KAMARUDEEN MUSTAPHA

 

I Dream Of You

 

I dream of two luminous eyes

Like pools

Being rocked by lavendered breeze

 

I dream of a nose carved like the nib

Of a fountain pen that rivals the minaret

On the Mosque of Cordova

 

I dream of brown cheeks powdered with talcum

Mixed with dewy coconut oil

 

I dream of scarlet lips rich like water melon

Cut into two halves

 

Evermore dangling smile, intense

Like the passion of Martha

 

I dream of two miniature gazelles

Galloping bewitchingly

Over the hillock of dry savannah

 

I dream of a voice, creamy

Seemingly ticked with honey syrup

And apple juice

And succulent taste of rich dry date

 

Princess, I dream of you.

 

Queen Amina

 

I will seek even for your shadow

In the recess of my dimmed memory

Beyond your Zazzau and the expanse of your empire

 

I will cling to your person

Etched on my ever flying fantasy

You hath the snail

And I your shell

I will kiss the fleeting aloe of your lips

I will leap high from Casablanca to Zanzibar

From Cairo to Cape of  Good Hope

From Kofar Doka to Kofar Kuyanbana

From north extreme to far south

I will immerse myself

In the voluptuous expanse of your remembrance

My Queen, they say no one lived to tell

The tale of a night with you

But do I need to tell

Of a night when every cell in me raptured?

Need I tell of that consummation of fire

That burnt away my many layers of dross

To set free the purer gems in me?

Need I tell of the discovery of my nakedness

And the acute need to wear your love?

Need I tell, my Queen of all seasons?

 

* Queen Amina: a warlike  and extremely queen of the ancient African Empire of Zazzau (Zaria) in the Northern part of Nigeria.

* Kofar Doka / Kofar Kuyanbana: two of the many gates of the ancient city of Zazzau.

 

Suzie

 

Suzie, I will wait for you in the Love Garden, patiently like the leaf of eucalyptus on its bough

Where we planned to keep our rendezvous, amidst flamboyant flowers that ever make me forget your father's fiery sanctions

There your eyes will glimmer with enough light to diffuse your mother's million threats, and my heart will grow stronger than ever it has been

Suzie, love has no belief except the faith in the beloved, so my faith in you is unshaken though the world shakes in all her shoes

For love is the Lord above all faiths as the scriptures declaim and the pathway to His highest domain as yet they enthuse

Suzie, the way I love you could I have offended any law either of man or divine? The way I love you could I have defiled any faith?

What vow do I violate when as such I'm ready to offer the whole of me a boon to your love?

More so than your father is ready to offer you a sacrament to the best of man in his reckoning

Ready am I to clinch to you and walk the rope and romp the hooks till the world suck the last breath out of me

Ready am I

 

Your Lips

 

Two amber sickle moons

That off drop from the haven of your face

To re-anoint my world for you

 

Two hot bars of magnet

That know only how to draw

Without compulsion

The ever-yielding iron of my heart

 

(C) Kamarudeen Mustapha (Prince Dankeketa)

 

KAMARUDEEN MUSTAPHA

 

KAMARUDEEN MUSTAPHA (Prince Dankeketa) is a Nigerian poet and short story writer. He lives in Ibadan in South Western part of Nigeria. His poems, short stories and essays have been published in many online and offline literary platforms. He has equally published some children books.