Poetry: Be at Ease, Mother

Your tears, like rainfall, wet the grounds

of sorrow within the region of regrets,

growing weeds of sadness on farmlands

fertilized by agonies of motherhood.

Mother, cry out your heart no more;

my future, like a mop, shall wipe away

dustiness of the past. Be at ease, mother.

-          Kolade Olanrewaju Freedom

That spherical earth; a part of you –  

covert, protruding, elapsing stipulated time.

The purge came with a pain, which you bore.

Nocturnal you became; your siesta sparse.

These tears, you'll once more shed; the cause,

I'll once again be, but for joy.

-          Makinde Damilola

For years, I kept sleep away from the tent of your eyes –

your pupils dilated in vain as my desires rushed at you like a flood.

Heart as solid as the rock, refusing to crumble under the pressure

solely borne. Yet your smile, as bright as the sun, keeps my feet

fired for a long walk. My accomplishments will be inspired by the zeal

to repay you for all the sacrifices. This promise,

a sacred covenant, shall be kept to honor motherhood.

-          Aladesuyi Seun

Goddess like no other; vulnerable yet resilient

Smiles when worried; laughs when afraid

Cries when happy; soldier wrought by stress and pain

Weep not, mother...I am here for you, for us

I may not understand why waterfalls of grief overwhelm

your soul. But I won't cease to be your reason to live.

-          Babajide Anuoluwaposi

Oh mother! Sweet mother

May your cries outlive this thin night –

By so doing, your status shall be confirmed.

But I pray you, mother

Cry long enough for me to tear your tears

Let me violate your sadness and make you smile.

-          Akoni Adedeji

Maami, my rare gem, emblem of preciousness

Standing solidly behind me like the towering wall

Of a penitentiary.  Like the armor, she protects me

In times of war. When pain blows its winds,

She never falls off the cliff of life.

You have been through enough

Let me be the single dot to your tears…

-          Dada Morolake.

That day when my shrill cry married the shout

of joy from restless onlookers, the face of the drum

was slapped; its roaring sound heralding my birth,

Though you swam fortuitously over the monstrous ocean

of child bearing; life's DJ instead played a tuneless tune,

Maami, weep no more till you weep for joy.

-          Bamidele Seth

If I build my mum a mountain, it is not enough

Maami never opens her mouth until mine is ajar

Not a smile do you put on until you give me one

Mother, I will sail round the world to find you happiness

I will be back to curse your tears with the chants of hurrah.

-          Arubi Linda

let my existence choke your tears to death

Out of the blues, I shall emerge

bolstering with vigour and power,

seeming like an unrealistic dream at the genesis,

carrying a torch rivers of weariness cannot quench

-          Tomiwa Adeosun

Yes, you may have wept in times past

Yes, your heart may have been broken a million times into a billion pieces

Yes, you may have been trampled upon by deceits and disappointments

But I have come to tell you this: weep no more, mother

The skies are now situated within my mind,

And the sun lies therein to dry your earthen cries…

-          Aremu Aanuoluwapo

By fate, I happen in your mishap,

I gain victory from your losses

You bore the strokes that healed my pain

And cleared the clouds on my hazy path

That I may at ease obtain the golden voice

To call you MOTHER…

-          Fajoye Lawrence

*The poem ‘Be at Ease, Mother’ was collaboratively written by Year II students of Communication and Language Arts, University of Ibadan having been inspired by the drawing of a fellow classmate, Babajide Anuoluwaposi.