"Abike" by George Ebuka Shakewords

Is it the sun that sets in your heart

Or the moon that rises on your feet

That flames this heart of mine

With love and emotions?

Abike òmó Balogun,

Your smile dazzles

Like a silver lining in the blue sky

And your laughter –

A lyric to tame a wild heart.

Abike…

At your sight I wallow in thoughts

Has Orisa Osun

The goddess of beauty and love

Descended in human flesh

Or just nature in her perfection?

Abike...

Every king deserves a queen,

For a queen makes a complete king,

Take my hand

And we shall build a kingdom of love.

I am the slave boy that

Calms the Oba's heart with my flute

I am the sweet voice that sings your oriki

With the birds in the bush.

Abike...

I am the unseen hand that caresses you to sleep,

The one that rests a troubled heart

With sweet lullabies and songs of hope.

Do not despise me in my rags,

For in it I am contented,

Do not look for cowries in my pocket,

For penury has left nothing in it but holes.

Abike...

I shall send my words to the king,

If my head be cut off for the wishes of my heart,

Then I shall die with smiles on my lips

For out of bravery

Come the wishes of a slave before the king.

George Ebuka shakewords is a final year student of Mass communication at the Institute of Management and Technology, IMT, Enugu state. Aside poetry, he does drama as a major specification in creative writing. He hails from Enugu state.