Creative Arena

The chirping of the early birds Perching on the trees of dawn The rays of the waking sun Dribbling through the leaves of the morning The gentle strokes of whispering winds Caressing me to forgive the rudeness of the night Silently, I was brought back to this life My heart beats in harmony with the flora fauna of this haven Yet, I'm compelled to remain in this realm Full of storms and tumors Of ups and downs Last night came back to me I was at the mercy of a monster I should be clothed in the rags of dust Stoke within the clutches of unfriendly bushes Or maybe a dainty meal of some lucky demons How come I lie so clean on a white wrapper Where does this come from The peace I feel in the sacred groove I still feel weak and a taste of bitterness settles on my lips I just opened my eyes and stared Shuffling my balance between the pendulum of dreams and reality Then something inviting came from behind Something that seems so part of my being Something I have always known It was a voice T

Sometimes unanswered prayers are God's greatest gifts. If all our prayers are answered, we may end up missing God's plan for our lives... Teach me O Lord to always say " Your Will be Done"

The Lingering Scent of Fakindi War "During the days of Akimba Things were different Boys travel down to the sacred groove to become men With the blessings of their mother hanging around their neck They eat the hearts of the leopards And drink with the skull of lions "They were prepared to terrify death To laugh at the booming of guns To survive when the daggers are drawn "They were the heroes who fought in Fakindi war Those born in our days still met the flakes of clashing spears We heard the sound of clashing swords The spark of war reached us after her heroes are all gone They are the giants who rose and fell in battle Who are born only to one end To stand and die defending their people "How can we forget the tradition Of the heroes of that war Their broken bones and lost graves Are the sacrifices the earth cannot ignore Their ghosts is the wind of bliss that blows across our world That steadies our boats and readies our guns "The great Fakindi himself was th

This is Destiny When it was three days Before Sosa festival Bambili invited me to his room He sat on his old wooden bed The one his own fathers had sat Wiping the mouth of his gun When I entered, he didn't look up He only pointed to a leather sack Hanging idly on the wall And began to speak so slowly Like someone afraid of his own words "Kante, in that sack is your destiny Tonight you will follow me to the sacred groove Where you will dance in the great circle You will drink life from the pot of wisdom You will see what the eagle cannot see from the cliff of the wind You will know what only men should know" Too many thoughts crossed my mind Like never before, I was scared Scared of the night, of the forest, of Bambili I felt lost in a life I doubt if it's ever mine "Are we going to hunt again? It's three days to Sosa When no one must walk the street at night When banters of lovers are only done in whispers Why the groove at an hour Forbidden by the beginners

Idylls of Love___Part 8: (Are these not the Signs of Time) You were the one I saw on the other side Walking away from home Pressing into the depth of the unknown I called but you didn't answer I scream but you didn't hear Your gaze was fixed on the road Walking as far as your legs can carry you Your hungry legs devouring the road in angry desperation You don't even look back at the world you're left behind How do you cross the great Omiri river Which is the only wall fencing the great Tansa land No bridge, no boat and her banks are wide apart Too deep too large to swim across I stood bewildered Watching as you fade into nothing I collapsed into the pool of my own tears Weeping my sadness into the flowing river Hoping Omiri herself will reach out her hands of compassion But explanation not console is what I need Amanda, where do you go in such a hurry That you forget to leave a world behind For those who cared about you That you refuse to answer your name I sat on a rock

Idylls of Love ___Part 7: (Called You at the River but You Did Not Answer) That day you left Night crawled slowly out of its cave Casting its wings of darkness on the world Invoking the wickedness enshrined in humanity But the elegance of the full moon Gracing the glades of heaven Brought life and light to us And I wondered if that same moon Was a guild to your feet Heralding you into that distant realm As you find your way in the labyrinth of time As I lay quietly on my mat The noise of gay children knocked at my door The fantasies of childhood parried through my window Bidding me to join in the evening dance I know by now They will cluster around the feet of the elders To hear the tales of how the world began The markers of our own identity The mystery behind the formation of our race The legendary of the bygone days The pride and the taboos of our people Why the tortoise had a broken back Like mama once told me Never stay by the road when the cloud gathers Never eat at the doorway A

Idylls of Love___Part 6 (Fading Only into Memories) Days grew like grass between us On the lawn of distance time created The edges  of  love become blunt That lorry still raises dust of memories in my mind Your name is crested in my heart Your presence is frequent in my dreams Is it not like yesterday When destiny made our path cross When we first met When the dew of our morning is beginning to find its ways across the world of men I remember that innocence you had in your smiles The charm that hung around your neck The beauty that dangles with your waist The honey that flowed from your smooth tongue Yes, it's just like yesterday Yes, that night during the search of Sohun I was still seven and you just five You look frail and I fain to protect you Sohun was that great palm wine tapper Whose fame had gone over hills and rivers Into many villages beyond our own His weird climbing skills Was rumoured to be given him by spirit beings He was feared to be in possession of some mysterious

