YOU ARE PRAYERS ANSWERED (Nigeria)
–Written By: Kenny Thompson
Everyone is born for someone
Not everyone gets to know that someone
As the clock ticks by
Loneliness stares in the face
On my knee I pray
Oh Lord, when that someone comes my way
Give me the strength and courage to accept
That this someone is mine
My prayer Answered.
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POOL OF LOVE (Africa)
-Written By: Lori Petersen
I am your pool of love,
Always ready for you to dive in
And swim with me,
To the deepest, darkest corners of my soul.
When I am not with you,
I wait in painful longing,
Hiding my tears in the dew drops
That slowly run down my sides.
When you climb in with me,
I bathe your whole body,
My love caressing you gently
With waters clear and warm.
I am overflowing with emotions for you,
And when I look up through the waves,
Your sunshine sparkles through me,
Creating colorful rainbows in my heart.
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BLACK WOMAN (Senegal)
-Written By Leopold Senghor
Naked woman, black woman
Clothed with your colour which is life,
with your form which is beauty!
In your shadow I have grown up; the
gentleness of your hands was laid over my eyes.
And now, high up on the sun-baked
pass, at the heart of summer, at the heart of noon,
I come upon you, my Promised Land,
And your beauty strikes me to the heart
like the flash of an eagle.
Naked woman, dark woman
Firm-fleshed ripe fruit, sombre raptures
of black wine, mouth making lyrical my mouth
Savannah stretching to clear horizons,
savannah shuddering beneath the East Wind’s
eager caresses
Carved tom-tom, taut tom-tom, muttering
under the Conqueror’s fingers
Your solemn contralto voice is the
spiritual song of the Beloved.
Naked woman, dark woman
Oil that no breath ruffles, calm oil on the
athlete’s flanks, on the flanks of the Princes of Mali
Gazelle limbed in Paradise, pearls are stars on the
night of your skin
Delights of the mind, the glinting of red
gold against your watered skin
Under the shadow of your hair, my care
is lightened by the neighbouring suns of your eyes.
Naked woman, black woman,
I sing your beauty that passes, the form
that I fix in the Eternal,
Before jealous fate turn you to ashes to
feed the roots of life.
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OF MEN AND LOVE (Africa/USA)
-Written by Charles Ayo Dada
Be it not of men to write of love
Then a man I cease to be.
Be it not of men to express their feelings
Then, what’s this thing about me?
But, be it of men
To sternly wield the sword
And then to gently cup the rose;
Be it of men
To brusquely shovel the earth
And yet crave the tender caress;
Be it of men
To set out to battle bravely
And return surging and bubbling with feeling;
Be it of men to be all of these
Then, a man I seek to be!
Be it not of men to shed their tears
Then I wonder what I am.
Be it not of men to reveal their hearts
I must fear for what I’ve become.
And yet I firmly believe:
That a man should be as strong
As he should be meek;
That a man should be as courageous
As he should be true;
That a man should learn from the old
And as well seek the new;
Above all
That a man should seek an experiencing of love
In its pure and truthful
Childlike and simple
Kind and yet severe –
Just and mercifully beautiful form!
Where spirit leads and intellect follows
And soulfulness triumphs valiantly over base and
narrow feelings.
Be it not of men to speak of love
Then a man I cease to be.
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THE EYE OF SOUL (Africa)
-Written by Oliver O. Mbamara
I judge you not by what you wear,
Whether your garment is of rag or riches,
Or your skin is of a color white or black,
Whether you wear some gold or trinkets,
Or decorate yourself with stones and diamonds,
I see you with the eye of Soul.
I know you, for who you are inside of you,
Not for your smiles, for smiles could be false,
Not for your looks, for looks could deceive,
Not for your appearance, for that won’t last,
And not for your clothes, for that only covers.
I see you with the eye of Soul.
I am a friend to that you inside of you,
Indifferent to your dose of limitations,
Forgiving to your human flaws of character
Unyielding to rumors and gossips about you
For the eye within sees even more,
I see you with the eye of Soul.
**Culled from the book, “LOVE POEMS and QUOTES” by Oliver O. Mbamara ©2003
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MIDNIGHT ENCOUNTER (Africa)
~From the Book: Poetry of Life 2nd Edition
I watched you roll
Roll from one side of the bed
To the other, and still
The clock chimes once.
I watch you sit and hum
Hum unintelligible tones
As mountains of tobacco
Disappear into your nostrils.
I watch your eyes
Fill with jerking tears
And your ears positioned
Intermittently to earth’s pillars
Trying to place distant voices.
I try to cage my curiosity
But your crawling hands tap my chest
Papa, must I play this midnight encounter
To see the god’s piercing eyes
And partake in this ancestral dialogue.