Lifespeech

You tried.

2020-08-13T13:02:00.001-07:00

You sat and watched the dusk slip into darkness. This change reminded you of the past month. The spark and embers of affection had played games with you and defeated you. Before this heartbreaking play, you had thought if the effort was worth it. You dived in.

She had asked you for a visit to her place. You obliged, glad to leave your home for a long walk to freedom. What freedom? Your doctor had advised you three weeks ago to exercise yourself often. This is a chance!

You got there, initiated intimacy but she declined, putting it off till two days later. You went again but saw her being queried by her father for coming home later than usual. You could only pass by. A wasted walk, you thought to yourself. Again, you were there but had to stand in the street for an hour waiting for her. She had dragged you there with a promise to tell (or was it ask) you something. She only showed up to check something from your phone and disappeared again. You were again a disappointed lot.

She said she'd visit you some days before her birthday but there was no sign of her. She had gone elsewhere instead. No value, nor respect, you thought. You even half-heartedly believed her when she said so. You thought again, "Can this work? Let's see".

You kept visiting and waiting near her house. She would come later and disappear too soon. When she showed up, she would ask you to help and you would. You would ask her to help do some things but she would refuse, evading it instead. She was like another who you lived with, a sister to you, so she called herself. That 'sister' would not dare to delegate duties to a younger sister to you, but an elder to her. 'Sister' would call you to give her things and do other things for her. If you ignored that, you would be tagged a lazy, old-fashioned, copycat. It felt like an obligation which you must commit to. Then you thought again, "Am I useless truly?"

You thought again that it seemed your thoughts were becoming futile. There were the signals. You were her pawn, her handsome puppet and she, the chess player and puppeteer.

There was news of earthquake on the TV. You were worse off. You had instead a heart quake and ache. The tremor rang through the past into that moment. You became deeply sad. If she saw you then, she would say you were on another fit of mood swings.

You decided you would stop chasing after them and see if they would turn back changed. You assured yourself of ignoring every negative comment about you. You knew this would work. How do you do this? You just have to try like you have tried to be vulnerable with them. Try!

SPECIMENS OF/FOR CHANGE?

2020-07-25T12:54:00.001-07:00

What's with the inconsistencies of life? How often have you wondered why the difference again? Do you also remember to wonder why not the difference? Do you also forget not to think about the boredom in sameness and repetition?

As learners of a language, especially the English language, we are often fazed with the changes that occur in it. We are disturbed by this current. We find it difficult to flow with the torrent of words we must get used to within a short time.

Is it about being fashionable and admired? We want to get it soon without a minute of thought whether it fits or not. Are we good enough to have it or should we hold on and watch others try it on?

Reflect on this: Are we just being humans or specimens of innovations?

Now, this: What if I give myself a break from this push and rush? Can it wait?

Inconsistencies are sometimes good for the fun of it. What spoils the fun is if it becomes a habit. We may get to wonder about a difference but better to wonder when it strikes us positively; it should lead us to reflect. Similar things become boring with time. That is why we crave for newness. This makes us specimens of innovations. By this, I mean we are innovations ourselves but in small deposits that grow when fed rightly.

However, we all want change but we are almost always unprepared for it. What then do we want? We want change! But not in a rush! We want a gradual change!

I still wonder why we want a change that much. We grow with it. We do not grow fast though. We are incubating as we adjust to it.

Now, this question begs to be answered. Why do we sometimes want a fast-paced change? We might be unreasonable with that. We should know that we can all change but at different pace.

So, change! Change at a comfortable but commendable pace. Do not be lazy about change. However, change positively.

Dear reader, a death to another birth is sometimes desirable if we get better after the rebirth!

A first fight...

2020-05-16T06:14:00.001-07:00

Bade relaxed on his settee in the living room. He's trying to keep cool since this place seems well ventilated. The heat these days is becoming unbearable. It seems the radiation from all over the planet is directed at his bedroom, in fact every room sparing his much larger living room.

