By Christian Mowarin

poetry playbook

an oxygen paperback

July 2010

Christian Mowarin

My love is in your shineI can hardly see the highlightCos' i see it in your looksWhen you look at me

My color is in your shadeBut am glowing in greysCos' i see it in your patternWhen you printed me...

for my mother, clara

AFRICA IS ALIFE

Give me a palette of soilAnd I will paint the earthIn mud and lasting ebonyI will paint my cultureIn bold hues of browns andBreathe back the life we Lost in the wars of existence

Give me a river of waterAnd I will drink the mistIf greens and evergreensI will drink my solitudeIn life and the afterlife andfuel back the rhythms we Lost in the matadors of creation

Give me a pillar of strengthAnd I will build the texture of dreamsIn silver architecture and cultureI will pave the stairways In glass and porcelain renaissance And mold back the broken serifs In the typeface of our generation

MY STYLISH TASTE

Me with my stylish Taste and faithHave no rivalry with Your ethnic disabilitiesOf your bakes and banes That does not re�ect youTrust me am a remake Of your true truth

Me with my pure memento renaissanceTrust not your shape-shifting egocentricsOf your depressing and rustic innuendoic expressionsYou know am an illumination of a beautiful phenomenon

Me and my �amboyant consonantsHave no connections with your ancestral raging cancerOf the tempest andTenancy that favours youBut you know my existence isA living resolution of a new motion magic

Me and my creative mercurial instinctsHave no prejudice against your illustrative weaponsOf your racial and radical messagesPlagued by your uncommonFlavour for doomsdayNow you know am a propheticFusion of my own new generation

FORBIDDEN CIRCLE

Its native contour line passes underneath our feetEvil like the one which it radiatesEveryone's nightmare for which its drawnWill it ever eats us or leave us to be

Sometimes a little sticky with worn-out sapSometimes when long time drawn stay putThe witch doctors line art amidst overgrown weedOnly he knows where to step to save the gods wrath

Toothless and ageless he chants most nightsNigh along his badly dotted circle with leg akimboBlack magic for a black prize for a nightSeldom truncated by knight knives in the wind

The ogene too robust in its clangy clan cryGoing far into the stills and monuments of the nightShivers and shrills torment us still asWe made our tired journey to sleep land

They say the chant scares the drought and breaksThe �u from the mosquitoes, pinches iba from little onesHis withered �ngers claws tuberculosis from old geckosOnly to sometimes resurface in another

I AM CHARMED

Am brimming with loveSwaying majestically in swingMagically caught in your euphoriaI know I am charmed by youAnd I like to like it that way

Someone tries to steal my heartAm not working to get it backBefore it gets bitterly brokenIts so di�cult but I understandAnd I like to like it that way

My whole world dwells in youI just don't exist without youI have woven a dream around youYou are in front of my eyesAnd I like to like it that way

The hills might cry a riverThe moutains speak ill of youThe seekers seek to repaint youLove covers you in my mindAnd I like to like it that way

COME WITH ME

My heart is happy with happinessMy gaze gone lust with nothingnessMy eyelids leaps with disbeliefAm taking her to my home townCome with me dear and in turnI will show you the lilies of the villageside

My gossips have chased me to winMy love taken me for a swimThe thought of you gladdens my heartYour fever makes me fever fatCome with me dear and in turnI will show you the tulips of the villageside

Am a happy rascal racingRacing far into the countryMy love lovingly trueTogether we are two happy truceCome with me dear and in turnI will show you the da�odils of the villageside

THE FUTURE BY A STREET

The last droplet of a rainy dayHit his forehead and slowly glide downOccasionally pausing to watch his reactionThe downtown drummer plays hisbeat still like a heat in the streets

He plays the future with a tuneThe lamppost his ethnic quaversThe edge protrusions his semi quaversThe street mad and still becomes audienceThe sidewalk makes way for his rhythms

The stage is now an angry banner �ap The mud on his feet his ever �owWhy not the thorny side shrub a composer?Unmoved and motivated he plays hisBeat still like ripples from a droplet

INSPIRATION SHADE

My inspiration is n your eyesI do not need it cos'I see it in your charmWhen you charmed me

My love is n your shineI can hardly see the highlightCos' i see it in your looksWhen you look at me

My color is in your shadeBut am glowing in greysCos' i see it in your patternWhen you printed me

My world is n your handsI can hardly see the handworkCos' i see it in your envyWhen you envelope me

My nature is n your textureBut i wont feel it soonCos i see it in your energyWhen you energized me

YOUR LIGHTERS UP FOR AFRICA

FREEDOM IS HERE

What if you could playThe strings for AfrikaWill she rise up and danceShake o� her scalesAnd groove with the beatAfrika rise and danceFor a new wind is sweeping

What if you could beatThe tambourines for AfrikaWill she wake up and singHave a sonorous voiceAfrika raise your hands and shoutFor a new song we'll sing today

What if we could playThe back pains o� AfrikaWill she get up and walkBreak free from her life of liesAfrika �ght and rejoiceFor joys of freedom are here

What if we could smileThe worries away from AfrikaWill she radiate a youthful glowHer ribbons of radiance �y highAfrika light up your lifeFor a new skin tone glows within

AFRIJAZZ CAFE

I came to get downThe musik goin downtownYour fun for a penny, buddyYour mix for my taste

Get hippy with the hopSavor the ice n shakeThey serve neo soulA barrel full of twist

Taste's got a new rapFlavour n your handsHits live all aroundCold �ltered n unplugged

All good, cool n beautifulTime n time to take a shotYou cant go wrong with the �owWith an Africafe jazz expression

By Christian Mowarin

an oxygen paperback

July 2010

all rights reserved @2013