jeyKAD

It's been a journey. A journey of about three decades with so much gains And even so, much shed. So many dark dirty corners Litter the bends, curves and turns Yet, I drew and still draws breath. Strengthened by a weakness The weakness of a fear that has made me strong. What's this fear? Hunger! Sounds too simple right? Yeah, you think so or maybe not_ but You see, these simple or difficult things are the extreme opposite for others. However, This is not to entertain you. Far from it. It's about some of y'all whose names I'd have written with a pencil Just so I could erase and replace easily when the need be. Alas! My mistake was to engrave y'all in places beyond my bottomless heart. Because I saw in you, tunes my heart Beats to For then, you were like key notes to my music. How now you blare the horns that drags attention to my rickety past for entertainment sake of onlookers, How you empty my bags, Rendering my cats homel

It's been six decades since independence From the forced rule of a white man To the repressive backwardness of our very own Hands, minds, doings, undoings. And Just like we used to do, I see kids adorned in Neatly packaged costumes swaying hands in Tandem with rhythmic marching steps. Their faces, filled with glee. Hearts, hap filled. All borne from a promise of a Better Nigeria where they (our kids) Will steer the wheels. Alas! A lie we too were told! But we dare not dare To tell the truth for as These lies have become our false truth,  I’d rather heave a deep sigh and  ponder. How the supposed truth of our kids has become our lies Is yet another lie whose truth Is not easily told and if we do, to what good? and this, Is not to say I’m hopeless but you'd agree that It's better to hope less Cuz e go better wey dem tell us that year Is no where!   _Jeremiah Kadiri      30/09/019

If I was you, I'd be me writing this to and for me. So please, Permit me to be you today my dear. FROM ME TO ME I love this self, Though I had no say in its making. Despite the pricks and tears, I'm glad for its Maker in its making. I'm told how beautiful this looks, But, don't I know better? Like knowledge, am called a treasured book. I'm a goal, they are getters! From my Dawning Dawn To my Sunny Sun, I've beamed radiance Even on undeserving scums. Pardon, my diction But Spare me a little 'me time' to Be a 'Proud Lass!' For It's my day from a far away day When I bobbed from mummy's onion. They say I cried So, On this day From this ray To its terminator, Allow me to upon my Downtimes be a tormentor! Hurrey! Let me torment Them with glee Let even death Agree That life looks good on me! For I am Ilekeruwa! Jeremiah Kadiri 28/07/019

My strength is in the fact that I know my weaknesses My weakness is in the fact that I’m strong Perhaps too strong. My heart, a fortress, forged from The broken pieces of my past And cemented by the tears of a mind that has fears. Pain? I feign  to  fear not. For even the strongest of my body parts Have bled blood. And so, to imagine what’s worse,   I dare not. This is my illness A strange normalcy of self-centeredness. Wrapped in numbing   numbness That is now branded with the term Self love. I’m on your screen, in luxury. My voice? so eloquent. My pictures on papery pages, My social appearances so frequent. But, You’ll never get to meet me Nor know my truth. For its all about what you see Not what it is. I am a Lie! _Jeremiah Kadiri       26/07/019

It did not occur to me until recently that I was poor I used to believe I was fine Until one morning my attention was drawn To a hole in my coat. That was when I realized How patiently the coat had endured me for nine and half years I was worried when I saw how frail my trouser was I knew it was more decent to have a hole In my coat than in my trouser So I smiled reassuringly. I inspected my shoes, they were clean But they worried me more than my clothes Earlier today I made a pair of new soles for them From a piece of cardboard I stole from my landlady I know the first wet day they see Would be the last I see of them. I closed my eyes to offer a short prayer And my stomach cringed from emptiness Momentarily I took stock of the last 72 hours of dry fasting Then I began to wonder why I was not angry at myself Why have I been so quiet and unashamedly enduring I realized my oblivion all these years Was because I decided all was fine I angrily bit a finger forcing

Please In a world filled with troubles, Be my peace. When for too long I've been on my toes, Put me at ease. Kindle in me the urge to come home, Just so we can get wasted in each other's warmth. Let me know no cold, Be my fire, don't get me burnt. Pray for me not against me. Lie on me and not to me. Don't forsake me when I go insane. Be the cure to my craze and not the craze that drives me. Let not our love go blind For its vision is beyond 20/20 Keep in your heart's mind That I've chosen you for eternity. _Jeremiah Kadiri       16-05-019

I'm a poem. I'm versatile. I mean a lot differently, To a lot of different people. But I'm not tied to these meanings_ These different interpretations of me. I'm only answerable to the me That I know I am and can be. While Judge a book by its content Not by its cover, they say, What choice had the book In its own publishing? I ask. Maybe What you see is what you are, good, bad, sweet or bitter. I, like a book, am nothing until you either write me off or otherwise. I'm a poem About which you say what you know, From your knowledge of who you are. _Jeremiah Kadiri         07/05/019