Five Poems and that’s all

by

Elisha EB Bala
RANDOM DESPATCHES

Five Poems and that’s all

Copyright © 2023 by Elisha EB Bala

All rights reserved. Due attribution is commended. Reproduction of

this publication in any form or means (electronic, mechanical,
photocopy, recording, etc) is not appreciated when it is done without
prior permission of the publisher.

This is a publication of Random Despatches.

Interior design by Tongjal Wungakha Nungbulla

Published in Nigeria
First released in May 2023
CONTENT

Introduction

I. When Brothers Fight

II. I Did Not Become Wise by Chance

III. Beautiful Distraction

IV. You Left me So

V. The Old Song of Ararat

Conclusion

About the Author

I dedicate this book to Hauwa, my grandmother whose bedtime stories
and puzzles inspired me from a very young age.
INTRODUCTION

“Love, friendship, respect, do not unite [a] people as much as

a common hatred for something.” Those were the words of
Anton Chekhov from the book Note-Book of Anton Chekhov
published in 1921.
If wishes come true, I would, at the strike of a
wishing star, hope that you read this book, not for the love of
poetry, but for your hatred against poetic ignorance and
psychological myopia. And collectively, may we share in the
pain that this introduction is too short.
Life? It’s not funny, but it makes you laugh. Who are
we? Why are we here? Where do we go from here? What did
man do to man? These questions and more, are “the reason”
for these five poems. They revolve around the strive of man,
the love of man, the distractions of man, and then, the
desolation of man.
The day you learn to sell yourself without saying,
“Buy me” is the day you have been crowned king! I learned
that early in life. Today, I frame it in poems and stories, in
imageries and metaphors. Like a miner, dig into the words—
find water, find gold, and find the fire.
 I
When Brothers Fight

I have seen many yesterdays,

I have fought many enemies.
Although I did not win all the battles,
I have learned;
When brothers fight, the winner loses.

Hide your plans like a thief in the shadows;

Prepare your armour till it becomes full of bravos,
Take away your mask and face your mother’s child;
Let the world know you’re about to be a fool.
Because,
When brothers fight, the winner loses.

1
When a brother stabs his brother,
What is the color of the blood that flows?
Hell’s red? Or shiny sparkles of flaws?
Alas! Earth’s gloomy broom sweeps doom on your brows.
With that,
What is the pain that comes or the joy that crawls?

Now, laugh at yourself and cry while you memorise this:

“When brothers fight, the winner loses!”
Like Cain licking the blood of Abel,
Or Esau hunting the life of Israel,
It’s better
To argue with your lover than fight with your brother.

2
 II
I Did Not Become Wise by Chance

Oh, my friends,
I am sorry that I still live while you’re gone;
I should have died for the pain of losing you.

But I am stubborn,
and like Seneca,
I did not become wise by chance.

Here lies the old mat of love,

Whereon we laid and smiled;
And oh,
Here lives the old throne of trust,
Whereon my old friends and I sat.

3
Do you know Abraham Heschel? He’s an old friend!
When he was young, he admired clever people.
But now he’s old, he admires kind people.

I should have died when I lost him, but

I did not become wise by chance.

Do you know Aristotle? He’s an old friend!

He did not become a friend to all, because
A friend to all is a friend to none.

I should have died when I lost him, but

I did not become wise by chance.

And you too my friend,

Your definition of a friend dashed your expectations.

And yes,
I should have died when I lost you, but

4
My wisdom is not the grant of a wishing star,
Nor is it the luck of my forefathers.
I did not become wise by chance.

5
 III
Beautiful Distraction

You confuse me.

If I say I love you, I lie.

I lie to the gods because they know I don’t.
And I lie to men because they’ll see I don’t.

If I say you do not distract me, I also lie.

I lie to the gods—they know you’re a distraction to me.
And I lie to men—they’ll see I’m indeed distracted by you.

But you’re beautiful. A beautiful distraction.

Like a flower full of thorns, you ruin my horns;
You amaze my awe, yet I hate the sight of all.

6
What feeling is this? A prison or a garden?

Stay afar and I ajar.

Be my nightmare like you’ve always been.

I’ll live to remember how your claws found my flaws
Be there—just a distraction. But stay beautiful.

When I’m far away from you,

I see you like the Eastern sunrise
When I come close to you,
I see a burning blaze waiting to eat me up.

