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Sunday, June 10, 2012

Two Poems by Timothy Ogene

Two Poems by Timothy Ogene

Man in the Mirror

"I'm starting with the man in/The Mirror/I'm asking him to change/His ways"
—Michael Jackson

I set out in search of the enemy;
the one responsible for my nightmares.

From the sand seas of North Africa
to the seven seas beyond.
I spoke to men and beast, searched the Milky Way
and forests of planets.

Exhausted, I returned to our plane of life and death.
Stooped to drink from a Creek; a flowing glass of water.

In that moving mirror, he appeared—
As shocked as I was.
We both could not drink from the flowing mirror.

I touched his face, he shivered and shattered
into a hundred  pieces of crystal, staggered
and randomly re-assembled.

At last, he rose and walked away
without drinking from the mirror.

Time Ticks

Broken canoe, battered,
Left to rot ashore, helpless—
Long days of fishing gone,
Much pain borne,
Broken and done,
Left to fate—

Replaced by another towering tree
That’s happy to be a sail boat.
Alas!
A canoe it became.
Ashamed,
But happy to sail.
No fail;
Nets and men applaud.

But her days are dotted lines on sand.
Fading up and down like the tide.

Author's Bio: Timothy Ogene was born and raised in Nigeria. He has written for Dekeyser & Friends Magazine, Reading Bridges and Successpills. His poems have appeared in Literary Kicks, Ovi Magazine, the Daily Observer, Haggard & Halloo, Underground Voices, the 2010 Arvon International Poetry Competition Anthology and are forthcoming in Subtle Tea, Snake Skin and the Dark Eye Glances 2012 Anthology. He was shortlisted for the 2010 Arvon International Poetry Prize and was honorable Mention at the 2010 Best Short Writing in the World Contest. He currently lives in Robertsport, Liberia where he divides his time between working for the Strongheart Fellowship, an innovative social enterprise, and teaching literature at the local high school.

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