Idylls of Love___Part 8: (Leaving a Demon in Your Vein) Love is the demon haunting in the darkness of our heart Love is the tragedy a noble soul may know If a slap is all I get For all my years of waiting If a merciless beating is the reward of my loneliness Then is there still justice in this world? But I refuse to make the dust my bed My feet are moulded with the clay of gold My heart is hewn out of the diamond rock Not even the gods should defile it Every beast stays off the path of death But death stays off my path So who are these lost fools with fake muscles Built out of pitiable fear I stood from the dust and rubbles Determined to confront Amanda Why the lions she brought from cities decide to bite the granite To remind her wild animals are better kept in zoo Not under the same roof that houses man Amanda Why don't you run with love in your hands To take off me this regalia of disgrace Why do you refrain your embrace from my shivering heart Your hug would have kept me warm J

Idylls of Love___Part 5: It's Your Weeping Face I Can't Forget Even when you disappeared in the distant mist Vanishing like the smoke into the air And the dusts raised by that lorry Settle on the leaves again My face were still glued to the road The beginning of my long wait At the path leading into a pathless world Briefly, I hope it's all but  a momentary dream That you were still in your father's hut in the village Waiting the same way you have always waited For the arrival of the evening Our friendship is that coverings that shields us from the world When the work of the day's work is done Alone we are left to dream To swing in the marauding wind of the valley To sing with twinkles in our hearts We wander briefly into the future with glee In the world created only in our minds But alas, the time has come When all these melodies must sway into silent hummings  When destiny is deciding its own course It does not bother asking about our opinions Tears well up in my

Seconds lingered into minutes Minutes crawled into hours Hours flowed into days Days into months and months into years For twenty years now You have been lost in the labyrinth of civilization The walls of the city has cocooned you Blinded you from seeing the road that leads home Was it the tyranny of the city holding you back Keeping you away from the hearts dying to see you Or was it you that has accepted the shadowy presence of her impossible promises What happened to Amanda? That made her forgets her root Five years ago The first and last time you came home Ever since you were gone It was the death of mama, you mother That raised an echo across the hills Bidding you to return to where you belong Mama lived a miserable life Mama died a sad death Nothing is a greater doom Than old age bereaved of company Than grey head bereaved of kisses Than exhausted womb garnished with hunger Than a bleeding heart failing in neglect But we heard that Amanda has grown big Like that Makinda tree besi

Idylls of Love ___Part 4 (Has Time done this Injustice?) "I've heard too many weird stories About the yonder cities Furnished in the empty insecurity of civilization Peopled with men begging to be reunited to their origin Men tossed in the wind of frustrations Always on the move Straying farther away from the source of their identity The essence of the African soul Never knowing the bliss that comes with the dawn Or the satisfaction that comes with the dusk Forgetting the melodies the flying birds carry in their talons Full of many opportunities A bribe to the injustices of history But since you are a dreamer I hope you find greener grounds on the other side I hope it rains are in your favour And its shines lead you Only to the carven of fulfillment Be watchful my friend In that strange land Let pride lead you into the future And may the spirit of your fathers guild you into the unknown" The lorry and its noise came to halt Alas you must hurry in We will be together in yo

Idylls of Love ___Part 3 (Long Road from Home) My gaze went from your watery eyes To the green grass upon which we stood I Could almost hear your heart You knew I wasn't confused But you were wondering why I'm so scared I'd love to say You are the angel that made this cruel world A heaven to me You are that happiness I've seek all my life You are a divine benevolence From the orisons of sacred dusks You are that future I'd waited for all my life for The beauty of childhood But my trembling lips won't speak I'm a child too afraid to look at the world on the face I'm a just boy who sometimes forgets his name I run back into the arms of my mothers When the shadow of the night threatens me I don't know if I should follow my heart at this crossroad And tell you how much I care about you But I'm still but a child to my fathers With feet forbidden to thread on the enchanted plains of love So I stood partly helpless Partly confused Only staring into the

Idylls of Love ___Part Two (The Last Tryst ) Could it be love That placed your face everywhere I turned? Could it be love That planted your feet on the sea? Could it be love That printed your name In the azure sky? Many years have flown Before our watching eyes Like the sailing river's stump Seasons have floated down the stream Since that day when we sat down alone on the grass As two innocent kids do Unaware of the cruelty of this world Unbothered by what the future holds Little do we know That that was a beginning of the end The gods of destiny Were pulling down the curtain Casting an unpenetratable darkness between us There will be no more dancing in the rain No more running in the field It was since dawn since we've been waiting For the lorry which passes this route once in a week To carry you away from the village From the chirping of the morning birds From the howling of wild dogs From the ecstasy that accompany every night From the only place we can truly call our home

