"Religiosity" meowed the cat
rather languidly as cats
usually do
"is for the birds",
just then a cock crowed
with cock-lust after the plump chickens
in the hen house,
but the door was locked by the evil wolf
wearing his usual sheep's clothing,
casing the barnyard
ready to snatch anything that
clucked long enough to suit his fancy,
and the swans swimming in their pond,
stretched their necks to see what was
going on....

WARRIOR

it is morning again
Time is awake
and so am I.
It's dark. There is no sun.
the war has begun

I stumble like a broken puppet
to breakfast only steps away
hoping to make it before lunch
one day

the meds wait on a kikchen shelf
weapons not of choice.
and I suspect some treachery:
they're beating the living shit out of me

I hit every wall
trip over every wire
and aspire to keep my face
from the floor.
my pace is slow and heavy
my bladder quick.

I used to come here to retreat
from southern summer's muggy heat
and watch the rainbows in the mist
where the sun, the air and water kissed.

Below an old dam built of stone
(much of the time I came alone)
to a foothills river running white
save where the small dam tamed its might.

Steep stoney cliffs on either side
where rattle snakes are said to hide
shaded the water through the day
while holding most high winds at bay.

Long suppressed tears
Heart weighty with sorrows
A heavy down pour
In torrential flow

A floating inland
Soaked to overflowing
Wet from inside
Like Lagos rain

Blocked water ways
In a collective wrong
Turned our city
Into an ocean

Tears in my eyes
Like raindrops
Rise to drown
My mortal form

I dont mean the rusted chrome edge
that spills from your beautiful mouth
nictotine and lip gloss
Crass is sweet anyway
sounds dirty and needful
and dangerous
like broken glasses
in a drunks room

I can tell its you by the key in the door
slick like you
no fumbling
no waste of time
no sunny surf
just hammering rains
like week old dust
going down the drain

How I love the ragged edge
you leave me
the jagged bruises
the bruised heart

when the bouganvilla stops blooming its time

If you can't stand a good religious rant
get the fuck off my page and join
bible-thumpers anonymous; I'm
not just talking about the Christian Book
of dogma and apostolic revision, give
me an eagle's feather, free me from the
object of your persecution, your procession
is a historical list of hate after hate.

Stain

Hemlock creeping through my veins.
Limbs numb by degrees .
But my ability to live remains.

Losing everything slashing imperceptibly
no visible mark, or contusions.
successive illusions. 

Mental strain unapparent
Internalized, coiled within my guts
Holding on so as not to cause pain
 
Can't fool or hide from myself,
but no one else can detect 
that I am eviscerated.

Blessed be thy name
Akwa Abasi Ibom
Oil flows in crude and palms
We drank to augment the joy
Of a new south-south state
Our ancestors were noted
For farming and fishing
Women wore waists beads
And fed their children
With breast milk
And remains of past sacrifices
The children knew well
How to keep the vultures away
From eating the meat at the altar
Till the sacrifice was accepted
By Itina Iman

I don't mean to hurt anyone here,
Sir.

All my life I have composed
Through the darkness of the eerie nights,
When the mind is free
Without any inhibitions

And

When I read some ones poetry
I get my own vision

And

Compose that's all.
If you don’t like me
At least I thank thee,
For seeing the ray,
Nay,
streak of brilliance
That you do say,
Comes once amongst a billion rays

Many dawns have lapsed,
My lonely pathway
That’s about all what I can say

Swahili,
I never learned Swahili
in the American marketplace
bankers, Realtors and lawyers,
pundits, corporations and dissidents
oh my,

who would I be now without
Siddhartha egging me on
into my heart of darkness?

thieves rescued me and hunters
wounded me, the prey elusive
in their infrared sight, I loved them
all, but not later

I was a Nomad foraging through
deep roots, hacking off words
that seemed superfluous, I stood
on the edge,
a woman of strawberries.