Kemi "Kemibon" Ahmed

Kemi “Kemibon” Ahmed

THE PATRIACHAL  - Kemibon

In this realm

Of mental slavery

Here

Where minds are still held captive by

The chains of patriarchy

Freedom will stretch its hand

In piety

But no man will take it

Because it serves them well

To be considered gods

When justice requests for equality

It is not a demand for sameness

But a cry for regard

Even the educated subscribe to the

Relegation of her rights

A dismissal of her rightness

Her perfectness in who

She is and can be

Freedom will peer into their souls

But no man will be stirred

Because it serves them well

To be considered gods

So surrounded by these fearful beings

The prideful ones

She becomes subjugated

Pushed to the wall of

Society’s naiveté

And acceptance of archaic norms

She succumbs to the lies of patriarchy

Seven times seven times she forgives

His god-fullness

Mercy will throw a line

But she will ignore it

Because it serves her well

To be considered crowned

In this realm

Success will drag its feet

Progress will hide its face

Because woman is not

Elevated to that place

That rightful place

Where her essence is

Celebrated

Her rights justified

Then glory will turn its back

Because society rejects

The gift of her

Intuition

Kemibon

THE WORLD FORGETS QUICKLY - Kemibon

Through 33 and 45

6,000,000 faced inhuman

Discrimination

Only time can reveal if

6,000,000 more were erased

Time never forgets

For only time recorded

the anguish

The palpable fear

The chaos

That can only be faintly captured

in words

Wiesel and Frank

Gave the world capsules

Of their experiences

But the world forgets quickly

How does one understand the experience of

another?

How do you appreciate every terrible hour

In those camps?

When life is a bitter pill

And death a close pal

Now the world looks on as evil

Rears its head again

The world chants the superiority song

As egos clash

And memories of ancient struggles

Are forced to cower in fear…

Kemibon

WHEN FEAR WALKED IN - Kemibon

Fear walked in and

Hatred followed closely at its heels

Many fell in love with these two Brothers

Welcomed them warmly

They made room for them

Furnished it with contempt

Draped cruelty across the windows

And put pride at the door

Hatred gained many followers

Fear was the first to sign them up

While compassion looked for vacant hearts

To reside

Love covered its eyes in pity

Blind justice saw it all

There'll be no hiding place

For them

But for Corrie and Betsie

There's a place in the

Hollow of His Hands

Kemibon

YOU – Kemibon

(worthy of mention)

You are the maker

Of all my dreams

Good and bad

You make them all

You are the weaver

Of all my nightmares

Day and night

You weave them all

You are the harbinger of all my distress

Over and over

You bring them on

You hold on to the choices

Like a predator to a prey

Choices you dole out to me daily

Here’s my dose of bitterness today

In measured blows

And careless words

I swallow it with no doubt

It’s for my own good

Love’s warmth

Have become icecuffs

There goes another incomplete

Gift standing in the way of your

Rage

I swallow it with no doubt

It’s for my own good

You set a table of

Blame before me

In the presence of

Your family

I swallow it with no doubt

It’s for my own good

You plague my heart

With Gold and silver

You turn my smile

All the way around

I am under the shadow

Of your cruelty

I swallow it with no doubt

It’s for my own good

You are the maker

Of all my dreams

Good and bad

You make them all

Kemibon

MY PAIN

My pain has come full circle

My pain has come full circle

Full like a bladder bursting with urine

My pain wants to come undone

Like a ripe pimple on an adolescent

She wants to take off from the tarmac

Of my heart

She wants to set me free

But

I won't let her

I can not let her rid herself of me

My pain is mine and I want to hold on

Like a baby latching on to a breast when full

Yet tugging at the nipple as if to say

Mother, not quite yet

I am holding my pain close

Not yet

Don't leave

I want to cradle this complete pain with pride

I want to smile at her and say

So you once had me in the clutches of your intensity

I want to slap my pain on my chest

Like a badge

Wear her with gladly

Dance with her on my high days

Admire her on my low days

Be with her always

Because

My pain is mine

She is mine

My pain is full

She has completed her circle

But

I'll sit with her just a while longer

Memorize her very core

Admire her fierceness

Her terrible weight

So that when time steals her away from me

When I wake up one morning

And realize she's dropped

Lifted off

Taken the flight

Fallen

Like everything ripe

I'll be master of my pain

And master of the experience

That brought her my way

Kemibon

LEVITATE - (worthy of mention)

Rising fumes

On two lane roads

Creeping out

Of disgruntled dangling exhausts

Rising anger

At Bus stops

As fares rise

Exponentially

Rising joy

When dusty feet

Approach home

And loving hands

Reach for swollen feet

Rising envy

At stockened feet

In posh Lexus jeep

Always

Something rises

But today

Hope has risen

In the heart that

Sauntered across

A path uncertain

And got crushed

Hope unfurls

And curls around

This fragile heart

Today

Hope is risen

Kemibon

GOOD

You'll know everything good will come

In time

When you sight half of the yellow sun

You'll turn to your daughter whose eyes are freshly washed with tears

You'll murmur "weep not,child"

Weep not.

