FIST (FEAST) OF WORDS

The theme “FIST (FEAST) OF WORDS” was derived from the United Nations Human Rights Day which is observed every year on 10 December to commemorate the day on which, in 1948, the United Nations General Assembly adopted the Universal Declaration of Human Rights.

We believe that the power of words, wielded by writers in all the literary genres, is very important in the entrenchment of human rights.

The festival will celebrate words, and the many forms in which humans have lumped them for meaning – poems, songs, stories, speeches, drama

NO COUNTRY

There's no country

Only land for dead bones

Where pipelines transport blood

There's no home

Only scared roofs and building

Housing living ghost

There's no conscience

Only false remorse

And strong denial

There's no poem

For they are no words

Only tragedies beyond metaphor

There's no truth

Only makeup stories

With truthful lies for plot

There's no humanity

Only pathetic sympathy

Grown out of pretence

There's no true love

Only fidgeting affections

The imposter of love

There's no Government

For there's no constitution

Only who gets what and how

There's no Rome

so we have nothing to build

out of this concrete smoke.

KEMISTREE BAKARE

June 29, 2015.

BARD POETS FOR WRR

12-12-15
FEAST OF WORDS
FIST OF WORDS
***
Arts Theatre,
Department of Theatre Arts,
UNIVERSITY OF IBADAN
@WRRPoetry ‪#‎FistOfWords‬

EKO POETRY SLAM 2015

Eko!!!

            Literary
           Society
                                       Presents

EKO POETRY SLAM

2015

 

 

 

 Over 150k prize money to be WON as world class and budding poets gather to SlaM to mark. OCTOBER 1ST

INDEPENDENCE DAY CELEBRATION

Contesting is FREE, but to contest you must register by sending an email to:
slammasterken@gmail.com

VENUE: Broadcasting House, Ikoyi Lagos.

DATE: October 1st, 2015.

TIME: 3pm

Hosted by: THE SLAM MASTER

 

CALL FOR SUBMISSIONS OF SPOKEN WORD POEMS

VIVID VERSES, a poetry and spoken word franchise is calling for submissions to its project aimed at aiding talented Nigerian spoken word artistes in the production of their works.

ELIGIBILITY: The prize is open to spoken word artistes resident in Nigeria whether of Nigerian descent or not.

APPLICATION: All interested applicants are to send in 1 (ONE ) of their spoken word poems and a brief Biography including their full name and contact details to info@vividverses.org

SUBMISSION DEADLINE: October 1st, 2015

PROCEDURES
After the judges have quaintly evaluated the submissions, a list of the best ten pieces would be released and the authors would be asked to submit the audio recordings of their poem for further selection of the best 3 recorded poems. So you are advised to submit your best piece.

Each of the 3 winners would be granted a free production of their poem in one of the leading production firms.

NOTE
Vivid Verses is one of the biggest names in poetry and spoken word in Nigeria and so in as much as we allow for liberalism, we would not select any work that is out to pass contrary messages than what we stand for.

Signed

Prestige Ifeanyi Bernard

Poem by: KEMISTREE

HELPLESSLY IN LOVE

This love won’t make me blink or fall asleep
It’s not a dream, it's reality lured out of fantasy
I’m helplessly in love with you

Do you know
that the sound of your laugh, is the antidote to the sickness of human race
Do you know,
That your titanic chest, is the road map to heaven's gate
it saturates my innermost being into a reckless gentle haste
It seized my brain for a thousand years in a day
And locked me into your presence from a distance
Far enough to beat the lacuna between Mercury and Neptune
Between morning and another shrouded dawn
Between genesis and end of eternity
This love exist in reality’s reality

I’m helplessly in love with you

Every moment I taste the memory that brings forth the image of your face
I experienced decades of bliss in one breath
Life cannot keep up with the game
‘Cos every time I gather my thoughts in your name
The hotness in mercury goes to rest
As the sun feast on my chest
For the sun, turns out less hot to compete against the fire of love that burns in me
You are the life that keep me breathing

I’m helplessly in love with you

My cautions live out of what the envious mouth of the world can say
Because not loving you would lead the moon astray
Not loving you will shatter the heart of heaven
Will cease a beauty from the rainbows' seven
No need to mouth a question
I’ve seen it all through the diamonds in your eyes, you are my vision

And I’m helplessly in love with you
I will keep singing this only truth
I’m helplessly in love with you

Every time you stare at me
Time loses concentration
The first time you gazed at me
The wall of Jericho crumbled down
Without singing Hallelujah

