Dubai Days manuscript

Genesis




Jun 17




After the fifth cup of tea,

I prowl around my living room


Waiting for a revelation.

I feel no sensation.


The mercy of God

Is elusive.


There's a passive man in the mirror

Scrutinising my every thought.


And allies and adversaries were sold and bought

With borrowed time.

Where to lay the blame?


The world cries impunity


And I have my crosses to bear

Ensnared by the deity

Of love and duty.


This life is under a spell.

So now as the wheels of the world of work click
and snap into gear,

I take to quill and parchment


In this apartment

At the end of a world


That belongs nowhere.







This is a detail from a painting by the Nigerian
abstract expressionist artist Yusuf Seidu Okus.

To learn more about his exhibitions and to purchase
his work, please visit
http://artbyyusufokus.blogspot.com/























Getting Fat in the City



May 18


Everyone's a hero in their own hometown.

And who can argue with that?

But you're gorging on the city now

And getting rather fat.























Gods and Men

Jul 18

The gate of the sun
Opens
And shuns man
From the land
Of the gods.
Summon the devil
When the gods no longer heed.
And the black silken steeds
Of the four horsemen of the apocalypse
Thunder hooves
To the cusp
Between heaven and hell.
And the shell of the earth
Cracks open
And the gods stand back
Aghast.















Gone

24th Sep 18

Born.
Forlorn.
Done.
Gone.