Presently, he heard some voices threatening downstairs. He thought, They must have been well fed to still have the strength to shout this much. They're adding heat to this already inexhaustible one. What's their problem again?

The voices again, this time, louder.

"He's my front tooth! You deal with him carefully! Don't uproot him from me!" cried the woman whose only son was beaten by a neighbour.

"Will your son go about destroying things and not be halted? He has been on this act for a while and I've remained mute. I can't anymore! Not anymore!" The response.

"What if he does that? Can't you report him to me or caution him severely?"

"I've had enough of that! It's time to deal with him and I'll go on!"

"Oh! You can't! Not when I'm around at least. Not even if I go out and am told at my return. You dare not!"

"Oh! You're just ranting! You can do nothing. I will give you more than your desire! You don't dare me."

"Dare you? Were it not for my hubby who's been holding me back, I would have shown you the lot I'm made of, you this useless woman!"

"It's you and your husband that are shameless together with your son! Shameless lot!"

"Slut? You called me slut? God punish you there!" She advanced, then stopped abruptly. Remembering something. Am I a slut? Why respond to her when I'm not one.

"I don't have time for your insults today. You know you can't handle me if I start wih you. You know how tough it was separating us the last time I fought your stupid friend here. Beware of my anger. Beware!" She warned frantically waving her index.

"Come closer and I'll give you fire for fire, bone to bone and flesh to flesh. We'll see who'll bend for who! Aw! Come!"

"Again? A whore? You dare call me a whore? I've had enough of you. I need to shut your trap!" She thundered towards her opponent and aimed at her head with her fists, but it was blocked. Another one from the left. Dodged. They embraced tightly. Struggling to break free and deal a deadly blow, they were already panting.

Bade seems to have been fully convinced that there's a fight, got up hastily from the chair, missed a step and staggered forward almost knocking his head on the centre table. Then, he sat again. He decided against going to check on the fighters. Let them fight on. I can't kill myself.

Guard of Honour

2020-04-29T12:20:00.001-07:00

Many have defied running through this harmless gauntlet;

They fear the painless pain,

And reject the rewards of past pressures.

"To be guarded," advised the sages

"You must be guided by wits and whims."

For even the guards are guided by guilds.

This forced applause heralds the passage of champions

Who passed the test of the daunting task only

To be hailed by friends, frenemies and foes.

These are not like the jobless taskmasters;

Nor are they their ever-hungry lazy mouths.

No, they're hungry and thirsty for self-made wealth!

They're the never-fallen heroes of yesteryears

And the ever-present gems of our time

And the always reliable trustees of the future.

They're like us and they're we.

They were, we are and we both will be

If we remain one and undivided whole.

Let's separate in unity

And run through this deadly gauntlet

That we may walk through the guard of honour.

Thorny balls

2020-04-24T06:18:00.001-07:00

Thorny balls

Have not you pricked enough sages and youths and juveniles?

Our doors are wounded by your pitiless poundings.

Now, they remain shut and we short of lives.

Your steps are on the road not taken

while our hands tread not the forbidden body parts.

We will not be weakened by your war-rockets

for our sockets will outlive your sights.

Deplaning

2020-04-24T04:47:00.001-07:00

Deplaning

When shall we alight from this present bus?

We stare at the ceiling and count the times the fan blades whirr;

Waiting for the last call

To stop breathing...

No, we start breaking instead

under the weight of cries from gory scenes

acted by famished neighbours...

These beats remain unyielding, though flogged by fears and fate.

Our worms and the worms make calls and plan to connect soon

if we feed ours not.

When shall this army depart our defeated territories?

Is it when we light the Uhuru Torch by faith?

While we wait, I'll dance to the tune of 'e-go-better'

while we wait,...

