llaykorn:

Yes, sir, because naturally, rengas are never written by one poet.

ok! Great job by the way, Texanomaly and the other judge we dont know,,,good one

llaykorn:

The final 7 won't be separated. We have 9 pairs in the final, sir.

if i get u correctly, we would still work with our paired mates for the final?

CONTESTANTS 50: threedots and Chuksab

STANZAS 1, 2, 5, 8, 9: threedots
STANZAS 3, 4, 6, 7: Chuksab

A Philosopher and a Poet Paint a Portrait of Change

Bad news recalibrate my body and dumps me in hell,
So when death whispers, i ask her, "What's there to tell?"
Ninety years old men no longer feel closer to peace,
Eternity is just an exaggerated concept, it's a complex disease.
You see! Everything is soul stretching,
The bloodletting stops me from being steady,
Still i spread my arms on the rough heading
To hug the horizon and catch the sun setting
Then cast a shadow of hope like a wise cretin.

I've seen the antics of change.
Change is just a constant; A cliche overdose
Fed to hungry men from back then when the world was given a rose.
Let me entice you to question change and those that has fed it to you,
For how do you begin to get answers when the answers itself is a puzzle to you.

The Arctic tern, famous for its migration
Flies from its Arctic breeding ground
Through crest and troughs they motion
Exceedingly high, twice the year round

We, a people not keen about revolution
Even in the worst of times, we made no sound
The guns loaded, still not our option
Amidst challenges we need not go the Arctic tern bound


Yet, who am i not to keep hoping?
I watch the earth twist as my brain twirl positions,
I know things, the knowledge of which makes me levitate
Into oblivion as i hover over the bland remains
Of lost souls and ghosts left to meditate.
Tell me, what's the essence of an anthem
If it's sang over a corpse?
For some, funeral feels like romance; A probable cause.
Dig the graves and catch in on the Naira bills
The same people you ask for change are the same people who never heals.
I tell you,
You want something so bad? You have to get a go at it
for hope is a room full of mirrors,
you are the reflection, take a good look at it.


With our souls now wet with tension
Respite we crave even in short rebound
As our hearts yearn for a new nation
A new Nigeria, our hope we pray may abound

Change they chanted, a respite from degeneration
We want change hence embrace without bound
With open hands raised we in jubilation
Yearning for a true change, not fairground.

If you drink from societies umbilical cord
Then you'll know life and death started on a wrong footing;
Two planets orbiting God,
And heaven is just a place where angels take selfies.
Everything we ever needed is here,
But that knowledge itself is our Achilles heel.
We strife, we fight, we hunger for what is not
Then we ask for change after we've just made it worst.


I'll tell you how hope is lost,
It is looking into your grandson's eyes
And seeing what you could have done but didn't
Because you were asking for change from those who could not.



ANALYSES

In general the poem talks about Change,regret, hope and the folly of believing or asking people for change when in truth we ourselves need to initiate the change and do something about it instead of waiting for others. So many other concepts were talked about in the poem and how they relate with our hunger for a changed society. (Literal Meaning)

The first stanza discusses how bad news now feels like dying which renders death eventually ineffective and less painful, it talks about loosing hope as a result of the evil happening around us. When you are old enough and close to death, you are supposed to be at peace but the third line shows otherwise, this could be as a result of regret and makes you wonder how living for eternity would feel like with such regrets. The 12 line talks about the age during the beginning of world civilization, following from the 11th line you'll see that change has always been around, but the change we are getting, is that what we really want? Stanzas 3 and 4 issues a warning while making comparisons to a bird known for it long migration in search of whatever keeps them alive, the same things human do. We search for love, trust, respect, honor yet we betray these same things we are searching for with the evil we commit against our fellow men. I'm open to further discussions. (Connotative Meaning)

In the wake of a new political and democratic era, change seem to be the song on everybody's lips, it is what we are promised and it is what we deserve. However there is a folly in this, how can you leave your destiny to the promises of a few knowing fully well that though the individuals may have changed, the wheel that brought them to power is absolutely the same.(I stand to be corrected) And Hope? how much should you place in yourself(lines 35 and 36) and how much should you place in others. This briefly captions what the poem symbolizes (Symbolic Meaning)

The poem used a mixture of free versed and rhyming structure, though the rhymed parts did not follow any known form of stress or rhyming patterns. This was done deliberately to relate even with its structure to the concepts we are discussing as change is never something to follow a specific pattern. (Structure of the poem)

texanomaly:
Can all participants please tag the judges when you submit so it will be easier to find your poem for judging? Thanks

please how can i tag a judge and should i just open a thread for the poem or post here?

Chuksab:
A beautiful Tuesday morning it was As usual, Oshodi Oshodi, chorused the Conductor That is the usual symphony in Lagos
Many throng into the parked bus Not knowing it was "one chance" cum abductor The dare devils in Lagos.
-------- pmchuks@gmail.com

we've been paired together drop your contacts lets start