Adebayo Olabisi

Saki, Oyo Nigeria

Adebayo teaches physics on Saki Campus of the Polytechnic Ibadan, Oyo State, Nigeria. He started writing Poetry in the last quarter of 1993 and his poetry has been published The National Library of Poetry. He had completed the manuscripts for two poetry collections which he would wish to publish under the titles "Flakes of Free Verses" and "A Fusion of Reminiscences" respectively. Poetry writing is a pleasurable exercise, particularly in a typically rural setting where the spirit and soul of Yoruba folklore could be captured with ease.

The Hollow Harvest

For years, woodpeckers that worked on redwood
Boasted that the mortars they carved are good;
The toad that hopped and croaked across the fields
Claimed that they've spun loop after loop of beads;
With readiness, cards everywhere express
The Peerlessness of their arcane oil press;
When weaver birds chatter, flutter and zoom;
They extol their artistry on the loom ...
But who could pound any real matter
With the woodpecker's brand of mortar?
Who would ever adorn his daughter
With the beads those toads flaunted thither?
Which soup could be blended with the oil
Pressed by crabs after years of raw toil?
Never could the best weaver bird's nest
Shape a fez, a bedspread or a vest...
Chaff in bags is but a hollow harvest,
Where grains compose the matter of interest.

Thoughts In The Rain

It rained cats and dogs into the pots
Forcing all to sit and stare in the huts;
But their minds nursed different thoughts:
The slave's - that the day's job was naught
And the Lord's - that the morrow is for double plot..
The old cold war and rough tough tug of thought.

Our Dilemmas And predicaments

Humanity leaned forward in lax manners
To hang bags of plans on racks,
But when he stood erect,
The intended effect became manifest:
The dredged seabed of frustrations and regrets
Furnished sediments and dregs of wrecked events
And gave vent to our pent-up resentments.

Thus, the bags carefully contrived contents,
Like contemplations and visions beset by rents
Went sublime and clean-clear out of reach,
Thus blending difficulties and ease
In a manner that's hard to breach
Just like the human knees
And his forearm's reach
Which leaning brings within easy reach,
But shoots beyond reach
When erect to preach
On or off the beach

Adebayo welcomes correspondence. You may write him in care of:
The International Poetry Hall of Fame
1 Poetry Plaza
Owings Mills, MD 21117