Poetry 2019 Featured Poet, Muhammad Auwal Ibrahim

Africa: Our Home Is Our Pride

(For wanderers)

If he had known where he would go,

He would not have prayed to see even a cargo-

talk less of fleeing

from his country, going out of our seeing

If he had known that was how he would be treated,

discriminated,

In that far away land

He would not have fled

If he had known how hard it was to live

He would not have tried

To roam or wander like a rabbit 

in the fat forest

His tears now would not have fallen

in the search for greener pasture

Every where in the forest is green

Stop where you are and find a grass

If he had known my country was that rich

He wouldn't have left his country

in search of prestige

At that his age

Africa: Our home is our pride

Africa is blessed,

Come and look at our natural resources,

This is our home

The fertile lands are there for us to farm,

The animals are all there for us to herd,

The grasses are green,

The lands are wet,

Then what are we waiting for?

white collar jobs or what?

Let us not be lazy

since before the weather becomes hazy

Let us bend down and farm

with hoes

are we not men?

Were we not children?

This is enough for us

to stand and work for ourselves,

Our land is beautiful,

Our land is ready,

Our land needs to be boosted,

Our land needs to be restored

of all its lost glories

If we all flee, Tell me!

who will come and do it for us?

Is it women?

Poetry 2018, Featured Poet, Muhammad Auwal Ibrahim

My Letter to Daddy

Dear my father, You are like a farmer:
That farmed on my land
With hoe and cutlass
During rainy and dry seasons
For long, planting seeds,
Know that, your plant will not produce poor products
Your service is unrewardable here
Only God can reward you
All the shades we spread now,
Come after your fertilization

How will I forget you?
How far have I gone?
That I can’t see my back
I am not such a blind driver,
That drives without a mirrow
On a narrow road, thinking to arrive safely

Do you think that I forget you,
Your face, walking, and thoughts
If I forget everything,
I think you, would not be forgotten

Don’t you think I am that child?
That remembers his father’s caring
in the day and night
His efforts in disciplining him,
His responses to his cries
Open your ears and hear me!

I still see you in my mind,
The tree you watered,
Is spreading its roots, products,
And shades in the world

Biography
Muhammad Auwal Ibrahim is a young Nigerian writer, playwright and poet. He was born in the year 2001. He attended Gombe Children School for his nursery and primary school education. He studied at Gombe High School. He is a member of Poets In Nigeria Gombe Connect Center. Some of his works are published in Tuck online magazine, praxis magazine online, Philip Peace Literary Art World and TACT organisation. He has been featured in 4 international anthologies. He has won many poetry challenges. He started writing at sixteen. He believes that writing will bring change in our today’s society.

Poetry 2018, Featured Poet, Muhammad Auwal Ibrahim

My Letter to Daddy

Dear my father, You are like a farmer:
That farmed on my land
With hoe and cutlass
During rainy and dry seasons
For long, planting seeds,
Know that, your plant will not produce poor products
Your service is unrewardable here
Only God can reward you
All the shades we spread now,
Come after your fertilization
How will I forget you?
How far have I gone?
That I can’t see my back
I am not such a blind driver,
That drives without a mirrow
On a narrow road, thinking to arrive safely
Do you think that I forget you,
Your face, walking, and thoughts
If I forget everything,
I think you, would not be forgotten
Don’t you think I am that child?
That remembers his father’s caring
in the day and night
His efforts in disciplining him,
His responses to his cries
Open your ears and hear me!
I still see you in my mind,
The tree you watered,
Is spreading its roots, products,
And shades in the world

Biography
Muhammad Auwal Ibrahim is a young Nigerian writer, playwright and poet. He was born in the year 2001. He attended Gombe Children School for his nursery and primary school education. He studied at Gombe High School. He is a member of Poets In Nigeria Gombe Connect Center. Some of his works are published in Tuck online magazine, praxis magazine online, Philip Peace Literary Art World and TACT organisation. He has been featured in 4 international anthologies. He has won many poetry challenges. He started writing at sixteen. He believes that writing will bring change in our today’s society.