Yes good should come out of this

The memories of a decade of mourning

Will rush to shore like angry waves

And pull you into bitter regret

You never learnt the art of war 

So all you did was protect her

The one who you bore the pain for

Or so you thought

Good will come from death

His death

At your hands

So as you murmur "weep not, child"

You know

That when the fear subsides

And the regret descends slowly

Like a body lowered six feet under

Your song will rise like sweet smelling perfume

And silence the ones who made you stay with that good man

Kemibon

DECEMBER KNOWS - Kemibon

Let the lyrics of the nightingale's song be heard for once

Let it regale me with soothing tunes of nature's sorrow

Will the trees whisper to the owl

Or hush its eerie call tonight? 

Can the wolf cry louder than the lion?

Drown the laughter of the hyena and tell

Of the dying brooks? 

Will singing be heard from the lips of the mocking bird,

if Alabi does not return home till dawn? 

Or can Asabi die a natural death after being struck by Magun?  

Let thunder and lightning be my witness

As I proclaim that the earth is mine to bless with the purity of my thoughts 

Yet, I persist in pulling the strings of my greed

And plunging her into misery

How then can joy reside here?

Where music is pain

And lyrics are laden with sin?

Lures me deeper

Into the cave of sorrow

I can no longer die to the call of duty.

Kemibon

JADED - - Kemi “Kemibon” Ahmed

I am losing

 confidence

Slowly taking inches off

like the barber’s clipper

snips off unwanted hair

I have become un-wanting

Not wanting to exist in this

Crazy parts

I am losing sense

Dropping seeds of common

Knowledge like the black round pellets

Of the goat’s anus

Strewing them across minds

Hoping that one ear will twerk

In acknowledgment of sound-ness

I am losing patience

Because vision is naught

Yet eyes have we

And we see but we

Don’t sight the trouble brewing

In the distance

Yes, that distant future

30, 20, 10 years

From now when

Development would be

Be-yond our reach

We chuckle now

And say

It will be well

Alas

I am losing mirth

Failing to comprehend the

Cackling of turkeys

Because Christmas is gone

And their laughter is no more

I cannot laugh

I am losing breath

Yes, I cannot

breathe

Because the stench of

Money billows everywhere

Here, where men chase after it like

The mad man of Kalahari Desert

I lay no claim to being a seer

But

I am birthing this;

The sun rises

But joy no longer resides here.

Kemi “Kemibon” Ahmed

THE COVER - - Kemi “KEMIBON” Ahmed

It’s the day before the new week

The week that ushers in your wedding day

And you have forgotten to book table covers

But you are oblivious of this

Because you think your decorator has it covered

It’s unusual of you to forget anything

Since you have a to-do list

And the first thing on your to-do list

Is a note to check your to-do lists

Just an extra precaution

Being the organized one of your siblings

Taking right after your father

It is two days before your wedding day

You have checked off every thing

On your list including table covers

You even convince yourself that

They will come in orange and white

That’s how meticulous you are

One of the reasons why you

Still have your job

It’s the day before your wedding

You are driving to the wedding venue

Whistling softly to yourself

Ticking off things to do

Like get your nails fixed

And remind the artist

That you don’t want heavy

Make-up.

Your phone rings and it’s the man

The man who proposed

Your man

The one to whom you will soon be joined

Forever

The smile that involuntarily warmed

Your face momentarily freezes

Table covers?

 It’s been covered you say

You would later wonder if the man

Hid under the cover of scolding you

About the table covers

To show you that you are in fact

Imperfect

A fact you never disputed

But which he repeatedly gloated over

The day before your wedding

Now as you cover his large hands

With your small fragile ones

And recite your vows

Your eyes dance around the hall

Seeking faces and hidden thoughts

You curse the decorator for not telling you

That you didn’t pay for table covers

After all,

Who wanted uncovered tables anyway?

You wonder if the failure to have table covers

Was a sign of your future dis-abilities as a wife

You wonder if something as small yet significant

As a table cover

That simple piece of cloth that hides away the

Shame of worn tables

Would haunt you

And if it does, for how many

Of the days in forever.

