in her mother’s womb she swam around as she willed
all was good all was fresh all was refined
her splendour bubbled in joy effervescent
her destiny emerald
she circled around planets offering her praises
born into the world she cried for innocence pristine
she could not breathe didn’t know what air was

the human palaver, wuru wuru, kata kata
coarse and charming, deceits and delights
contradictions and confounding incongruities
conversations and confluences convergent
each a road all its own
seeks a partner, the journey insidious
companions of faith walk abreast

clouded by champions of falsehood
destinies beckon, will they get there?
wuru wuru sets in and kata kata reigns
evil and good do not mix
they pull apart, likes embrace
& all walk on the same road
are their destinies pointing?

pains of love, will die for country
we eat from the same pot of soup, eba, one Himalayan mound
the bombs blow their trumpets, we march, even as we eat
& the siren strings play rhythms riveting
to daring ears listening to hearts heaving in agonizing duty
our fighters fly low, air in wild circulation
breathes liters of arousing destiny, our beginnings

history beckons seeks her beginnings where does she go?
does she know the way?
she disappeared a long time ago
separated from evil, from decay, from detritus
the thorns of time pricked her soul
she yearned for the child in the womb
she must return to her faith, to the good, to knowing

where did our dreams go or
did we not dream!
our life given all to all
that our best may be better yet
& we stand and sing to stars parading paradise
though streets are despair-strewn
& homes desolate

she does not write pain poetry
whatever happens is turned to joys beginning again, and again
age is no barrier, blind to time and yesterdays
in innocence, the essence of creation, of our being, in love
that she may return to Eden
& know herself for the first time
life is research, get lost, begin, and begin again

Mark Nwagwu
26 December 2024

Mark Nwagwu, professor of cell and molecular biology, and Fellow of the Nigerian Academy of Science, retired in 2002 from the Department of Zoology, University of Ibadan He devoted himself to the literary world, wrote three fictional novels, seven works of poetry, four to his dear wife, Helen, and three to Our Lord Jesus Christ. In 2022, he published his Memoirs Dreams Dance to commemorate his eighty fifth birthday. In 2022, he was inducted into the prestigious fellowship of the Association of Nigerian authors, making him the first and only Nigerian with both stellar honours in science, FAS, and the arts, fANA.
In 2023, at age 86, Mark Nwagwu registered for PhD in Cultural Studies and New Media in the Institute of African Studies, University of Ibadan.