STRIDA BOOK CLUB First Poetry Contest

Next rated writers...

' WHY DO I WRITE.'

The weight is strong
without being late
I write, like writing drain-downs many blood with fears.

To tongue-lash,
some blowing tongue.
Like a needle
that falls without any noise.
My pen would be splashing
not making noise.

Walking, speaking giggling and shaping
a mouth whose words
are colourless to society.

I'm writing ;to wrong the right,
see the unseen
see the seesaw
and pen their slipup.

Abdulwaheed Sofiullahi

' WHY DO I WRITE ?'

Seated in a rickety, headed for the day's toil, the raven whispers
and I check only to see "Why do I write? "
reposted at STRIDA by Ajakaye,
and I could not hold back or better still,
I would not hold back.

The disciple seated beside me hums
in adulation of the 'májẹ pò, májẹ yó'
in the wilderness along Ibadan.
While our rickety hums in sync
with our path and it dawns on me,
why I write.

I write;
'North to the writeous', Mrs preacher picking faults on the look every, not so righteous passers-by to the
BRT Park at Berger.

I write for the 'W sister ' with a battered copy,
I watch tower publication under the puberty, challenged coconut tree
at the public works wall at Ojodu Berger.

I write for the ' bear gang ' vulcanizer
who doubles as a loader for drivers
making a quick pick to Ajah at checking point, VI.

I write for the quicksand diviner at Abaranje, muttering gibberish with Ishmael accent
and the gullible sister held hostage by the diviner's pendulum.

I write for;
the creepy creatures,
man and w;oman'!
Not top creepy creatures
of the soil, cloud and oceans.

I write for;
the trees and rivers,
the valleys and mountains,
the earth and the sky,
the  wind and the sun.

I write for the;
God in man
and the man in God.
I write for man being a  man,
I write for the faithful temples and their adulators.
The secrets they conceal is
but a naked sight to the grave.

I write not to;
exonerate or vindicate
nor venerate man
but to purge man of evil.

I write;
Not for adulation,
creed and colour
nor for credit or ascent
but for harmony for the soul of man and nature.

Yes! I write for prosperity !
For I know not other ways
but to write.

*-Amami H.*
25.01.2019
3MLB, Lagos

' WHY DO I WRITE?'

Muse deserted me,
ink dried surprisingly.
Pen bleeds not,
I wanted to rant,
rant and rave.
Maybe my rantings will be effective.

Writing is right thing,
interesting game is writing,
I prank with writing.
I write to right the right,
right the wrong.

I write poems for in there, friends find
simile that makes 'em smile.
enjambment that gives enjoyment.
Oxymoron, they're not moron,
hyperbole that cures hypertension.

Tiny mouth bleeds untainted truth,
recidivist enslaved by it's force,
silenced a while,
thinking it journeyed some miles.
Nay! Still spitting profusely,
accolade from above requests.

Tiny mouth, embodiment of tranquility,
not full of chaos,
its absence of peace.
Tiny mouth is bound to rescue.

Grinning pen Eniola,
inking for Nigeria's standard of living,
my pen is apathy,ready to satirize worthless shepherds.
That's why I write.

AST ENIOLA.
. 2019

'WHY DO I WRITE? '

Why do I write?
To express my feelings because my mouth is pregnate
of voluminous words.
Since I can't shout at them,
only way out is to use the lyrics,
I write because I'm a super poet!
I write because I was born to do so,
I write since they can't do my staff.

Only poets were born to help the world!
To generate ideas from the backyard of the the society.
Why do I write?
Stories need to be  documented
in our current generation,
where youths are so sophisticated.

I write because words keeps on
giving birth. 
The only way is through writing,
I do write because history keeps on repeating,
we poets do play with words,
to show the world the right direction..
Hence, paint the sky with colourful story.

We writer's are the eye of the society,
we do write to erupt away the evils,
we do write to capture the attention of every age.
In order for us to achieve success,
William Shakespeare became  famous.
I write all because of writing.