You’re like a demon’s wine,

Sweet in mouth but bitter in my belly.
My beautiful distraction, like a zoo full of the wild,
You are an attraction.

7
 IV
You Left Me So

It’s been pain, penury, and more ever since you left me. So,
If I could write a thousand poems, I would gladly write them.
But if you don’t understand my silence, how can you
understand my words?

What happened to the fights we won and the oaths we’ve

sworn?
What happened to the points we prayed—in the warring days
we slayed?
My friend, I now doubt your first love because of your last
move.

Who’s to blame for this love that has become so lame?

8
Your presence makes me bold, but your absence makes me
cold.
It would have been better if I had never known you,
Because there is a pain in my heart, ever since you left me so

9
 V
The Old Song of Ararat

The closer I look the far I see the fallacies of the Pharisees;
The lies they tell and the beliefs they believe;
The stories they tell and the moons they count.

So, this is the genesis of the genetics—it is all nemesis.

The consequence of these coins in text is: ‘the death of man
is the gate of man’s actual life.’

This life is everything but life.

Man’s life is everything apart from life.
It is a cycle of doom! A queue for death!
A bunch of elements floating in wait for termination.

10
But when we die, what next?
A judgment of beliefs or an explanation
To all that we thought we knew?

Listen. Alas! There will be a prince

Who is King, A Man and Spirit,
Seated to sit and un-sit victims and villains.

Listen as he sings the old song of Ararat:

“Whoever denies El shall die”
Listen with one question in mind:
“Who but none can before him lie?”
Before him shall flee all that flee,
And He shall live, never to leave all in him.

Sweeter than the chants of Armageddon are

The sound of his feet slapping the bloodied ground
In His hand, the sickle of harvest—harvest of the earth
Too. Renounce Him not—
King of the Jews; Saviour of the Few, do not be confused.

11
This is the old song of Ararat and this, the last paragraph:
A call to all aside from none,
And a cry to all, beside no fun
The end is near and it begins here!

12
CONCLUSION

Here, I’ll borrow the words of a brilliant writer, Destiny

Aguma: “An intelligent man understands all that is said, but a
wise man figures out what is unsaid.”

May you, dear reader, figure out all the things I did not say in
this book.

Peace!

13
 About the Author

Born on 30th March in the latter part of the nineties, EB hails

from Jaba Local Government of Kaduna State. Elisha Bala
received basic to tertiary education in Kaduna State, Nigeria.
He obtained a Bachelor’s degree from ECWA Theological
Seminary, Kagoro, and a Certificate in Entrepreneurship
from Pan Atlantic University.
He is married to Favour and currently works with
ECWA Kaduna South District Church Council (DCC).
Widely known as EB, his fascination with art manifests
through written and spoken-word poetry, storytelling and
writing, public speaking, and music.
His first book Proxy was published in 2021. In 2022,
he contributed to the anthology Candles in the Dark. In the
same year, his debut spoken-word album Incarnation came to
the limelight. His works are available for sale and streaming
on Amazon, Okadabooks, Selar, Audiomack, YouTube, and
other digital stores.

14
He is currently the C.E.O. of EBink Worldwide. EBink
Worldwide runs the EBink Writers’ Academy, an academy
that trains writers for skillful professionalism in creative
content creation. He has received recognitions, nominations,
and awards, from JOGAMA Green Awards and Christian
Kingdom Awards, and their likes.
He has partnered with these organisations: Poemify
Publishers, 24hype, Punchline Poetry Society, Eboquills,
Wrytters Laureate Incorporate, Alewahouse, The Momentum
Tv in Russia, Ukiyoto in the Philippines, India and
Dooleybooks in the United States of America.
Elisha EB Bala has had interviews with the Daily
Trust newspapers and other credible media houses. Some of
his prominent works are: An Eye, Whistles of War, A Forest
of Ten Demons, Here’s Why I Love TY, I May Forget, The
Rise and Fall of Juliana Mensah, Guilty, and Innocent.
Recently, he was featured on the track “The Last Killing” by
rapper Jeremiah Spokesman Aluwong in the album Truth Over
Peace.

15
Author’s contact:
Facebook: Elisha EB Bala
Instagram: @elisha_bala
WhatsApp: +234 704 536 7248
Medium: Elisha EB Bala
YouTube: Elisha EB Bala

16
More From the Author

All published on Medium:

1. “Son of Adam”
2. “A Stupid Poem”
3. “Have I Lost You?”

17