By Victor Uzodinma Chukwuma
26. Oath of Oak
The hour of hours
Is to dawn.
Fate is at the bend
With Sword of Damocles* in hand.
The sirens of Chameleon,
From the ageless beyond is here,
And am in-between looking,
Looking for the feet of dawn or dusk.
I must follow one.
When next this time,
Count me among you,
Count me in, or
Count me with the dead: out.
This hour is the birth
Of the hours of freedom,
Of the hours of joy,
But not of none.
*Sword of Damocles is commonly used to describe an impending peril
27. My Lord, I sing you
The Sun has taken
Stand through the clouds.
Before its immortal eyes,
I sing your praise.
Am dumb
Without you;
Not a song comes forth
Through me.
I am a slave among tongues
Shall I not call on you
In the labyrinths of the day,
You the winds stop to hear.
I am a lost without you
my light,
my hope,
And my refuge.
Victor Chukwuma, Professor of Physics, renowned for his immense contribution to the development of Astronomy and Space Science in Nigeria, is a Fellow of the Astronomical Society of Nigeria and the Nigerian Institute of Physics.