A Government Driver on his Retirement... Enjoy the conversation here

2020-01-26T11:45:00.001-08:00

A Government Driver on his Retirement by Onu Chibuike

2019-10-06T14:20:00.000-07:00

"A GOVERNMENT DRIVER ON HIS RETIREMENT"
by Onu Kingsley Chibuike

Many years on wheels
In faithful service to his fatherland
Today retires he home
And a celebration he holds

5. Many years has he pummeled his boozy throat
In obedience to duty rules and regulations
Today, he'll go home a Freeman
Eligible for his country's services

9. "Come, friends, rejoice with me
I shall booze and zoom myself home
Away from duty rules
Come celebrate my freedom"
"Early to duty tomorrow holds not,
Thirty-five years of faithful services
I'll booze to sleep away my sufferings
Today I've long waited for"

17. More joy to send him home.
A brand new car in his name
An appreciative symbol
For undented thirty-five years of service to
fatherland

21. "Come, friends and rejoice more,
Joy till no more joy to joy
Today frees and makes me a king
My patience rewarded".

25. And so, he boozed and boozed
Celebrating the celebration of his retirement
From faithful service to fatherland
He battled with his bottle booze

On his way home on wheels,
Booze boozed his vision and clear judgment
He boomed his brand new car
And it sent him home
Home to rest in peace.

(7 Stanzas; 33 lines.)

The Forest Giants

2018-11-02T07:52:00.001-07:00

The forest giants
Are here,
In a loud trumpet
Is their arrival made.
The trees have fallen at their sighs.

They speak not with their trunks
But with tree trunks
For they wish to be heard more
With aid of trees as emissaries
To lands farther than voice could go.

The giant of the giants is here
And louder have the voices become
And more trees felled.

Our forests have become deserts
But our voices have been louder.

A brief on Hadiza El-Rufai's new and first book 'An Abundance of Scorpions'.

2018-06-23T11:44:00.001-07:00

The scorpions are the symbols of the many troubles a man encounter in life. Only that, this time, it is as experienced by a female protagonist in a northern setting.

Hadiza El-Rufai's book portrays a realistic view of life as lived by a woman in a typical patriarchal African setting. In it are the cultural elements of Northern Nigeria explored.

Though a first book, there is a careful look at the details necessary for a book to be appreciated positively. The first person narrative technique adopted brings the book closer to oneself and makes one wanting to ask if the experiences in it are the author's experiences. This question is one that she hates answering though.

One thing is however certain, an author cannot write without pouring a little of himself or herself into his/ her work(s).

I've seen enough

2017-07-20T00:13:00.000-07:00

I've seen enough,
Enough of the red water
That runs in human veins.
Enough to last me a lifetime
Have I seen these days.

We are at war
Not physically embattled maybe
But psychologically so.
For our minds are troubled
And our lines have crumbled
Beyond repairs so.
Our hearts want out
Since we now speak in divided tones.

Harmony is lost
Succour is sought behind the borders.
Our music is the slashing
Death throes are the back ups

Since they couldn't help, let's
Help ...
For survive we must
Whether singly or unitedly laughing.

DATE OF BIRTH

2017-04-17T08:08:00.002-07:00

To he who falsifies you, falsifies not you but his existence. He has doubted his birth. His mother never conceived him nine months earlier.
The labour pains and cries were not heard that night of birth. God had not helped in bringing him forth from his mother's womb. There had only been a comic representation of his genesis in that Birth Certificate. He has lied to the world that he was not born that day. His life had been a falasy all along. He has denied his age and annual achievement.
For what? A cheap position or attainment? At the expense of eternal life? Since his temporary pilgrimage on earth is false, eternal abode is a non-existent for him.
Once more, what has he done?
If educated, he has denied the class lessons and lectures his teachers had given him on some particular dates. The engagements, stress and activities of some days had never been.
If parents allow this, then they have proven what ingrates they are to God for safe delivery on that night of birth. They have also denied God's blessings. Then they are false. For false begets false, and counterfeit, counterfeit.

