Poems by Ngozi Olivia Osuoha

 DEAR WORLD

Dear world

I have watched with bitterness what you have done to yourself

You have crushed your foundation and laid bare your base,

You also have crashed your pillars

And buried your sight,

Now you fight with all your might.

Dear world

Look, I am tired of praying for you as you swell up in hate,

My prayers have piled up to the skies and heavens

I feel weak and numb to pray more as you continue to prey on yourself,

See, how happy you feel wanting to die,

O how eager you run to kill yourself.

Dear world

I am so ashamed of all you have done

You squashed unity and peace

You spoiled sanity and sense

Dear world, why are you so mean and cruel to yourself?

Do not say I never warned you

Never cry, I did not tell you

See, the dangers you were warned of have all happened, yet you wouldn't learn,

The atrocities you have done now chase you, yet you pride in them,

I have come to warn you again all over

I know you may never heed

Because your ears are deaf, and your eyes so blind.

Desist from evil, make haste to change

Stop the calamities you build

Refrain from the terrors you upload

Abstain from the horrors you upgrade

Contain the errors you download

Change, make the world a better place

No matter your pace, find a space

Show your face, and receive grace

Run, and win the race.

I DID NOT KEEP MUTE

I am just a voice

With message not noise,

Listen, and hear.

I have come, I am here

I wail, weep and wait

I hope and watch and pray

I did not keep mute.

As a flute, I blow loud

As a trumpet, I play into the crowd

As a pipe, I sound into the cloud

Hear me loud and clear

I did not keep mute.

Let generations unborn, hear me

Let the living take note,

Let the dead, feel me

Let heaven and earth witness;

That I did not keep mute.

Let my light shine in darkness,

in this dark world

Let my echo sound in emptiness,

in this empty world

Let my nuance fly in sadness,

in this sad world

Let my aim search the wilderness,

in this wild world

Let my anger avenge ugliness,

in this ugly world

Because I cannot keep mute.

I cannot keep mute, I am a flute

I cannot be bound, I am a parachute,

Dance to this music, this song of bitterness

Align with the rhythm; this melody of restlessness

Know it, say it, I did not keep mute.

Bear me witness again; louder

I did not keep mute, never did I

To this world of recklessness and woeful-ness

Please tell them, I was never comfortable!

Ngozi Olivia Osuoha is a Nigerian poet/writer/thinker/author. She's a graduate of Estate Management with experience in Banking and Broadcasting. She has featured in over one hundred and ten international anthologies and has equally published over three hundred and twenty poems in over forty countries. She has authored twenty three poetry books and some of them are archived in the United States' Library of Congress. She is also a tailor.

Some of her poems have been nominated for both the Best Of The Net Awards and Pushcart Prize.

Some of her works have also been translated into and published in some languages, including Spanish, Arabic, Farsi, Macedonian, Russian, Romanian, Khloe, Polish, Assamese, Scots, Hindi, Serbian among others.