Kemi “KEMIBON” Ahmed

THEY ALWAYS KNEW HER - - Kemi “KEMIBON” Ahmed

It was as though they could perceive her

Sniff her out in a crowd no matter how mammoth

Of course she never failed to see them

Yet it was ever puzzling

That they could identify her

She was one of the few left

Kemi “KEMIBON” Ahmed

THEN – POEM OF THE MONTH - - Kemi “KEMIBON” Ahmed

when we were seventeen

the world lay shimmering at our feet

like the gold sequined dress that she

wore that night

Then

 when we were young and wild and

bubbled with promise of a future bright

Flighty, slightly floating above the ground

 We were richly blessed with dreams

then

 that night, first night out on the town

 we breezed through the streets

longing for privacy like intimacy needed to be hidden from adult eyes

because we knew

 then

when sheer lacing of virgin fingers

could send jolts of electricty through

 and eject emotions endlessly

seeking for privacy to find intimacy

 here

then

when her gold sequined dress

is ripped off in desirable desires

at first excitement meets anxiety

 and other garments meet gold sequins on the cold tiled floor of borrowed quarters

then

 when we young, foolish and free

embrace novel emoting

then

 she gasps

then

I clasp

sweaty hands in hazy frenzy

searching for intimacy in this young

jar

then

 regret

then

pain

fear

and

then

ageing

Kemi “KEMIBON” Ahmed

FORGIVE MY BLACK – POEM OF THE MONTH - - Kemi “KEMIBON” Ahmed

Just give me 21 days

To forgive everyone

For everything

Or the book of forgiving

So I can find the fourfold path

For healing myself and the world

I see you really detest my black magic

So I’ll teach you how to forgive yourself

Totally

You can begin by breaking free of the

Myopic views that blind you

So that next time you feel

Like reaching out for melanin

You can remember to resist

The ugly thoughts that delude you into

Thinking you are superior and

Instead

Embrace the richness of the

Diversity in

Creation

Kemi “KEMIBON” Ahmed

LET’S PLAY PRETEND - - Kemi “Kemibon” Ahmed

Let’s play a game

Of pretend

Let’s pull up

Musical chairs of decent

Lies

And dance around conversations

That pry

Let’s

Shall we play?

This game of care

Less

Tongues raised

Eyes laden with rain

Yet stay

Let’s pretend

To raise a fist

But whisper there

Be

Just be

Must we play?

This game of yes

Pretend

To pray

That the fear will disappear

But forget

Spots will ever remain

On this leopard

Let’s play pretend

And say

Those dreams

These dreams

Her dreams

Of tender

Soft

Beautiful

For

ever

Are invalid

We play pretend

cause

Even she pretends

That it’s become a nightmare.

Kemi “Kemibon” Ahmed

BEFORE YOU ADD THE SALT TO THE RICE - - Kemi “Kemibon” Ahmed

Mother did say there’ll be days

But she never said they would be like this

She said before you add the salt

To the rice

Sit a while and listen to this

You will fall in love and it will feel good

But don’t get carried away with this

‘Cause when you get up from that fall

You’ll find love is more than this

Before you add the salt to the rice

My child know

That forgiveness is just that

Forgiveness

It’s either that

Or resentment and pain

And believe me you don’t want that

Before you add the salt to the rice

I tell you

No one matters to me more than you

Your happiness, your peace, your growth too

For You

My love will ever shine, like the sun in an African sky

Mother is gone but I can hear her

Through the fall in and of love

I can feel her warmth

Through the ice wall you have erected

As I wait endlessly for you to forgive

Mother said there’ll be days

But she never said they would be like this

The day I added distrust and earned your cold shoulder

Kemi “Kemibon” Ahmed

MAMA GAVE TOLA MORE - - Kemi “Kemibon” Ahmed

And I

always watched with

eyes

Veiled, my resent

Well tucked away

That extra

piece of meat

pat on the back

peck on the cheek

Loomed in my memory for

Years

For every little extra that

Mama did for Tola

Though little

Almost

Inconsequential

I grew

robust

With envy

I expanded with

green

Like a well fed cow

My memory bank

Rose

with deposits of

Mama’s extras

For

Tola

Tola the one with the perfect

Tenses and straight white teeth

The Tall pretty one

The preferred one

Perhaps mama dished out

More affection for Tola

Because…

Kemi “Kemibon” Ahmed

MY PAIN

My pain has come full circle

My pain has come full circle

Full like a bladder bursting with urine

My pain wants to come undone

Like a ripe pimple on an adolescent

She wants to take off from the tarmac

Of my heart

She wants to set me free

But

I won't let her

I can not let her rid herself of me

My pain is mine and I want to hold on

Like a baby latching on to a breast when full

Yet tugging at the nipple as if to say

Mother, not quite yet

I am holding my pain close

Not yet

Don't leave

I want to cradle this complete pain with pride

I want to smile at her and say

So you once had me in the clutches of your intensity

I want to slap my pain on my chest

Like a badge

Wear her with gladly

Dance with her on my high days

Admire her on my low days

Be with her always

Because

My pain is mine

She is mine

My pain is full

She has completed her circle

But

I'll sit with her just a while longer

Memorize her very core

Admire her fierceness

Her terrible weight

So that when time steals her away from me

When I wake up one morning

And realize she's dropped

Lifted off

Taken the flight

Fallen

Like everything ripe

I'll be master of my pain

And master of the experience

That brought her my way

Kemibon