I believe that the strength of every man, woman or thing is made obvious in the face of challenges. I have known both triumph and failure... joy and pain... I have also shed tears - both of joy and of pain!

Please read these few poems (the larger collection may still come online) and ... (you decide):

1. WAITING

   Hurdles to cross
   Limits to break
   People to please…
   One life to live.
   
   A dark alley
   Tempest in the head
   Floods in the mind…
   And the promise of a light.
   
   Disappointed dependants
   Excuse for expectation
   One life to live…
   And the promise of a light.
   
   With hands clasped
   And heads bowed
   A mind shut from every noise
   I listen for that little…
   
   The dawn of a new day
   Heralded by some great news
   With enough potential
   To clear the hurdles.
   
   Waiting to have my head lifted
   Hands spread in praise
   And a clear mind…
   Declaring the appearance of light.
   
   One deed I desire
   Of Him who sees the past
   But knows the future…
   Lead the way.
   
   Light up my life
   Let joy flow unlimited
   Let expectations be brightened
   And celebration unfold.
   
   I wait to see
   The day of the light
   When darkness will fall
   And the bubble will burst!
   
   © 'Gbenga Sesan 2002.1545 HRS.July 28, 2001.Ibafo
   

    

2. I WANT TO CRY

   I want to cry
   But the tears are shy
   Deep within are rumblings
   Waiting to be soothed
   Up above is a gap
   Between the man and his head
   
   This I know
   That though I may be low
   He who lifts the head of the dead
   Will raise the sun
   And the shadow will give way
   To the brightness if His light
   
   © 'Gbenga Sesan 2002.10:07am, August 12 2001
   

    

3. NOT THE BRILLIANCE OF A MIND…

   In the heat of a Monday sun
   Right beside an unconcerned driver
   While tying together the knots of life
   I stumbled …
   
   It was the fifth page
   Of a widely-read national daily newspaper
   And the right half of the page
   Caught my attention
   
   It was the story of a man
   His passion for excellence
   And in the face of odds
   He emerged a shinning star
   
   That was in another land
   And yet glory was his to keep
   But he packed his bag
   And faced all to say, "I'm going back home"
   
   Tears welled up in my eyes
   As emotions flooded my being
   At the demonstration of patriotism
   Even in the face of criticism
   
   While I pondered
   A voice thundered …
   I couldn't miss that voice
   For it has guided me thus far
   
   Go ahead and dream
   I'll fix all your dreams
   In a frame of reality
   But you're coming home
   
   I'll give you all you need
   But only in exchange
   For only one need that I have:
   A voice in this generation
   
   With heartfelt emotions
   And a submissive mind
   My heart and mind whispered:
   Here I am, Lord!
   
   You see my frame
   And know the things that I hide
   From your Holy eyes
   Yet you speak of a work
   
   If you could have seen,
   Chosen and separated…
   Then go ahead Lord
   Make my life a picture of you
   
   Let all that bring fame and wealth
   Be seen as your choice
   Of an earthen vessel
   And not the brilliance of a mind
   
   © 'Gbenga Sesan 2001.1430, November 5, 2001
   

    

4. ASSASSINATED

   Brightness is gone
   Darkness has swept in…
   Pain is tickling the people
   And tears stroll down their faces.
   
   A son is gone
   The sun is down…
   But many more are being assassinated
   Yet without bullets or weapons.
   
   Bubbling with enough zeal for two
   Young men and women grow with dreams
   Of building the nation
   And making it an enviable country.
   
   But… as soon as the dream sets
   The unknown strikes
   Minds are assassinated…
   Dreams are aborted.
   
   They lay with hopes dashed
   And their dreams changed…
   The vicious cycle continues
   And intellectual assassination persists.
   
   When will the sun rise again
   Over this nation, our nation?
   When will corporate existence
   Replace selfish interests?
   
   When will our greatest resources
   Cease to manifest beyond our shores?
   And the labours of our heroes past…
   Shall they be in vain?
   
   Arise, O compatriots
   Nigeria's call obey…
   While the God of creation
   Guides our leaders and helps our youths!
   
   © 'Gbenga Sesan 2002. March 12, 2002. MUSON Centre.
   

    

5. YOU CAME, I SAW, AND WE WILL CONQUER

   Beginning with joy
   You went through the thickness of the edge
   Carving out a life many will come to adore
   While bearing the challenge of building alone
   
   Drafting the future
   That would impact much more than one
   Gave birth to dreams
   And the dreams grew in strength and fortune
   
   Then came the bright idea
   You would not want to trade for anything
   But …
   You had a need
   
   The need took a shape
   The shape of a man
   A man with brain, strength and a heart
   That can see your stand and still hold on
   
   I wouldn't know how
   But I almost fit the frame
   Well, maybe I did
   And then the journey began…
   
   At the beginning, it was strictly business
   But …
   The story is different
   I see a life with treasures hidden
   
   Hidden treasures, revealed talents
   An influential past
   That spreads its influence into the present
   And …. ?
   
   Questions in my head
   Prayers in my heart
   For a break between yesterday and today
   Want to know my prayer request? It's about you…
   
   That the words I hear about 38
   May be a joke
   And if they are true …
   Let His fragrance be let loose
   
   Not because I fear a loss
   But because I know
   That such conclusion may be an indication
   Of an unbroken chord between yesterday and today
   
   Yesterday, today … two days I can't forget
   Today tells me of influence and success
   But yesterday threatens with drops of darkness
   But I choose to look away from the shadows
   
   He who can see through the heart
   Knows what I saw yesterday -
   The times when no one was there
   And that my shell was thickest
   
   Shut against humanity
   And at other times against divinity
   I kept close to my chest
   The story of the journey yet untold
   
   We have mountains to climb
   Statements to make and a duty to perform
   But while I don't doubt the success of the project
   I know there's more than there is…
   
   I have a dream…
   That one day, you will take a peep
   From inside the shell that has been craftly built
   And see the beauty of breaking the walls.
   
   Come out of the garden enclosed
   And let the fragrance be released
   Blow, O north wind
   That yesterday may give way … for a new day.
   
   © 'Gbenga Sesan 2002.08:46am March 22.

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