LOVE !!!. I was told you were a beautiful thing Butterflies, sunflowers and blue skies Endless, fruitful and full Rapid heart beats, kisses and passionate nights But alas, tis but a lie You are a deceitful wretch come to steal the joy of youthful love and flee To set the heart and flesh on fire without reprieve Then cast down and stomp on it with glee A thief – That is what you are Your trail of broken, hardened hearts trails behind you An almost numberless numb throng An army of despaired souls cursing the day they crossed your path But alas you wicked soul continue on your conquering quest The next doe eyed lass and puberty stricken lad You scheme and plan till your deed is done Then wring your hands in an evil triumphant laugh Oh!! Love !! Had I known, I would never have opened my heart to you You set on fire then remove the coals You fan the embers then withdraw the life flame You work the furnace then close the shop You look on as winter sets in The cold ice hardens the heart Devoid of warmth, it’s beat slows down A numbing pulse all that is left Why Love? Why do you cherish the anguish of suffering souls? Love-lost children, you leave us alone Alas, you didn’t tell us that the power to sustain was beyond us A power so great it demands us We strive and strive and fall and fail O!! hearts of men – is this suffering quest worth our blood and sweat? Should we not accept defeat and reclaim our lot? And declare that love has won Love – the mighty one has won again Imabong Faminu

SILENCE WITHOUT; TURMOIL WITHIN The rage of the many failed promises Expectations gone awry Stillborn dreams battered and trampled Fires within consumed with the thought ‘I can be more’ ‘I am more’ Endless waits for new springs, new dawns Hopings, longings, thirstings, needings Hearts parched for lack of passion No streams, no rivers, no seas, no lakes No satiation for my empty soul Endless numbing days of familiar toil The same empty tasks again and again Till weary, torn, bedraggled forlorn Despaired of hope awaiting the end Emptiness within hopelessness without But of trouble there is no end Man is born for trouble Hounding him with despair and struggle Till the empty shell is lowered to the grave And the permanent silence remains By Faminu Imabong