
The call,
And gravitated
To the lustful couch
For the Cupid's dance

Of the supine pose
That ends in sighs.

MEET THE POET:

Orisa Onyemachi is an indigene of
Rivers State. Schooled in Western
Ahoada County High School, Rivers
State COE and University of Port
Harcourt where he studied English
Education. He works with the state
Ministry of Education. Onyemachi is
married with children.

COME AWAY,MY LOVE

(On Val's Day and Always)

Come away, my love
From  throngs of merrymakers who delight 
Just in the drooling face of day,
And let me be the light of a thousand brilliance
That illuminates the dark corners of seasons walled
In the womb of mortality;
The zephyr that passes her gentle fingers through layers
Of affection uncracked by Time's covetous touch.
Or does Val's day at all-times play?
Most who sing under Its caressing  wings
Think It just a day

Come away, my love
So we both will this day and other days play
Holding each other by hand  and soul to soul
Be welded in love so eternal.
Let's in winged seraphs or Jove's feathered wings
Ride sprightly across the watchful sky
Perfuming each moment we share
With the sweet fragrance of our Val.

THE SILENCE OF THE ANCESTOR

Here we sit quietly;
Palms on our cheeks;
Aching to hear
The voice of the ancestor
Who has refused to speak
To his people from the foreign land
Of white spirits.

The Ifa priest throws his beads
On the divination plate
"Speak our father!" He implores
He repeats the same process
Time and time again
"Show to us where thou art father?"
The priest asks again and again
Yet he looks up each time a frustrated fellow,
Shakes his head vigorously with pouted lips,
And he gives the same answer over and over again,
The answer of silence
The ancestor would not speak.

"Try one more time please,"
We urge him
He throws the beads and pleads
"Should I offer you gin
Or is it the head of a goat you want?"
                       Suddenly!
He jumps up and we exclaim "Ahaa!"
The ancestor must have answered.
"The ancestor is livid!" Shouted the priest.
"No one, I say, no one can force the ancestor
To speak from the land of white spirits!"

Ubaji Isiaka Abubakar Eazy 2017