Stars

By

George O. Obikoya

Birds don’t fly anymore

No more songs of praise

Canaries will not speak

Parrots will not squeal

But it still rains in bliss

Or so they say for sure

So strive now yet again

As none there is to see

Beckons over the beach

A fresh breath of Bacon

May help once to quell

As mist clouds my soul

Minute they seem matter

Even as razors set in glue

Menace the benign spirit

And dazzle to fade away

With shades of the divine

Dreams of yore to save

To spite me as always

Even in quiet to perish

As they seem will last

From pain to gain again

In one troupe they tread

One after the next again

If time could wait for me

And take me back again

To whence my soul be

Where it all so belongs

So that all will be well

And dogs to bark again

Rivers will thaw to flow

In souls lost all for goal

Not so for all to shame

Even the gods will say

Not all to see for good

That lies ahead in vain

Dense clouds so prevail

Our ways to blame again

As our day goes in vain

But we strive to live again

Let me beg the breeze

To let life shine again

Blow out calm to hold

The clutch of life again

They say it rains now

On one roof at a time

They say it’s in the law

To save the child again

She does not eat books

And not cakes of mud

In shame they write still

And care naught for cake

So let me beg again

For the children to live

So the birds will sing

To them lullabies again

They watch them say

All will be well again

But do nothing before

To ease again their pain

She gets a knock now

A few coins is not it

Or so it seems for her

Her tiny feet so sore

But she is off as before

To beg the streets again

Until darkness falls over

Her soul weary in shame

At ten to feed so many

With sweat of toil lost

One passes to the next

The empty bowl of soup

Grandma is long gone

But her spirit remains

And guides him always

To survive another day

It pains to see him cry

And his siblings to wait

For him to live again

The next bowl far away

Lights of wonder strike

Eyes all warped in pain

Even those who may see

It still seems its all in vain

Huge they matter not

Empty they feel the soul

Praise they wallow too

As nil is ever the same

Do something they say

Save us all from shame

Clean up the stable too

So we see stallion again

Look at the skies now

See for yourself again

Why so much is so lost

To see now not the blues

Home is where we go

To ease so much pain

As so much dread lurks 

To haunt our tired souls

Yet we strive all in vain

Lost in tempest strong

Washed ashore strained

Left to flounder in pain

She tires of her again

Too young to die alone

She stays at home in pain

And leaves to beg again

Runner my daughter is

For all to hear her pain

She cries though again

For her it must be vain

So only nine she roams

Up at cock crow to beg

For herself now it seems

At her cardboard home

Two innocent souls strive

On streets to live again

With luck they pray now

Just to see another day

As he now treads life alone

The others celestial bound

She is her sister in spirit

A cold dungeon now home

Together they trail the skies

Bound on terrestrial plane

With nothing they say real

As home in the skies above

Slaps she fears no more

Her brother so assures

It seems life is now true

Its promise now fulfilled

He feels now not alone

His agonies now erased

To have her by his side

Life now is good again

Yet even he is ever frail

Hunger bites over still

He gives her all he has

As he did his own gone

He says she will live

Even if he has to die

To save her from pain

The streets again exact

She must stay so strong

He must not die in vain

Even as it seems clear

It may be at last too late

It is raining hard again

The boards are too weak

As are their thin limbs

And their weary souls

They hold hands in wait

Their eyes lock again

As they did the first time

Their celestial paths cross

They seem to know now

They are going back soon

To the majestic blue skies

Where for them is home

The praises of the thunder

Render the roars of waves

Yet, the dark feels erased

As their new voyage begins

They smile, hands held

As they are swept away

White water in the tunnel

That sheltered them so

Two children now gone

Stars that will be here

Forever with us as us

To remind us we are one

Let me beg again you

And all who care to hear

My cries linger in vain

To see children in pain

Like us all, they are stars

Rich or poor counts not

Life enriched by want

Is such so pain we trust?

Let us breathe again

The life in us we so lost

Trust in none so sure

Our trip back up to reign

That is where we head

With the stars yet unborn

Here as stars in all of us

To guide us here again

Stars of yore we all are

As those we strive to see

It matters not wherever

It’s just whence you see

Tarry not to help yourself

In one more star that is you

For one more day you live

Let your star shine again