Sharif the poet.

' WHY DO I WRITE?'

If my pen doesn't bleed, many will die
for their heavy heart is full of agony.
Flown at half flag high,
to show sadness of their felony,
the world has callously turned our food basket
to misery pot were we sip deception as juice.

Many have been branded with carcasses of lost,
stripped off by  lashes that falls
on their barely covered back.

Just like Mom said to Dad,
'O'coward, has your vein's blood runs dry?'
For the world may choose silence to keep
while we lose our sleep
but as the wind blows, every man shall breathe his pain
while staring at his ruins highlighted in ink,
vultures may perch upon the context
but the world would see the crawling grey of a battered day
and it panacea label around it,
and only the would and  I communicate without swords.

For I Write
to erect the ark out of the drowning sea,
and not to traipse like a failed banter.

Zim's Pen

' WHY DO I WRITE? '

Sages in and out of STRIDA,
as you all know...
I write, scratch whereas I care.
Writing large for my people.
What goads, nudges my
bleeding anakim lines of thunder.

As you all know...
It is you, you can say it again.
Tell me of your dreariness, gloom, blue devils...
I will safe your heavens in gaiety, glee, mirth...

Sardines of ideas in me everyday,
just an idea from you, my reader,
drives me to contention. Gwirs of Knight's Lore,
cyndadau of pains will drown in never never afons.

May I not cross the paths
of herbs and roots,
may I not anger enaids
of God, god's, demigods, word smiths ...

Audience, stand and be counted,
writing remains a tangled map,
hunger is my best sauce ,
your demand gives me millions of guts.
The unapologetic muse in me lives everyday
to pound yam for your problems,
doodading soup for sorrows in hell.

My opinions signed, sealed and delivered
by your humble, eager eyes.
Cutlass and hoe never dies,
my audience makes my pen,
you label me ' youngest counsellor '
I write for you not shelves,
my audience is my chart.

This is how I want
you to remember me.
Olodumare did it,I am Mzuri (great).
I am not scared .

Ajakaye Rashidat Olamidayo.

' WHY DO I WRITE?'

My mother told me, my son,
'There have been many changes under the sun. '
There was, and there now is,
but the memories of the good old times make one hiss.
Life was, and life now is,
but the life before the present gave much bliss.

Then, a daughter's knees would joyfully kiss the ground,
to greet the elders,
in her beautiful flowing gown.
Now, the body stands like a tree in the short skirt brand
and finds it almost impossible to bend down.

The ladies of then were bananas
whose content only the rightful possessors unwrap.
The ladies of now are papaya,
whose naked food serves eye snap.

The young men of yesteryears worked like rhino,
embraced values and shunned taboo.
The jobless young men of today cruise in Limo,
promote decadence and flaunt tattoo.

A woman would go with a hundred naira to the market,
to return with goods struggling
for space in her basket.
Can a hundred naira even buy ordinary basket,
now that hunger has driven many into the casket?

If I had been born in a sane country,
where abides love for all and sundry,
I would have been a renowned ode writer
but not a satirist and freedom fighter.

In my clime,
virtues have bade  farewell.
So, the pen needs to come to our aid,
that it may put all of these things aright
and this is why I write.

Oyesomi O. Emmanuel*
*DaXquizit™Poetry*

' Why Do I Write? '

When the wind bellowed
near the lines of my ears.
The stars wither from the sky,
sunrise fell on the balcony of my room,
why did I sacrament them in the papers of my book?

When I met magic in a woman,
and the strands of her hair
flowed like magic wands in the air,
why did I write of her beauty?
When I held her hand that evening and everything else
became background music,
why did I engrave my feelings in the sheets between covers?

When she told me she loved another,
and my heart began to bleed,
why did my pen had to bleed too?

When I told her we could just be friends,
as I watched her feet walk down the aisle,
into the arms of another man,
why did I find comfort in my pen?

Even as I awoke today,
and remember the magic of her smile,
why did I carve her face into papers and ink,
why did I write?

