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June 14, 2012
Now the bells are tolling –
a year is dead.
And my heart is slowly beating
the Nunc Dimittis
to all my hopes and mute
yearnings of a new year.
And ghosts hover round
dream beyond dream
Dream beyond dream
mingling with the brightest gleam.
Bell-sounds fading
into memories
like rain drops
falling into a river.
And now the bells are chiming –
a year is born.
And my heart-bell is ringing in a dawn.
But it’s shrouded things I see
dimly stride
on heart-canopied paths
to a riverside.
COMMENTS ( 5 )
December 05, 2018 06:50
Gabriel Okara, one of Africa's very best. For me, he sits just below Chinua Achebe himself on the poetry shelf, with his descriptive power.
June 27, 2014 18:24
Why? African culture, so interesting, somebody should tell me and lets enjoy it.
January 01, 2014 06:01
[…] Read full Poem […]
January 14, 2013 23:56
[...] all my hopes and mute Yearnings of a new year. And ghosts hover round dream beyond dream —“New Year’s Eve Midnight” By Gabriel [...]
Hope January 03, 2021 13:34
"Now the bells are tolling – a year is dead. And my heart is slowly beating the Nunc Dimittis..........., And now the bells are chiming a year is born. And my heart-bell is ringing in a dawn. But it’s shrouded things I see" What an apt description of the realities of cycles of life.