That intoxicated tune in your lung that calls only my name
Made the devil a born again
Those lines that made up your six packs
Rewrote history at a glance
And made me rise helplessly in love with you

When you finally decide to hang your doubts behind you
Let certain certainties find you
Before we communicate with God
Through the cut
I will bleed in love till forever dare to enter our court

I’m helplessly in love with you

When we kiss away our frights, the speed our tongues would go
Would prove that, AIR is not the fastest means of transportation, it’s not even close

You’re my finest player
I will be your goal keeper
You can score as many goals as you can
For I don’t mind
You are my peace of mind
You are the divinity that is hard to find
You are the passion that burns in my soul
You are my heaven, my entire goal

I’m helplessly in love with you

Love is a positive fight only true soul mates can win
You’re the mate of my soul, the only genuine source of good feeling
You are the disease; I don’t want to be freed from
Every time you confess your love for me, the child in me springs up
And put our present continuous love poems on re run

This love won’t make me blink or fall asleep
It’s not a dream, its reality’s reality
I’m honestly helpless in love with you.

Kemistree Bakare.

GRAETPATH...

#BeTheChange 3.0

 FEATURING...

WALLS OF UNENDING SCARS

By: Uche Uwadinachi

I have seen
The four walls
Coated with gory hand-prints
Of criminals and suspects
In-scripting awkwardness
Pleading for a public presentation

I stared at slogans
Screaming….
“we die…innocent”
“i was here”
“and so what”
“are you the president?”
“dem go fire me”
“na today”
“…save us”

My heart tears my eyes
And the graffiti spawns
Ceaselessly….

My head smothers
As ravaging foul odour
Of urine and shit
Shutters me to worship
At the walls of unending scars
With my own “craze-words”.

Hell is cell!
The black bowl
Smiths into a black hole
Bloats for the unborn convict
Guilty – of life, wanting to survive
…raiding flames at night
…beaming red in flight
…yellow coal for ice
Collies for the burning
Of our already hurt hearts.

“Pollease”…police
Poll for faults
Lease of crimes
To catch and lock our lives
Into the bloating black hole
Of a cell.

And so
The walls persist
A writing cry of the weak
Dying…to die today
And died…. Tomorrow

 WILL DIE NO MORE.

HELPLESSLY IN LOVE

This love won’t make me blink or fall asleep
It’s not a dream, it's reality lured out of fantasy
I’m helplessly in love with you

Do you know
that the sound of your laugh, is the antidote to the sickness of human race
Do you know,
That your titanic chest, is the road map to heaven's gate
it saturates my innermost being into a reckless gentle haste
It seized my brain for a thousand years in a day
And locked me into your presence from a distance
Far enough to beat the lacuna between Mercury and Neptune
Between morning and another shrouded dawn
Between genesis and end of eternity
This love exist in reality’s reality

I’m helplessly in love with you

Every moment I taste the memory that brings forth the image of your face
I experienced decades of bliss in one breath
Life cannot keep up with the game
‘Cos every time I gather my thoughts in your name
The hotness in mercury goes to rest
As the sun feast on my chest
For the sun, turns out less hot to compete against the fire of love that burns in me
You are the life that keep me breathing

I’m helplessly in love with you

My cautions live out of what the envious mouth of the world can say
Because not loving you would lead the moon astray
Not loving you will shatter the heart of heaven
Will cease a beauty from the rainbows' seven
No need to mouth a question
I’ve seen it all through the diamonds in your eyes, you are my vision

And I’m helplessly in love with you
I will keep singing this only truth
I’m helplessly in love with you

Every time you stare at me
Time loses concentration
The first time you gazed at me
The wall of Jericho crumbled down
Without singing Hallelujah

That intoxicated tune in your lung that calls only my name
Made the devil a born again
Those lines that made up your six packs
Rewrote history at a glance
And made me rise helplessly in love with you

When you finally decide to hang your doubts behind you
Let certain certainties find you
Before we communicate with God
Through the cut
I will bleed in love till forever dare to enter our court

I’m helplessly in love with you

When we kiss away our frights, the speed our tongues would go
Would prove that, AIR is not the fastest means of transportation, it’s not even close

You’re my finest player
I will be your goal keeper
You can score as many goals as you can
For I don’t mind
You are my peace of mind
You are the divinity that is hard to find
You are the passion that burns in my soul
You are my heaven, my entire goal

I’m helplessly in love with you

Love is a positive fight only true soul mates can win
You’re the mate of my soul, the only genuine source of good feeling
You are the disease; I don’t want to be freed from
Every time you confess your love for me, the child in me springs up
And put our present continuous love poems on re run

This love won’t make me blink or fall asleep
It’s not a dream, its reality’s reality
I’m honestly helpless in love with you.