When the feet of the one I trusted the most
was cut and darkened into the grave,
why did I write?

When the sun adorned my path in the woods
and the moon silvered the evening sky,
my soul was on cloud nine
and I felt calm in my heart,
why did I write?

Why Do I  Write?

Maybe writing is what gives life to my blood,
maybe writing is what keeps me alive.
Maybe maybe...
Writing is what I'm live for.

Victor Towoju

'  WHY DO I WRITE? '

  SOUL ERRAND
(Extract from "Change Unleashed" anthology produced in 2013 by Fale Joshua.)

Life is sweet and bitter,
mild and wild.

Shy and confidential,
up and down.

It's sloppily slippery
with bad topography.

At times you have good harvest,
bad harvest you have at times.
At times tares and wheat grow alike,
wearing for nutrients,
fighting for sunlight.
Courage, calmness, caution,patience
and endurance assault weapons to win.

I have been somewhere
where men call for life.
It's a land where one pursues his goals than anyone.
My breed rare to come by,
a man that speaks silence
even in dancer's face.
Guilty or not,
I'm as mute as a pen on duty,
speaking my mind to my soul.
Laying all my burden upon him,
hoping I shall speak
but not of pen
but of words from the mouth.
This I seek the Maker of my
innate soul shall sanction
yours in distress.

©fale Joshua 27\06/2012

' WHY DO I WRITE? '

There is my favorite book,
a long breath,
I smell the pages,
the fragrance.
I can never grow tried of it
as I lie on my bed,
my hand turning the delicate pages,
each line holds a meaning to me.
Some words I know by heart,
I fold the top of pages I love,
reading it a million times.
Yet when I read it again,
I discover something new hidden between pages,
the line, the paragraphs.
I always whisper to the book at night,
sing for me to sleep
but before I close my eyes,
I'll place a mark on the start of the chapter
I'm yet to read.
Inspiration takes over me and makes me write.
The sky,the cloud, the nature,
the happening,
life itself and my good friend Judaisky made encouraged me that I can do it no matter what.

Young Billi.

' WHY DO I WRITE?

In this world I find delight,
a pleasure that reignite
a state that unite and talks of right.
Why I write...
A rhetorical question with thousand answers,
I write not to fright
but I write to write right,
I write to ignite,
I write to indite,
I write to state plight,
I write to incite,
I write to ignite,
I write to contrite,
I write to excite,
I write for the spite,
I write to unite,
I write to invite,
I write for solution,
I write for contribution,
I write to defend constitution,
I write to protect institution,
I write to stop prosecution,
I write to eliminate prostitution,
I write to make restitution,
I write for the destitute,
I write to constitute,
I write to dispute and
I write to reboot.

Obanla Adedolapo.

WHY DO I WRITE

Sigh! Shivered....

A question which reminds me of my idol,
my demigoddess bless shall thou be.
   Ma'am, my world!
Ma'am ushered "life is made of imageries,
my son turn imageries and hallucinations to reality. " Said ma'am.
My wit questions me the reason I write.
Why do I write?
I write because I'm made of ink,
I do inking for my ancestors are pod of ink.

My reason for writing
is  because
we live to propitiate our souls with ink,
my ink is a falconer.
It preys on hidden woes and tenders hope,
bedbug is my work, sucking qualms out of brunette's breast, doctoring in hope to kiths.
I write to dry gursing tears bleeding, souls cheeks,
Why do I write?
Writerright, my soul does write to right goofs,
writing enquires me to erase ills
with Catharsis,
I write to console heads from havoc.

Why do I write?
I write to rest under yonder broccoli leaf,
feeding souls with white and black part of me.
Feeding noses with bitter and sweet part of globe,
I write to voice for thin,
thicker and a shivered voices.

I ink to right the errs
to the right tryst in a right way.

Y. R_HUMBLE
#TheSalientPenPushe
(08164836754)
25/012019

WHY DO I WRITE ? '

I write ;
in a clean and clear term,
to make something completely right,
and to find a common term!

