Matthias Pantaleon

Biography: Playwright | Poet | Lyricist | Hymnist | Stage Director| Art Connoisseur | Entrepreneur

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Matthias Pantaleon
Friday 8 January 2021

Quotable quotes

I did not put you in an ashtray as claimed. I only set an ashtray in front of you, just in case you needed a heat resistant to hold the ash and butt of your temperament.

-Matthias Pantaleon



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Matthias Pantaleon
Friday 8 January 2021

Imu mechien

Imu mechien 🖤

My wind chimes

you are my life's energy 

the fair share 

in my lowest moment

formidable height

the most I eke out of life



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Matthias Pantaleon
Saturday 18 April 2020

Abiodun

We'll meet again, sometime in the future
I hope to see you grow more flesh on the cheek
We'll reminisce, discussing popular culture
I hope you find in abundant, the good you seek

No termite will eat from your basket of harvest 
Your field will know no drought in dry season
No tyrant will lord over you, not even the fiercest
Your field will be green beyond comparison

They'll watch you bloom those who seek your ruin
Heaven saves; you'll be immune from untimely end
They'll show hate, whereas their fate will rot like coin
Heaven sake, do not hate your enemies, don't intend

Riches born of Heaven are yours for keep
Malice born of jealousy are theirs to steep


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Matthias Pantaleon
Saturday 18 April 2020

The Sonnet

Dear brother, sister, can you see the light

Or is it only darkness you can view

A wretched ship that sails into the night

With only ghosts aboard to serve as crew


Each time you wish me ill or show your hate

Ill love you more by gift of Gods own grace

And gain the riches born of futures fate

While you will simply add to your disgrace


My mind will flourish like abiding sea

While yours will darken like the deepest night

For I will find the fortune meant for me

While hatred keeps you from enduring light


The seeds you sow have prices that are steep

When rotten fruit is all that you will reap



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Matthias Pantaleon
Saturday 18 April 2020

The Light Over Andoni

The light over Andoni rises from mellow sky

When it glows; it's softer than shine

When it shines; it glitters upon its isles 

that's scattered side by side

 the mangrove swamps like lotus to the world

Exceeding the wisdom of men 

and slippery wits


Andoni of broken chains

moulding ethos and cuddling silence

That ample crown her apple reach and mehr

Andoni of fierce warriors

shouldered victories and boisterous conquest

Land of many a birth

many a brith 

and glitz of dancing wavelets washed ashore

My thoughts drift to you every now and then 



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Matthias Pantaleon
Saturday 18 April 2020

Change

Change is the clarion call we desire most
The change is here, the mask remain the same
Three masquerades with nine heads and one eye
Siege with complexities, blur vision, short sighted
 
The change is here, the mask remain the same 
Dancers with weak limbs and unresponsive neuron
Who dare call a spade a spade risk being pierced
I risk it; subtract one from five lines to get a stanza

Dancers with weak limbs and unresponsive neuron
They neither change steps nor follow the band leader
A troupe of sorcerers experimenting with old magic
They dominate the dance floor with tired achy feet

They neither change steps nor follow the band leader
With every step forward they pull us down the ladder



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Matthias Pantaleon
Saturday 18 April 2020

Port Harcourt

A cliff of height
Overlooking the bight of Bonny
Prized by a maze of creeks
Coastal-plain overflowing with honey
Hovering with wild dreaded bees
Your riches inspire awe, even fear


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Matthias Pantaleon
Saturday 18 April 2020

It Is Futile To Sneer At Alaké

Don't speak ill of morning dew - it will soak you
The railway is mute and narrow but it's ahead of you
Don't hurt a nightingale - night rain will soak you
Miles are long empty roads but they are ahead of you

You may be the captain; still, the yacht is above your head
Look at the flags, and realise they're above your head
It's futile to sneer at Alake*, nature places him above you
Look at the gold crown, and realise that he is above you

It's only natural that the cloud is above your head
Don't talk down on the crown; it's above your head
Look at the mountain and realise that it's above you
Rainwater flows in the gutter, look up, it's above you

You may grow diamonds and harvest same in September
You will never be famous like raindrops in December


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Matthias Pantaleon
Saturday 18 April 2020

I Won't Forget You Even If You Limp

The old anchor lay waste at sea, plague with rust
As the tide reaches its thigh, higher it goes
Nightmare hunts its shank, for it lays idle in seabed
Still, it never forgets how to keep a ship stable

You are the old anchor that keeps me afloat
Now, you cannot keep yourself from drifting
Mist and moist makes beauty pass for beast
I will remember you for your steadfastness

For my heart follows where the sun cruises
Up to the point where it bends into the mangrove 
I'll wait for you where the tide and shore kisses
And the wavelets somersault like goldfishes

