Don't say those things
It might hurt a friend

Don't do those things
It will break a heart?

No need going a million miles
To flaunt the beasts in us

You are right and no one cares
Let them be, *‘cause* Karma comes

Silence can screams and even saves the scene
Choosing it is always a wise choice

No need being devil's kinsman
We're all feeling beings

If you've got nothing good to say
My friend, shut your mouth and walk away

(no be insalt...na advice)

© Olatuja Oloyede
Pen Panther

Not the type of guy you like
My gait too dull for you
Rustles around my freckled neck
And blushes above my wrinkled face
A stuttering voice can sing no charming songs
But if I say I love you
Be sure I really do

Not your ideal man
Years at gym gave me no six packs
My muscles cannot move mountains
But can carry you when you fall

Not your real man
No mines, no mansion to flaunt
I'm saving for the raining day

All I asked is your broken pieces
I do not mean to start this war

While you wait your perfect man
Watch me as I walk away

© Olatuja Oloyede
Pen Panther

Timeless in glory
Endless in majesty
Uncreated mystery
Dwelling in unsearchable light
Redeemer of a shattered past
Wisdom of the age to come

All hail my Lord and King
The undying spring of peace
The oracle of excellent minds
The inexhaustible God
The beginning that begin before the beginning began
The ending that outlives the ageless eternity

I'm just a frail creature
Passing through time
Yet you send rain in seasons
To wash away my tears
Your sunshine blossoms my bud

The uncorruptible force of good
The benefactor of all existing things

This is a new day again
A generous gift to the undeserving world
I get busy a times and become ungrateful
But today
I won't forget to say thank you LORD

© Olatuja Oloyede
Pen Panther

*PEN PANTHER*

No naming ceremony when I was born
My father had the wealth but lacks the will
So they called me a name I love to forget

At 12 the priest gave them a word
This boy needs a deeper name
So father called a mammoth crowd
It was on market day in the city of hills
There a grand feast visited the world of men
And he calls me Oloyede
Meaning *The Wise One is Here*

I wasn't the best in my class
So I wonder why some fellas call me *Prof*
But that's the way it is with college folks
I think I prefer *Sapient*
So I crested that on one of my shirt

I belong to an aristocracy of poets
We wine and dine at intervals
As deep calling out to deep
There they recently named me *Pen Panther*
A name I love and intend to use
*ScarredPoet* (Oluwamarc) and *Eazyline* started it
And none of the hundred poets object
Not even *The Fighting Pen* my friend
Or *Theadvopoet* my cousin

Have I any right to call myself a name?
I will think of just one thing
*MYSTERY*
For I do not know who I am

© Olatuja Oloyede
*PEN PANTHER*

PERFECT LIKE THIS

I think life is heretofore fixed
What we do and who we are are scripted
By forces that never craved our consent

Look at the colour of my skin
Or the lines on your palm
The name, the gender, the home, the people, the nation
How many of these things was by choice?

If all flowers were roses
Where will the daffodils grow?
If all stones were gold
Where will those priceless diamonds be?
There is beauty in these differences
It makes the world colourful

The next time you see me
Do not remind me that my skin is black
My hair is tough and kinky I know
Don't accuse my stoutness
I am unique in all my climes
And perfect just the way I am

© Olatuja Oloyede