Enigma Poem by Chris Jibero

Enigma! Puzzle! Consternation!
Woman so alluring
so luscious, so tempting
a cocktail of intoxicants
and tranquilizers
fashioned from my disposable
bone
leaving in me a yawning gully
worse than Nanka erosion
that a united mankind salvation
effort cannot fill
with a billion tons of laterite.

Eternal void
keeping man in eternal search
for his match
that made herself a heater
for the cold bosom of the
deceiver-in-the-garden
that has turned my heritage
into a mountain that must
be climbed by even the cripple
due to Papa's unflinching love
for Mama
one in love and disobedience for
not even the fear of the owner
of their soul could put them asunder

How so close to the bosom
yet so far
so pleasant to behold
yet so scary like omehbeh
so supple and fragile-looking
but really is a galvanised steel
devoid of any atom of mud

Courted by many
and loathed by a few
because she makes and mars
a soothing balm to frayed nerves
a dispenser of cold pillow tears
a court steward serving both honey
and gall to kings and servants
in one deceptive dish
the very beckoning tomb and chain
of even heavenly beings
and hell's highway
for the gullible and ignorant
wisdom so dear is to master
you early in life.

(c) Chris Jibero.1999.