By Victor Uzodinma Chukwuma
45. Marking Time
Am left alone in life skirmish
Left alone to inhabit loneliness.
My arsenal is running dry
As I assail luck-fortress all day long.
Good goal I sought
Without care of wrenching pains;
Each time the sorting tide came,
I was left ashore.
How long shall I eat of this portion?
A heart wrenching portion.
Drink of this wine?
Oh! I despair in purgatory.
Come to me my God
Bring back the Sun into my day,
Bring the moon into my night,
Before I fade into oblivion.
46. Dialogue with Fatherland I
Torn apart
These tearing years and
Viewing peace behind iron partitions.
Is this your lot for your children fatherland?
The twilight hovered unnoticed
Perched and perked on their days,
Dumping your children at the fringe of darkness,
As sons of Lucifer stoked discord.
Beckoned dawn on them now jeer.
Shall they at arm length beckon in vain?
Their outstretched hands are wilting,
And yet their Nero fiddle.
What fate await them?
Not the lot of grains between grindstones,
Do not let their blood,
Like liquid starch drip.
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.