Kemistree Bakare.
2015

 

 SUNDAY

SEPTEMBER 27th

 4:05pm

POETIC BLAZE

SuPerMan Production
And Olaleye Samuel Abiodun Initiative

In Conjunction With
Nigerian Universities Education Students' Association (NUESA)

Presents

POETIC

                  BLAZE

 

FEATURING...

 

 

AND MANY MORE...

 

Date: 26th, Saturday Sept 2015

Faculty Of Education LLT

University Of Ibadan

GREATPATH SPOKEN WORD ‪#‎WordForTheYouth‬

RHAPSODY /UCHE/ KEMISTREE

 

 

 

 

Also Featuring;

GLORYDPOET

JULIAN

J Y C

BENJAMIN (Osi-Ben)

CHIOMA UWANDU

CRYSTAL CHIZZY

NANCEE

CLEMENCY GREEN

VIC'ADEX

And Many MORE POETS!...

DATE: MAY 24TH, 2015

TIME: 4:59PM

VENUE: THE MANIFOLD PLACE 85 IKORODU
ROAD, FADEYI LAGOS, NIGERIA.

Watch GREATPATH SPOKEN WORDS TV SHOW on DSTV. KINGDOM AFRICA TV-DSTV (Channel 345) & KINGDOM EUROPE TV-FREEVIEW (Channel 248) airing every MONDAYS 7:00PM and every FRIDAYS 7:00PM, also airing on RAVE TV, STAR-TIMES (Channel 4) on TUESDAYS & THURSDAYS 11:00AM - 11:30.

DON'T MISS IT!!!

BAGA

I know I lack a retentive memory

But that explosion tattooed a name on my mind

And bought me a long term memory

That could only retain the storm of blood in Baga

 The one that disseminated grief and fear For,

ruthlessness got engaged with violence and exhumed  tears.

I had tried to count the birds

 that remain in the sky

But I could only find the aura of sorrow

Counting my confusion and lust for justice

But justice has lost its sight Justice is dying alive

 Strangling the neck of hope.

The storm of blood in Baga

Plucked my eyeballs out of socket

And disconnected my artery from the flow of joy

I saw tragedies unexplained, Lost the expensive gain

 The future of young ones, sucked out of reality

And was replaced with vicious end.

The bomb that tore Baga was no accident

 It was a nurtured cruelty on the mind of ruthless men

Men, who housed their conscience in the depth of destruction.

Ripped fleshes littered the earth in Baga

Like refuse in the dump No match for each eye,

nose and hand.

 No head, fits a neck Identification

is far from the brain Patching each body

Is like trying to hug the cloud I see Baga,

I see dreams unborn I see Baga, I see life in tears

Humanity has lost its dignity Justice has given up

the throne for injustice Terrorists are recklessly

distributing tragedies Peace could not find

a space to sit Memories no longer live in the past

As life, gradually looses its life.

INDEX:

Baga in Borno state, was a location of the Nigerian Army base that was the headquarter of the Multinational joint Task Force (MNJTF), an international force of soldiers from Nigeria, Niger, and Chad that was formed in 1994 to deal with cross-border security issues and more recently, combating the Boko-Haram insurgency. The attack on the town began on 3 January when a large number of the Boko Haram militants captured the town of Baga and overran the MNJTF headquarters and army base in town.