I write;
not to showcase my creativity,
never craving for the playwright
but for posterity.

I write;
to keep a present picture,
dissuade nefarious rite
from a promising future.

I write ;
to have a backup,
for pleasure and plight
for this shall be a ladder up.

I write ;
to document people's act- ,
Noble or ignoble
and tell of their impact.

I write;
to shed light
on someone's plight
maybe he could get his way aright!

Nwankwo Emmanuel Borngreat.

' WHY DO I WRITE?'

The pen is what I know bast,
a talent from above,
pen is my pride, my identity my dignity.

As a mother denies not the suckling
from the milk that quenches hunger.

What can tho do...? My pen is  wailing
and shivering longing for my touch....
Long enough I denied her it's warm touch...
Poor bard what other joy is left
than quenching the thirst of my soul?

Poem, the only way I can show myself,
express myself with no critics reaching my bones.

Not that I restrict my pen...
But I write plain so the mustard seed of knowledge
sees through the salvation of my pen.

I spill my ink not for recognition or applauses
for I guard every drop of my ink
with the unbuilt emotions that follows in.

Like every other being created with that special talents,
mine came very unique....,
weather discovered or not,
I stand with my voice my pen.

My pen mightier than thy greatest sword.
Even if  condemned for the truth,
my pen speaks.
Will write with my blood in absence of my pen.

My big friendly giant in handy form,
my pen my life
my pen my voice.

Adaghe Deborah Claire.

' WHY DO I WRITE? '

Sometime,I'm voiceless,
yet my ink all bleeds to writing,
to make a sound beneath deep water.

I writes from mind,
I want the world to know the word
and be free from guilty.
I writes to know my right,
be no dark, be the light.

Let your light shines before men,
including women,
let us speak sense.
Let them know we are on earth,
we live to die, we should all get set.
If I stop bleeding,
every nose stopped breathing.

Agapewrites.

' WHY DO I WRITE? '

I write to the amiable,
I write for the oppressed whose voices are cracked,
to pronounce their plights
without living pen and existing words.

I gyre with the wheelie pen of mine,
over superfluous words of ascending rhythms,
in exerting actress into the extemporaneous.

My pen stops not striking
to curbing decadence.
Roaming in the world of both vices and virtues as twin.

Mother asked, 'What's your strength?'
I answered, 'My pen is my pride,
I am talented to save souls
from the shackles of ignorance.'

Galileo Pen Lord.

' WHY DO I WRITE? '

Sometimes, I' m voiceless
yet my ink all bleeds to writing,
to make a sound beneath deep water.

I writes from my mind,
I want the world to know the word
and be free from guilty.
I write
to know my right.
Be no dark, be the light.

Let your light shine before men,
including women, let us speak sense.
Let them know we are on earth,
we live to die, we should all get set
when I stops bleeding.
Every nose stops breathing.

Agapewrites.

' WHY DO I WRITE '

I write for my mentors,
to pick out my errs.
I write for my poets group,
to bring out my flaws
and encourage me my ideas.
I write for my demigodess,
to appreciate her kindly support,
to praise her effort on little me.
To shower adura on her,
I bleed my ink out
for my special chums to kind heart.
For their great support,
I pen my words down
for entire universe.
I write to fight for the right of kiths,
I write to call for reigning of peace
for poets are peacemakers.
I write to paint our culture
as Achebe did.

PROMINENT YOUNG POET.

' WHY DO I WRITE?'

Hundreds of pains in my nerve,
this makes me naive,
millions words inscribed in my heart
yet I can't voice to be heard by earth.

I ran to South to pour my mind,
I went to North to pour my feelings,
yet not all could hear my mind.
Yet my words couldn't read meanings.

I searched in and out
finding way to pour out,
then I saw a pen dazzling,
pointing to a book that's smiling.

It's no brainer to unravel,
I got a way to marvel people
Then I started inscribing my words
and I got heard by the world.

Fisayomie_DA_Poet.
Lawal_Ismail_Babatunde.