Background
My very first published book, Love O’clock was well-received and assumed its own life characterized by rave reviews after publication. I am saying it assumed its own life after publication, because for instance, I bumped into a compatriot in South Africa, a few years back, and got chatting. I disclosed that I am the author of Love O’clock. That national confessed hearing or knowing about the book, but not the author!
I recall that some items etc., were named after it. Imagine, one man told me that he gladly named his much-loved bike after it. I was as thrilled as I was amazed. It was no bummer. It was a dream come true.
It is no hyperbole to say that some readers and book reviewers have variously described it as rare or a rewriting of poetry, a reinvention of the Songs of Solomon, a sizzling cultural renaissance, a modern masterpiece, etc. Some booklovers even declared that they were doubtful that I would ever write a culturally rich and rare book like it in the future. Well, I do not know either …
A Glimpse Into Love O’clock
The book, Love O’clock consists of four epic poems, namely Blessing Star, My Rustic African Princess, My Sweet Nineteen, and For Couples.
Blessing Star‘s extract
I have decided to pull off the first few lines of Blessing Star. By the way, the second edition of Love O’clock will be coming out – prayerfully and possibly – in the year 2026, if not in the year 2027. Either way, brace up for it. Please check your time now…If I may rhetorically ask: what time is it? It’s Love O’clock !
Blessing Star
1 God created heaven and earth,
God so made everything that
is beautiful
and exciting …
The seas that smile by way
of waves
and frown
by way of splashes;
The winding rivers
that croon and roar
to enrich love
and life,
The flowers that exude
a variety of fragrances
and beget
the rainbow colours.
Oh the beaming smile of the blooming
plants after a downpour.
The heart booms and dances,
There is the captivating atmosphere
of birds which hop
and chirp and chat…
and even chide
in sweet languages.
Oh what a marvel!
2 Salient and embodying –
Yes, over and above all.
He created you in His image!
You were showered with all manner
of superiority
over other creations,
The Creator certainly outdid himself
when he moulded you
into a perfectly shapely star;
Sometimes I am persuaded
to think that fallible
beauticians gild the lily as they tamper with
your eyelashes and fingernails,
You dehisced and
descended from heaven – yes!
That is why in earnest-
one marvels at the face of an angel,
And it does not stop there…
Talk of brains and beauty;
You were endowed with more intelligence
than that of a lion of valiance.
Am I being blinded by a ray of light
or is this just a sight
of sweetness?
You comparatively improve and improvise,
Oh what a breathtakingly enchanting star!
Indeed the foreknowledge of the Maker
defies all human knowledge.
That graduation gown lights up,
You dance the dance of perseverance,
You tilt and wilt and try and perk up.
That is the walk of pure brilliance!
3 What more?
You climbed the ladder
of development and education
without showing traces of scorn and tension,
Valiantly you waded against the waters of intellectual
and cultural bankruptcy,
They said your parents should not forget you are girl,
They declared that to invest in a girl`s education
was a waste of time and their hard-earned their money,
They warned-saying as a woman –
you should not dare anger the sleeping spirits
by intruding into male-dominated domains.
You should know your limits,
Maybe they meant limitations,
Whatever they meant –
The bottom line was that you were unwavering,
You were unstoppable;
You filled me with a feeling of love for you.
You were at your best self.
4 I saw nothing amiss,
I could not stop saying: l miss, l miss, l miss:
Those organs of sight –
witty and bright,
They sparked and caught
me off guard,
My heart was invaded.
It pined and prayed for luck,
I became nothing but love- struck,
Your black hair shimmered,
My heart and head simmered,
Your shapely body twinkled
as if never would it be wrinkled,
It was then that I called you
diamond girl,
emerald star,
golden girl,
trendsetter.
5 I tried every romantic extravaganza,
I penned many a love stanza,
I was not a shade exultant,
I just needed to be more brilliant;
After much shadowing,
after much begging-
it was time to entwine,
And your heart cupped mine!
Was my body eviscerated?
My veins saturated?
A turning point of lapping on life’s salt.
Time seemed to have had a punctured halt,
Yet cruised our love high
and hopped into the brightness of the sky,
It was as if you firmly
and truly
held the world in your tender hands.
You seized time, and it became your lands.
I felt a happy hurricane of emotions assail.
You just tipped the scale,
You afforded my body loving wings!
Did I know that love sings and stings?
You flew away with me, away, away
to our paradise which converted us into a ray!
