Tydale Abigail




Take Me To A Den
Of Colours

The burden of vision groans
In the confused hue lines of eyes-are-crying.
Take me to a den of colours
To see not the spiky stems
Of memories and sorrows.
Show me fields dressed with lavender and gazania
In colours graceful and royal as purple.
Find me wild plants laden with freesias and daisy,
Anter of marigolds dancing by the way,
Velvet touch of sand in the sun,
Caressing the sole of my feet
As fine air wraps iris with protea
And I swim in and out of pig face.
Let a host of sun flowers gallop
In blue skies pregnant with big fat clouds;
Birds singing,
Insects chirping,
Like a Christmas party,
Tease my brilliant imaginations
Through colourful afternoons
Bring hopes of eternity
In the den of colours
And live with them.
©Tydale Abigail.









Rise Up

You were there when the bustling wind travelled into the shores of your creek,
You were there when the angry mountains delivered its sands into your basin,
You were there when the tyrant rains beat your course with hail drops. 
You were there when hostile men paddled their heavy logs across the smoothness of your skin,
Still, you were there, when that unruly sun stole the sweat of your face into the cabin of its clouds,
You were there,
Buried in the veil of your own tears.

When hours heard the heights of your story,
Days dived into the dunes of your drowning sorrows,
Seasons sailed across the scripts of your growing sadness,
The sight of you, a pity to the dreams of your youth,
The town boy cried for he willed to see you rise,
You were there,
 Buried in the veil of your own tears. 

Now you stand on the pillar of time,
With your bed in the heart of the city,
You jump on the expectations of the crowd,
Not bothered by the rudeness of the sun,
'Cause at twilight, your glow is paradise to the eyes, 
You are here, 
Dancing in the flow of your fountain.

You've escaped from the mountain side to the centres of the streets,
You've stolen the people's hearts from the fog at the country side to the beauty of your being,
For the sun will never boast to rise up alone no more,
Neither will the wind feel it is the only lady that can make waves in the city,
'Cause you stand above the plains of the sky and the earth at dusk,
This is where you are,
Rise up! 
©Tydale Abigail.








The Prettiest Mammal
In The Wild

Mama told a story
When I was a child.

She said,
When you are a lady,
Never go into the wild.
There is only one prettiest mammal there;
Small and gentle. 

Lion kings spend hours running after her.
Cheetahs and bears would never surrender their quest either.
Even tigers do not rest their paws until she is taken. 

But when I asked Mama;
Is the prettiest mammal in the wild not a helpless prey?

No! She replied.

All the richest animals in the wild
Admire the meekness of the gazelle.
And with her innocent look and alluring horns,
She seduces the most revered beasts in the jungle.

So, the gazelle never rests 
As the animals ask;
"Will you marry me?"
Because she is the prettiest mammal in the wild. 
©Tydale Abigail.

Tydale Abigail

Tydale Abigail is a Nigerian historian and poet. She writes popularly on politics and leadership, African history and girl child empowerment, with a focus towards reconstructing a history of Africa in use of poetry. Tydale loves to draw and paint also. She lives in Calabar, Nigeria.