Poetry

Marc Riboud

By

Shola Balogun

Come Closer Now To The Candle Light

Come closer, closer now

To the candle light.

Come, my dearest maiden,

In the fair lantern

Of your fair eye lids,

Let me be your acolyte

with the lasting songs.

It is the thought

of you

That brings the moon

to the centre

of my planet.

The brow of your eyes,

In this candle light,

is to me like

The sunlit pearl

from far away Sicily.

Your eyes are

seraphic lyrics!

Your voice is

symphonic melodic!

Your smile is

poetic epistle!

Come closer, closer now

To the candle light

Verses and Violin

1.

There is a river

Beyond Eden,

O Shepherdess,

You are the Paradise of God,

And every tree in you

Yields the fruits of life

2.

Let me adorn you

with finest robes,

Your beauty is amiable

Than the light

of the sun!

You are the honey,

In my cruse of honey

3.

O you who

truly

have loved,

now have

known a taste

far better

than wine!

4.

Who is this

That came out

of the mountains?

That sang in the cornfields?

My Dearest,

Whose voice is to me,

The similitude

of the violin

Shola Balogun

Shola Balogun, playwright, poet and writer is from Yoruba, southwestern Nigeria. He received his Masters Degree in Theatre Arts from the University of Ibadan, Nigeria, specializing in Literary and Dramatic Criticism. He was the winner of the First Educare Trust’s Olaudah Equiano Poetry Prize (2002) and the Festival of Peace Poetry Award (2005) organized by the Institute of African Studies, University of Ibadan. He is the author of a collection of poetry, The Cornwoman of Jurare and Other Poems (2007).

His books The Wrestling of Jacob, Praying Dangerously: the Cry of Blind Bartimaeus, and Death and Suicide In Selected African Plays, are available at Amazon and select bookstores.

His play, Egue Eghae, is ready for the stage. Shola Balogun also writes stories for children. His Yoruba background and encounter at the age of 21 with the poetry of John Donne and William Shakespeare influenced his creative writing.