Izuu's Turn

Certain words are so common that they do not strike us With the very pungency they always demand. Words like “insult” are often so common that oft, In times of its multiple exteriorisations, We do not extensively understand the implications! What then is insult? A leader who believes his personal views are superior To those of the people s/he leads. What is insult? A man who inherited power at 19 Established abusive powers for 15 Forced into glamorous exile for 25 Then returns suddenly to lay claim to power. What is insult? A man who loses duly recognised presidential polls Sends emissaries to tear up result sheets Holds on to power with the support of filial oligarchy Barricades the election winner in a hotel arrest And refuses adamantly to relinquish power. What is insult? A man who impoverishes his country men for 23 years Is ousted from power by popular revolt He runs into exile and some leaders are taking him into asylum. Asylum from what? His political crimes? What is i...

Tune it up! Yes, please do The lies! The pretences! The Deceit! The fabrications! Increase the intensity of The anger! The venom! The hate! The slander! Turn it up more than a notch The rhetoric! Hate sermon! Vile messages! Evil rantings! Exceedingly glamorise The subterfuge! The rationalisations! The defence! The propaganda! Stir up much action The militancy! The revolution! The violence! The pogrom! Blow them up! Others' homes! Others' shrines! Their cities! Their investments! Severe their heads With Machetes! With axes! With clubs! With stones! Tear them to shreds With grenades! With bazookas! With shelling! With bombs! Roast their headless carcasses With plutonium! With uranium! With nukes! With irradiation! But before you do Things you must do Sear your conscience with red-hot rod Fry your brain in red-hot oil Cut out your heart with red-hot knife Dice the red-liquid dripping tissue Into red-hot atomic chips Gouge your eyes with red-hot iron Pull your testicles w...

Location: A secluded, posh residential area in a West African city Laurent: I don't know why they are after me! The Baba in Harare got a shared government. And the other one shared with that small boy in Nairobi. Why is my own different, Baba? And see that boy in Lome, that immediately took over from his father ... and Baba, you allowed him? Baba Olu: You don't know anything, Laurent. You see... Laurent: (Clears his throat loudly)   Why are you talking like that, Baba? Is it because you lost third term? Baba Olu: Shut up when I am talking to you! That is why you lost and will continue to lose. Oya, go and hand over to Allasan kia kia , or I will tell my boy in Abuja to shoot you out of here! Laurent: (Falls on his knees) Baba, this is not fair!  Consider me now and share this thing for us now. Baba Olu: I will not because it is too late now. If you were wise, you would not have lost the election in the first place. (Whispering) Watch what will happen in Abuja this...

What if I say I don’t trust you anymore? What if I mean You are friend no more? What if I tell I love another more What if I vision A friend I want more? What if I see Loyalists who are more? What of I stand Your presence no more? What if I crawl Farther from you more? What if I walk Away from you more? What if I jump Away from you more? What if I run Faster from you more? What if I catapult Myself from your presence more? What if I turn From where you are more? How you respond Will make me be truthful more. © 28.Dec.2010   Izuu Nwankwọ

Yes, it was a good turn that I did you Not recompense for good you did me Just my choice to revere you Could have called any other than you What you claim to own Could’ve been five, eight, ten or even twenty Times better with another peer Yes, another girded with the two-word solution I owed you nothing then, nothing now May be not in the future But you; you owe me Not from your bank account nor favour Neither do I solicit a miserable invitation letter To become one slave driver’s magic wand Your gold, your silver, I need none Yes, all I needed was the two-word solution The elapsed time of then and now Has swollen the interest on your debt Your words would have enriched my life As my favour your bank statement But you demurred after receiving mine Conceited in vanity of life decades before mine Forgetting boss’s life lies in the gate keeper’s list Yes , he needs the two-word solution If I didn’t give it You could have had others, not THIS! A second or two of haranguing me With a bre...

It happens everywhere: politics--global, local, and glocal There is always something that someone wants to keep from the knowledge of somebody Amidst the smiles, pretences and upended falsehood There lies a subterranean pouch, filled to the brim with leering sham Shrouded in back-slapping and vigorous handshake formalities What about the suits? The starched shirts? Stiff ties that more or less look like dog collars on the necks of the file-carrying subordinates Schooled in the lies which their principals ferry from coast to coast They coat their faces with cosmetic smiles and follow the path of deception That their governments have drummed into their heads Here comes the weaky leaks ... exposing pretensions of nations The world is topsy-turvy because the diplomats we used to know Are nothing but spies? Nay, that is glorifying them from their base abode They are gossips and rumour-mongers. All over the world We now know that they say one thing to the public and another to their govern...

I lie. The genesis of a people’s crises I lie. The revelation of myriad crimes I lie. Through dubious smiling teeth I lie. Legs spread their full width Really matters less which I lie. I want to be voted I lie. I want to be noted I lie. A hyperbolised white affair I lie. A cushioned sex affair Doesn’t matter at all where I lie. I am above all I lie. I am above ill I lie. On the podium of insane politics I lie. In the bosom of male prostitutes Care less about who I lie. Sanctioned by impunity I lie. Excused by gluttony I lie. In the company of sycophants I lie. With a throng of samplers Inconsiderate of when I lie. In the manner of tyrants I lie. With the matter of sluts I lie. No recourse to decorum I lie. No desire for condom Not concerned with what Savouring the taste of lying. I lie Regurgitating the vain of cheating. I lie No matter which it is Where it is Who it is When it is What it is I just lie!