Ngozi Olivia Osuoha is a Nigerian poet/writer. She has been published in journals in the UK, US, Ghana, Liberia, India, Zimbabwe, Canada, Kenya, Trinidad and Tobago and Germany among others. Her poetry collections, "The Transformation Train" and "Letter to my Unborn," were published in Kenya and Canada are available on Amazon.
Herdsmenation
Grazing in cities and highways
Grazing in schools and farmlands,
Grazing on lives and properties,
Herdsmenization; woes of nomadic farming.
Laying siege against a people
Waylaying indigenes for animals,
Ambushing citizens for beasts
Attacking and burning humans,
Herdsmenization; foes of nomadic farming.
They butcher scores
And leave sores,
They burn stores
And destroy chores,
They turn whores
For tiny pores,
Herdsmenization; woes of nomadic farming.
Killing for religion
Flesh for tradition,
Blood for culture
Animals for norms,
Cattle for heads
Cows for gurus,
Grasses for giants,
Fields for future,
Herdsmenization, foes of nomadic farming.
(In memory of those killed by herdsmen in Nigeria. The poem first appeared in Tuck Magazine)
Religious Beasts
Some are magicians
Deceiving the people,
Some are morticians
Embalming the people.
Some are extremists
Fighting with the rod,
Some are terrorists
Killing for their God.
Some are famous
Well known by the world,
Some are dangerous
Not known to the world.
Some are close like friends
All over the places,
They meet at all ends
With different faces.
They have their union
Even without our knowledge,
They have their communion
Within their college.
Horrors of religion
Amidst the fold, divine
Terrors of legion
Amongst the golden line.
Religious beasts
Spreading tentacles
Performing miracles
Crushing obstacles,
Towering pinnacles
Celebrating their feasts,
In a twinkle, they leave twinkles
Which shrink like wrinkles.
(First appeared in Raven Cage Zine)
(First appeared in Raven Cage Zine)
Political Monsters
They are the gangsters
In many disciplines
Cooking the youngsters
To poison their wines.
They are the tricksters
Misguiding the populace
To feed the pranksters
At their own pace.
They are the masters
Playing every card
To suit their plasters
And make it hard.
They are the ill wind
Blowing left, right, front and back
Destroying the blind
For them to always lack.
They are the undercover
Wining and dining around,
For you not to take cover
Until they send you underground.
They are the chameleon
In beautiful colours,
But the real Napoleon
With cancerous odour.
Political monsters, the cankerworm
That stir the storm
And trouble our form,
The termite that eats our norm
And destroys our reform
Political monsters, the beast after our peace.
(First appeared in Tuck Magazine)
(First appeared in Tuck Magazine)
Campaign Promises, a Bunch of Balderdash
The land is green
In fact, I bring you paradise
Forget the turmoil and torment
I am the Messiah and saviour,
Look, I come in peace
Heaven sent me to you
Weep no more, wail no more
I have come, rejoice
For your saviour is here;
A bunch of balderdash.
I will take you to heaven
And let you dine with God
You shall become a holy dove
Instead of a wild raven,
I have started the move
Just give me a nod;
A bunch of balderdash.
I will raise your ancestors
And call forth your unborn,
I will give you security
And grant you amnesty,
I will give you peace
And let your bone, grease
Campaign promises;
A bunch of balderdash.
Jobs shall look for you
And employments break you through,
No more prisons, no more crimes
No more wars, no more terrors
I have bargained with natural disasters
No more earthquakes, no more tsunami
Never again shall hurricanes rage
Landslides have been totally silenced
Wildfires now reside in hell
And floods sent back to the seas,
I have bound them all
Fear not, worry not
I have come.
Campaign promises
A bunch of balderdash.
Look poverty is dead
Starvation gone, hate defeated
Racism is subdued and terrorism, done
Listen, from now henceforth
All men are equal
Because we all
were born equal,
No more evil
Welcome to heaven:
Campaign promises,
A bunch of balderdash.
An open check to woes
A letter of deceit
A craft of roguery
A road to treachery,
Campaign promises
If you believe them
Then blame yourself.
(First appeared in Tuck Magazine)
Ngozi Olivia Osuoha
