Segun Ozique

 She is usually asleep When gently, noiseless you lower you Next to her, you Are sometimes numb By habit, the patina of self-indulgence From having too many drinks spinning the ceiling Promise as promises are to quit by the next outing The black frost of outsideness, being with the boys The pull,  to get cuddled by them; the flattery and jabs To keep from not doing it one more day, chilly So, the resisting resilient walls of, 'not again,' crumbles, It was in all, an apostasy, of superficially bendable resolve   Now, you are at the embankment Of bedclothes, where she used to be In sleep braces, her honied fragrance against Your mixture of all sorts of bad beer breath Slowly on the weakest days, you feel as if it was Her own warmth surfacing or the ferment of her Body like old, in the dark beneath the cover sheets Steals in; spilling into your consciousness bit by bit To break down that loneliness and the chills You turn to want to hold h

  Overwhelming challenges currently confound nations across the world Troubled by criminality , insecurity, debts, decadence, and deception   The lovely life we dreamed of adorned with joy has turned to misery Caused by past sloppy plans, acts of unruliness, and then loss of values             Today, at different levels, we all seek places of comfort and retreat Pondering where to look to, to find the Noah’s ark as we await disaster   All such thoughts of gloom and doom are where hopelessness resides The right reactions, a positive attitude, and return to good values bring hope   Facing the reality of life is acknowledging that living comes with lots of pains Same as having faith is, knowing you can, like the wind, change your fortune   Hope is to hold on tight to all ropes, avoid failure and not give in to misery As avoid living in denial is same as not hiding like the ostrich, heads hidden   It is faith that perceives sunshine amid a troubling stor

My craving to be a Writer started in Primary school but I got devoted in secondary school. I had a schoolmate, Ifedi Obidiwe, God bless his soul, he is dead now. Usually, we would buy second-hand novels, or borrow from friends, then challenge each other on our ability to read and remember, the skill to critique the story or the competition could be on how fast we can finish a book. We started very early on as we both discovered we liked reading novels. Then it used to be pamphlet novels by Writers like Onuora Nzekwu; ‘ Eze goes To school,’  detective novels by Writers like, Nick Carter. Then when we could no longer get novels by Nick Carter to read, we switched on to James Hardly Chase, etc. As we grew older, the bigger the book or more complex, the better. The competition even took us to a reading poem by Geoffrey Chaucer! The competition was fierce and we genuinely did all we could to outdo each other. But in all, despite the ferocious competition, etc, we remained friends, extreme

 Nigeria, my Nigeria what wind is this we scent in the air  Blowing its way from slugs to danger, gathering storm Wheedling tropical fragrance with the wheezing of cannabis, The dry breeze of soon-to-be fermenting political potions is about   Tastes like sour wine and spoilt lobsters Blank and worn-out is the texture Disease-ridden are the hands that steer the infusion   Brewing in the air are songs of war most know nothing about We only can think as far as the story heard and read in books Of delicacy of raw casava and leaves stuck in the teeth of the eaters, Of ravished land and empty stomachs bloated, and filled with winds And decent attiring defined by coverings like the virgin jerks of Abuja,   In the mix is a soft voice of caution calls behind darkened glasses Voice and sounds of mothers and lasses to bear the outcome brunt, Voice of sensibility is often ignored or habitually taunted like little children   The story has been told that to save

  Some grow to believe family are of friendship and blood bonded Believe that when one is sad, saddled with bad breaks to deal Or when one basks in the sunshine of laughter, or in the rain of fortune To the family that combines a rainbow of love, care, and support to turn   We ought see family as the cherished tree that all contribute to tender A pulp planted with love swelled with memories and dreams of treasure Rooted, and cultured to care for the leaves, fruits, and branches This is the family dream; a comforting place of our wish to trust and depend   As you can have friends who have hearts filled with rage, hate, and hurts So family carries a baggage of bile of bitterness, though roots remain as one And as one needs to keep close, and integrate faithful friends into one’s schedule So too that, to stay sane, nurturing well-being, wise to keep faithful friendly family   True, family as a building block of society is a most fulfilling and dependable fall

God was with us at USS Enugu His insight oversaw and saved us from youthful exuberance His bleeding, our protective sacrament Our cries and waves of laughter He heard and acted on with sticks and carrots He was a taste we savoured and pray to do the same as we meet.   Many of us who were in Uwani, the stony field of academic leadership that produced excellent professionals in all fields of academics, acting, writing, and sports; freighting us far and wide in the world today, would never see our old classmates again without reunions of some sort. So, reunion events such as the Surulere meet to provide a chance for us to catch up with old mates, get to know ourselves as adults, and reminisce about memories from school days. Reunions are vital times, providing rare opportunities to reignite and reunite our humanity to our spirits through sight, dialogues, and laughter, all of which I pray to add comparative meaning to our lives’ experiences and objectives. Reunions reinfor