Poetry

Osieka Osinimu Alao, 22 december 2011

Farewell Earth

The
way the coconut retains wine within its brown shell


So
does God retain man within the mighty walls of this Earth.


As
in the beginning, man sprouted from the seventh creation spell


And
in the end, from the same spell shall come his withered dearth.


Man
sweats from the marrows of dusk till the stirs of dawn


In
vain and drained brawn, tilling Earth’s gigantic fecund lawn.


He
wanders the perimeters of this wailing world of mercilessness


Around
the lofty loops of deceits springing from the music of sane madness.


Crowded
spirits foster fear’s frail feet at the Gate of Death


That
shields man’s soul departing happily in birth.


Of
all the skyward magnificent mansions ever built by man,


The
greatest of them all is building his ideal being in this cosmic clan.


Man
and his bones melt to dust at the whirling wink of beautiful death


And
shuts Life’s Door as his soul solemnly says ‘‘Farewell Earth.’’