Godwin Inyang's Blog

Next year I would fly like a turbojet; Hold it, show skills like a super footballer Making sure a goal is every kick at the net – The crowd everywhere must holler and holler. I’d be an eagle swooping for a kill; My antics would leave the audience with a thrill; I’d drop all those gimcrack friends – I’d be real; To all obnoxious habits, I’d say nil. But how do I say ‘No!’ to my dawdle? Would I stop shifting blame but firm on my hustle?

As a child, I heard oldies say something About the life before and the next to come; Impression was given as if life is a ring – Well, I’d this thinking then of being a clone. Truth is, I’d tried but my mind couldn’t devise Any thought that I’d lived before once or twice; I tried hard but just couldn’t visualize Any past-life image so I’m gripping like a vice To my goals for life is now and talent has size (Big as your mind) – all dreams here I strive to realize. (This verse is from the collection, 'Colours of Life, Love and Faith'. It is available here .)

I'm home-made like roast ripe plantain and peanuts; Edikanikong , afang soup with garri or fufu And cool palm wine bless my palate and guts And I stay sweeter than sugar cane and kunu . I'm roast yam with African oil bean stew. I'm top options of the entire Naija menu; I'm doing things that show to my roots I'm true – I make my beats here and see they're good to you. I hate death brewers to people on the street; I'm great lyrics making folks dance on their feet. * Edikanikong and afang soup = delicacies in Akwa Ibom and Cross River State * Garri and fufu = fried and boiled cassava flour * Kunu = cereal drink flavoured with ginger (could be sweetened or not) Naija = Nigeria(n)

He wished he could gallop away like a horse For the sound he heard was mightily big And made him such a blinding fear to nurse And to hang behind a tree like a sprig. He was paralysed , too weak on every knee; He was stuck in a bush and just couldn’t flee, Turning to his grave the base of a tree – Now, he wished he’d ventured what he faced to see. Oh, how a small boy had tricked a big man With funny gun, took his valuables and ran. The big man got angry for that bugbear Didn’t move far but take a decision To knock the door of one with less fear Who cautiously assessed the apparition. She dared to analyse the spooky sight; Realized it was comic raised to great height. What made the man to have fainted and died, She hit with a pestle – he moaned and cried. The mugger was armed with a chicken drumstick; With firecrackers, he’d thickened his comic flick.

It might not be about physique as such But the mindset – you come gloating I fall But I rise and rise; thinking I hit a hush But I'm out making my most strident call. Who told you I'm near what you could maim? Who told you I'm within what you could tame? You thought my psyche fits your silly game? Well, know this, your thinking is really lame. I'm a one-man riot squad – don't make noise; When pushed to the wall, dreadful is my poise.

Tennet is a poem with unique form: The rhyme to your ears is musical; It doesn’t dwell on much rigid norm Which to the message could be inimical. Tennet has ten lines that certainly rhyme: First and alternate line must really chime; The syllables and rhythm must fit fine; Same thing with second and fourth line. The fifth to eighth line have mono-rhyme; The last couplet whichever way you must sign.  

I pick things local, refine and these make To appeal to vast audience global; The good, bad and ugly I do rake And treatment they get is indeed total. Real love, whatever the clime, has same hue; Hate is poison which threatens me and you; Wherever you are, dogs bark and cats mew – If justice is rife, evil would be few. I’m your glocal poet – I know you're feeling me; Somewhere I’m touching you intimately.