Do not somersault out of your own skin
I know that ghost; the hale and the shame
Life owes nobody; expect no ale, no horn
And there would be no wild goose chase

Instead of fighting with battered ego
Make peace with you. Amend your excesses
In the end, there will always be surplus
Let me tell you something you already know 

Life is not fair - I got a fair share
Compared to the risk of living
My share is not proportional, however 
I'm grateful - a slice is gracious plenty

You have to survive Armageddon, 
To be named a veteran
Learn to live one day with a clear head 
Survive night rain, but

If you come to misfortune as I feared
Losing your boathouse and ships to loan shark 
I will never keep my ship from your island
And I won't forget you, even if you limp


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Matthias Pantaleon
Saturday 18 April 2020

Glory

Holy don't live here no more
These days they desecrate temples
With unholy verses like the other room and python dance
If glory were to be human 
She did wear burnt cologne like our priest

If it wasn't for heights 
Plain lands won't feel so low
Got awkward feet; the miles ahead seem weird
Nothing wages power in this changing time like rolling dice
I keep telling you to seize the moment
Because yesteryears beget stillborn
This is for the passing years  
The time when we had nothing to fight for
These days the sun sinks faster
We backbite; twice as swift

Lets not talk about the crown
Sometimes we crawl in anticipation of fear
I ate mine for lack of bread
Kept the Bible close because some pages cannot be ripped

We cannot build castles on our own graves
Or tell bedtime stories with grief-stricken tongues
Truth told in haste is short-lived
Whereas lies are tailored to outlive time

You are the shrine that housed idols
I, for one, dislike paganism
Thus, the opening passage that refused editing
I am like an epilogue without full stop
Simple diction, singular tense, single line space

The tulips that must grow well 
Must first be well
I drank wellness to the brim
Problem is, there is none I can think of
Except the life that I now lead

Here is to the glory we never had
It takes round peg to fit into round holes
We are like cone and pentagon forced into a square hole
And this mess, is what we make out of our miserable lives
But, I refused to be mistaken for garbage

Thus, I went west
Led by North Star
To eke a living out of plenty
You stayed behind
Perhaps to reply the letters I never wrote
How could I have written you
With all those distractions and ghosts from your quarters
It takes four feet to crawl and two to walk
I neither crawled on broken limbs nor walked on tired heels

This is what we make of life
Lets not talk of thrones
Some kingdoms are not of this world
I run with horsemen for lack of unicorn
As God is my strength, I overstretched the gap

Heard you became a rain maker  for lack of dreams
Well, night rain cant put out my flames
You may want to go back to the drawing board
We are never too old for white chalk and blackboard
Except that time makes the heart of the wicked dark to new lights
In the same vain you set fire to my repository
You should know that some inks stain beyond the surface
And no matter what happen to my grades
I will not repeat this class with a broken slate



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Matthias Pantaleon
Saturday 18 April 2020

1914

In the beginning 
They borne us a little rusty
Tales of honey inspired their grinning
Ungodly lust, smirking dusty

Tales of woes are broadsided
They pack too many lies in one basket
Fairies to make us blindsided
We can tell the click of a loaded musket

Ball change, marriage offered
We declined. No ballroom dancing
Musket clicking, decision not altered
They wed us in proxy; back pacing

Bouncing forth in malice
Suitors with scary faith 
Wedlock of unequal allies
Begets unimaginable fate

Indescribable hate arouse
Wife battery, emotional rape
Less a neighbour, lesser a spouse
Time only add injury to hope

Now, they wage unholy war
Cheap talk, lame law, crippled court
Girl child, suicide bomber in car
Talk tough, dead men don't count


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Matthias Pantaleon
Saturday 18 April 2020

To The End Of The World

Twenty seven years ago I was a child 
Perhaps I was five, or maybe lesser
And trotting than I should

Being the son of my father was a huge privilege
Long I stood on his wooden chair
Watching strolling clouds up their alley
But for raging storm they brace selves in sheer charm
Though, darker now, still, they stroll
To the end of the world, merging with the earth

I became part of the dark sky 
Perplexed, and pondering 
Just how much rain droplets
Is too much for their dainty grip
Though I had no real answer
One thing was certain, in no certain way
Never to give up till the end comes
Then I climb down, but, never was my head

Upon the sacred altar of this resolution
I sacrificed youth to nourish soul
And someday, we too will come to the
End of the world; merging with the earth
Thus went the strolling cloud
And our fathers too, the crafted 
The legend and the fair minded

I will bake thee but this one song
Hope it find its way home to thee
Soft feel to tend thy knitting curls
No night shall beguiled thee or fair 
On bended knees shall mercy beckon
We are the kindred spirits, we carry
With us, the history of our own kind

To the end of the world
Where we'll merge with the earth 
And the sand of time - dust to dust