THE GIRL FROM THE SLUM

There is nothing new about being a slave of hunger
But its existence is the thing I ponder
I've had my hands fold
My heart cold against my bone
I've reached for height to stand
But still dropped in fear of having failure for result
Do you know the tale of my yesterday's death?
Never...
For the pains in stones that raped my heart are
beyond thought
Have you ever met life when naked with fears of
evil painted in its eyes?
That's the ballad of my death
When I still can't figure out a dream of being human
But only sorrow to wet my vein
And pursue one dream of stealing my mother's
tears
Under my roof
When it rains, I have my bucket on my chest
No brain to think of tea
Damn the mind set of warmth
When every step taken in finding a better sleep
Make you want to feel guilty of being born
I've plucked my eyeballs with the help of tears before
I crawled along life's speed
Knowing nowhere to heed
In silence of soreness, I selfishly enjoy my loop
Stepping on different hooks
I carried the whole world rock
Shattered in heart
Tattered In soul
Scattered in mind
In search of hope
Dead hope?
The on that creates in heart a deep hole
My pain I tried to fold
There she goes
To the heart of the rain with her load
Even when rain turns snow
Let sky break down brick after brick
I'll never grow sick
For I've died thousand times
Again rise
So my birth has become a song in full lyrics
Now I stand firm like a mountain
I soar higher than the peak of birds in the sky
I striped failure naked
For I want to be the head
I am failure worst nightmare
I'm the mountain,
am the rain,
am the wind,
I'm the sun
I'm the sky that birth them all
Failure is the greatest thing I lack
I'm the girl beyond imagination
Indefinable I am
The hotness in fire is me
Come thunders, come tempest
All of it I will throw to my t'aichi
My vein no longer grow phobia for fear
For I've climbed mountains
To the greatest height
I've walked darkness in search of light
I've lost diamond in battle for might
Now I've grown
And I have known
The fear of failure begins the death of life.

BY - KEMISTREE

WHAT IS POETRY

There are as many definitions of poetry as there are poets. Wordsworth defined poetry as "the spontaneous overflow of powerful feelings;" Emily Dickinson said, "If I read a book and it makes my body so cold no fire ever can warm me, I know that is poetry;" and Dylan Thomas defined poetry this way: "Poetry is what makes me laugh or cry or yawn, what makes my toenails twinkle, what makes me want to do this or that or nothing."

Poetry is a lot of things to a lot of people. Homer's epic,The Odyssey, described the wanderings of the adventurer, Odysseus, and has been called the greatest story ever told. During the English Renaissance, dramatic poets like John Milton, Christopher Marlowe, and of course Shakespeare gave us enough to fill textbooks, lecture halls, and universities. Poems from the romantic period include Goethe's Faust (1808), Coleridge's "Kubla Khan" and John Keats' "Ode on a Grecian Urn."

Shall I go on? Because in order to do so, I would have to continue through 19th century Japanese poetry, early Americans that include Emily Dickinson and T.S. Eliot, postmodernism, experimentalists, slam...

So what is poetry?

Perhaps the characteristic most central to the definition of poetry is its unwillingness to be defined, labeled, or nailed down. But let's not let that stop us, shall we? It's about time someone wrestled poetry to the ground and slapped a sign on its back reading, "I'm poetry. Kick me here."

Poetry is the chiseled marble of language; it's a paint-spattered canvas - but the poet uses words instead of paint, and the canvas is you. Poetic definitions of poetry kind of spiral in on themselves, however, like a dog eating itself from the tail up. Let's get nitty. Let's, in fact, get gritty. I believe we can render an accessible definition of poetry by simply looking at its form and its purpose:

One of the most definable characteristics of the poetic form is economy of language. Poets are miserly and unrelentingly critical in the way they dole out words to a page. Carefully selecting words for conciseness and clarity is standard, even for writers of prose, but poets go well beyond this, considering a word's emotive qualities, its musical value, its spacing, and yes, even its spacial relationship to the page. The poet, through innovation in both word choice and form, seemingly rends significance from thin air.

How am I doing so far? On to purpose:

One may use prose to narrate, describe, argue, or define. There are equally numerous reasons for writing poetry. But poetry, unlike prose, often has an underlying and over-arching purpose that goes beyond the literal. Poetry is evocative. It typically evokes in the reader an intense emotion: joy, sorrow, anger, catharsis, love... Alternatively, poetry has the ability to surprise the reader with an Ah Ha! Experience -- revelation, insight, further understanding of elemental truth and beauty. Like Keats said:

"Beauty is truth. Truth, beauty.
That is all ye know on Earth and all ye need to know."

How's that? Do we have a definition yet?

Poetry is artistically rendering words in such a way as to evoke intense emotion or an Ah Ha! experience from the reader.

Pretty unsatisfying, huh? Kind of leaves you feeling cheap, dirty, all hollow and empty inside like Chinese food.

Don't do this. Don't shackle poetry with your definitions. Poetry is not a frail and cerebral old woman, you know. Poetry is stronger than you think. Poetry is imagination and will break those chains faster than you can say "Harlem Renaissance."

To borrow a phrase, poetry is a riddle wrapped in an enigma swathed in a cardigan sweater... or something like that. It doesn't like your definitions and will shirk them at every turn. If you really want to know what poetry is, read it. Read it carefully. Pay attention. Read it out loud. Now read it again.

There's your definition of poetry. Because defining poetry is like grasping at the wind - once you catch it, it's no longer wind.