Akin by the sea

1 – “Land and Sea”

I sat by a sea-
I became a city
My city begot more.
I, a commoner of today,
A jungle of steel and concrete,
I sit by the sea.


The sea washes ashore
the bodies of its fishes,
the remnants of my people,
the wastes of my own,
and swallows the dirt of my feet.


Oh, noble landscape
of evolution and origins
of beauty and color,
defaced by a vulgar species
grazed for copper, gold and diamonds
what have we done to you?
how did we get here
when beauty is all we seek?


Scourers of soils and aggregates,
Miners, timers, and space shifters,
Movers of the ground from
the dug-out to the mixers
at construction sites.
Oh, builders, you take away life!

2 – “Standing By”

I put my name on a wall
I hung, crushed by the world
The earth tumbled behind me
The moon, beautiful and blue
Struck me down.


There is no way
there is one way
I look for the sea
There is no way there is one way.
Everything’s ordered.
Everything’s held by ties and molten wires
and granites and limy-stones.
The sidewalks lead me indoors.
Each time I get in,
The sky makes somewhere to go.


Watching you, the sky
and the built environment,
You are the same space,
Same hole in a wall,
Same vault through which I watch the world.
Same frames, and sills
and blinds and hidden lintels,
Still as the air is dynamic
As vital as the phone that sings and texts —
A photograph of the endless moments of humanity
is how I think of you.


I heard that they tried to warn us
I heard that we like to talk more
I heard that the ice is falling
I heard that the tides are turning
I heard that the sea is rising
I heard that the world is over
I heard that we liked the oil more
I heard that the air is sober
I heard that they tried to warn us
I heard that we care for no man.

3 – “Spring”

Today,
The snow days are over
the world is fine
and climate never left track.


Bird songs
and bird flowers.
Spring songs
and pore showers.
Being young, we witness none.
Within doors
our best hours wither
like winter months
in concrete factories.


The picturesque is here.
The skies are blue through
the window-ways I look.
My photographic oasis
framed to the wall;
I seek something new.


Though I cry
for the lawn mowers,
grass cutters, and herbicides
that graze your roots and stems,
I admire you weeds of man
whose genes are no good
for the food-makers.
Come Thursday mornings
after your shoots have been cut short;
Remind me of your colors and aroma,
Remind me of what it means to be green.

4 – “Dusk”

now that it’s night
everything I see,
I see because Energy.
Scattered lights–Chaos
Tell people that darkness
is the real chaos
Tell people no energy
can make things blow up.
Electricity made me
and gasoline makes me go throw up.
Slithering light thirsty for eyes,
thirsty for grease makes me earth glow up.


Oh! a fire starter I sight in the park.
a fire lantern that stands by my tree.
My reddish cherries, My honey bees!
Oh algae waters, oh my evergreens!
Look at these towers
that deprive you of sleep!


Oh, Photosynthesis forever
Everytime is bright.
One million suns make the night glow
A million leaves never leave light
Never to pause; Never to rest
Photosynthesis forever.
No day, no night.


Now that it’s dusk
and the moon comes
and your tides will rise
to touch me,
Engulf me in your cold essence
Flood my streets with salt and planktons
flush my trachea as I flushed yours of life
wash my foot prints from your shores
keep me in my dream, where I belong.

C 2018 Lolu Pelumi / Kunle Farawe
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