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Matthias Pantaleon
Saturday 18 April 2020

August Child

I, too, sponge-clean in the rain

I paid my dues in bits and pieces

Till it sums a heap of vale for the

Condescending sun to lay its head


Henceforth, let no man speak falsely

In any matter concerning his own shoulders

I bear on mine the threshold of continuance

Bringing gold and cedar into the land of our forebears


Burn down with the hay

Monument of oppression and segregation

The night shall put forth condemnation no more

And all shall be warm, who laboured in the rain


Earnestly

Shall I wait on the wheels of reality

For hearsay is a mottled fool with rough knacks

Usurp its soul

In its place yellow bells will chime, softly

Never again shall this child taste the sour


The bell tolls for the fairest child

Who bathe with bubbles of sunlight

And sponge-clean with warm thoughts

That hail meet and greet the fairest charm

As quail slide and gripe, and I spine down

I, too, have learned to sing the blues

August child






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Matthias Pantaleon
Saturday 18 April 2020

A Million Charms

If you love me
You must agree with my many flaws
Bend the sky
Just when I need to pluck a star or two

There are women the world over
In need of a knight in shining armour
However, I am only but one woman
Though lofty; in need of her own shield 

And whether I wear me a shield 
Or ride on the wings of my own courage
I would need no hand-holding
Over these plains, as I see before me

So, if you love me
You must respect my crown 
As I am bound by honour 
To respect yours
Treat me as an equal
Whether or not I bow
Before you as my king
Would be entirely my choice

And you must make me 
Your one and only believer 
Over a million heathens
In my darkest moment
You must stand in the light 
Right where 
I can see your hands of all hands

But first 
You must agree with my many flaws
Though I am but one woman
One woman with a million charms



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Matthias Pantaleon
Saturday 18 April 2020

Her Silence

All the jars of wine 
In his life cannot contain 
A drop of her inner beauty
So, he learnt to hold her hands
Knowing that her silence 
Loves him loud




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Matthias Pantaleon
Saturday 18 April 2020

Excuses

We have known us for too long
To be named strangers
How do we wake up each morning 
Knowing that we lied 
About who we are; what we feel for us
Consciously, or unconsciously
We allow passage of time 
Erect false wall between us
If you love me, even a little
There won't be so many excuses between us


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Matthias Pantaleon
Saturday 18 April 2020

Grachi

Fool, who told you 
I have stopped loving you
Stub your toe against 
A stone and see 
If I won't bleed


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Matthias Pantaleon
Saturday 18 April 2020

Keep Your Love Close And Your Sword Closer

Take care
The reason your heart beats 
When he wrap his arms around you
Is the same reason you cry
When he walks out of your life

Take charge
Be the reason why your heart beats
And do not give him power to hurt you
When you give a man reason to stay
He will find ten reasons to leave

Take heed
See the world, pray, eat and sleep
When you are ready to love, love fiercely
Let your man know that you are two things  
A lover and a fighter
Keep your love close and your sword closer







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Matthias Pantaleon
Saturday 18 April 2020

Dark

When I met you
I wasn't expecting too much
Still, I gave you my heart  my all
And in the event of a breakdown
I told you where to find the keys
In return, all I asked of you was 
Just a little faith and you gave me 
Hemlock for all my troubles



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Matthias Pantaleon
Saturday 18 April 2020

Only The Brave

If I were a flower
I would symbolise love
But, I would only grow
Among thorny shrubs
Only the brave should desire me


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Matthias Pantaleon
Saturday 18 April 2020

All My Loving

Do not make me lose sleep my darling

This woman that comes to you, loves

You in all the ways you cannot imagine

Treat me like a woman while I'm still here

Do not take all my loving for slowing

A woman is never slow with her heart


If I will stay awake all night, let it be me

Thinking about the butterflies you brought

Into my sunfield, even if I begin to imagine

Treat me like a woman while I'm still here

Do not take all my loving for slowing

A woman is never slow with her heart


Treat me right; reciprocate all my loving

Make me laugh while I still have the teeth

It doesn't take too much to love a woman

like me, so love me twice as right, darling

Fill my life with laughter; a woman like me 

is always looking for something to smile about


Reciprocate all my loving, it takes every ounce 

of strength in me to give a man so much




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Matthias Pantaleon
Saturday 18 April 2020

Heroine

We inspire peace when the world looks

In the way of chaos, dogs and baboons

Soak in blood

We are who bathe us in warm acceptance

Massaging steel egos with sheer humility

We are the stories on the pages of history

Building bridges with stakes of love

Infectious smiles, lungs full of laughter 

And undiluted happiness in the face 

of life's adversity

We are our own version of heroine

A story told and retold in hope of raising

Sheroes and defenders of peace

A woman's strength outmatches tyranny

Her voice echoes through the walls of time

We are even among equals



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