Part One: From My Lonesome Bench of Darkness What exactly do men call love in this world Is it one of those wonderful treasures That is now lost in the abyss of history? Or one of those castles That grows in the fantasies of our hearts? Of one of those fortified cities That had melted into debris by mortal wars? Or one of those alluring gazelles That briefly roam the meadows of time And then strayed into the path of death? What was it you did to me That each time I catch a glimpse of you My heart will skip and my bones will melt The twilight brings upon her wings A struggle in my mind A conflict to get you out Every dawn reveals the angel in you I can't get rid of your face From the carven of my thoughts Why not tell me The first day I met you That you didn't come  alone You came with chains and made slave of my soul You came with fetters You put your gags upon my sight I now miss the warmth of my bed Peace and sleep Take to flight from my lonely bed Souring miles into the clou

Now if I ask you, what conditions must be in place for a suckling or baby to become a full grown man, you won't think twice before you mention certain things like good and regular feeding, right? That's right but obviously not all. Let's use this physical reality to explain the spiritual. 1) Good Diet and proper feeding 1 Peter 2:2 "like newborn babies, long for the pure  milk of the word, so that by it you may  grow in respect to salvation " You know starvation can ultimately lead to death and improper feeding can cause such diseases as kwashiorkor, obesity etc. A baby Christian is expected to grow, but growth in the spirit is not automatic or instantaneous. Some conditions must be in place to make this development rapid. There is a need to constantly draw strength and nutrient from God who is our sufficiency. Reading the bible, healthy religious discussions, listening to good sermons etc are means by which the spirit man gathers strength. There is an inspiration

THE SOCIO-POLITICAL RELEVANCE OF NIGERIAN MUSIC: A CASE STUDY OF SELECTED SONGS OF ALEXANDER AJIFOLAJI (9ICE), BUKOLA ELEMIDE (ASA) AND BISADE OLOGUNDE (LAGBAJA)                                       BY OLATUJA OLOYEDE MARCH, 2017 A RESEARCH WORK PRESENTED AT THE DEPARTMENT OF ENGLISH AND LITERARY STUDIES IN THE FACULTY OF ARTS, ADEKUNLE AJASIN UNIVERSITY, AKUNGBA AKOKO, ONDO STATE. BY OLATUJA OLOYEDE                                                                                 CERTIFICATION This is to certify that this project work was carried out by Olatuja Oloyede  of the Department of English Studies, Faculty of Arts, Adekunle Ajasin University, Akungba Akoko, Ondo State.                               SUPERVISOR                                                                                               Professor C. Olujide Ajidahun                                       HOD                                                                                                    

Is your heart has broken as mine? When all my life I'd begged for love From a woman who made my heart The rag that mobbed her feet Who spit upon my head with lies Who trampled upon my back With her soles of thorns Who drummed the konga of pain With sticks broken from my ribs Who boiled the kneels That once bend to her to plea Who took  all my life But left behind my tears Why should I ask if hell is hot After I have fallen in love with the Devil himself Time they say, heals all wound How about such as battered as mine Can a broken ever love again? Will it have the courage To trust yet another kiss? © Olatuja Oloyede

A Beast There is No Running Is death the end of mortal dreams The hopes that once fuels a toiling hand Shall we all someday Be enshroud in white blankets Into that yonder realm of oblivion To sleep forever in closed graves? What song will the lips sing When a legend dies in the struggle How long must the lonesome soul cries When a loved one is gone Alas, the giant is gone On a journey of no return Through the mysterious route of eternity The path we shall one by one tread The mighty elephant has fallen Its quakes are carried on the wings of the wind Its bang has drummed the plate of the sky Startling the other beast of the jungle From the calmness of a peaceful night So even the great must go Where the worms had gone In death is all equal A beast from which there is no warning A fate from which there is no running © Olatuja Oloyede

Little Evelyn Little Evelyn Chuckling when no joke is made Dragging everyone's thumbs to the mouth Your mother just said You are less than a year old How long must a child stumbles Before it knows how to walk? How long must a baby babbles Before it knows how to talk? Should I tell little Evelyn The contents of my thoughts? Will she  ever understand The reasons behind my tears? How will this little innocent girl know That the fears in me is about her own destiny Little Evelyn I wonder if you are in the wrong place At the wrong time But you will soon learn the tragedy That brought you into this ugly world You survived a terrible abortion Your father is now on the run Denying you and the girl that brought you here You have no place to call home Than the dirty slums that house your heartbroken mother But little Evelyn Since you survived death at birth Forcing your way into mortal world You should also survive hunger You should also survive poverty You should survive loneliness You may

Rain from the Cloudless Sky When on the tempestuous sea of life The ship of your soul sails When the only path upon which you tread Leads straight into the storm Always remember this my friend, You cannot stop the heart from being broken Or keep back your tears When it floods the brim of your eyes Gold must endure the cruelest flames If it will become something precious The greater the height the eagle covet The greater the storm she must withstand Never bend your kneels in surrender Or throw your hands in resignation You don't need to see a gathered cloud Before you expect the rain The thickest darkness Usually heralds the arrival of the dawn You may have nothing to fight back But you should never ever give up © Olatuja Oloyede