My thoughts on 2015

2015-12-31T09:05:00.001-08:00

Having read and seen several posts, I will say
2015 has been a year of great experience.
Some of which flows into the new 2016, some
which are gone with it, some which will still
go and some which I will rely on to function in
2016.
I have traveled my farthest distance,
Stayed my farthest from home,
Taught in the highest secondary levels
For the longest as well,
Frowned, smiled, giggled, played,
Watched, slept, prayed, sang,
Whispered, screamed, danced,
Hoped, found, lost,
Bought, sold,
Researched,
Rehearsed,
Conversed,
Thought,
And here I am
At the tail of a long 2015
Looking at the head of a 2016
Hoping for a fresh start
Still hoping and hopeful...

A Mother's Love

2015-07-29T14:35:00.001-07:00

A mother's love
Stronger than assassins' love of murder
Singly she bore me
Multiple she fed me grow
No thought of hatred is for her
For in her restrictions,
I am created to expand in future
Tough is my childhood for my manhood to be softened and swiftly soaring
Her thoughts is my great tomorrow
Her words are blissful prayers to smoothen rugged terrain of struggles
May not be there in cash but is on knee
Asks after me when all forget to
Labours for my meal in alien climes
I love her, no, you for you are my counsellor, pastor, cook, first wife, nurse from past and still is.

We and the irresponsible leaders

2015-06-16T11:13:00.001-07:00

Bidding a bye to some crops of wealth-fattened 'failed homosapiens and a welcome to the power-hungry wealth seekers make us irresponsibly responsible. 'Spare the rod and spoil the child' has made us to strike with the rod and kill the child.
Are we the confused or confusion itself? In their adulthood (the leaders), they grew up irresponsible from our negligence of responsibility. Are they the irresponsible or we?
If us, the good Book says 'wherein have we robbed thee? In tithes and offerings' 'And now we call the proud happy; yea, they that work wickedness are set up.' We have eaten the courage of the fearless and drained the philosophers and intellectuals of wisdom and creativity. We have robbed ourselves of growth. Our tools of experiment have made us puppets and became our puppeteers. We have almost blown our eyes and lungs out in keeping the fire of development burning even while using wet logs of firewood.
If them, our icons have chosen for themselves leaders of falsehood, throwing us out of deliberation for our future. They are here with the fainting sounds of promise. Our forebears in position have laid a legacy they have only worsened.
They now think 'a ti k'oje bo oloosa lowo o ku baba eni ti yoo bo' (we have put the beads on the ritualists hands, it now remains the father of who will take it off his hand) even while sitting on the throne of tyranny.
But we say:
Chosen are they
Who even kingmakers war on their choice
Who dole out punishment but lacking in self control
Whose past questions their next hour
The journey of who has set ablaze
The fiery anger of feet stepped upon in answer to past revenge
On whose head the market square shouted for nonchallance
In whose ears ring warnings against collapse and failure

Tension: Lack of Respect

2015-03-26T03:55:00.001-07:00

Sitting alone improves one's relationship with oneself. It helps to meditate on his life: past, present and future. I feel tension now in the air besides election and scarcity of economic tools: electricity, money, water, etc. and increase in prices, theft, heat, etc. That which I feel is tension of the spirit. My spirit alongside the spirit of godly Christians feels tensed. It is like a war between flesh and Spirit as it is written.
Things keep getting worse. Respect, hard-earned and forced, is thrown out of the window, swept out of the house, blown away with every breeze of storm, buried deep beyond reach and hung in the space where no rocket or aircraft can touch.
In schools, teachers are warring against students' immoral and bad conducts. Students on their part are highly reluctant in dropping them. They argue against such dislike and try to prove silly points.
In churches, pastors are seen rebuking the ignorant and wilfully hard-hearted members and workers. They get sorely displeased at every nonchalant action of leaders of departments and groups. They are pushed to almost cursing, excommunicating, dissolving and even expelling offending parties. They seem to be losing grip of sane and godly acts among the members. They weep at heart and even cry physically at this decadence and absence of the 'right'.
In homes, abominable acts and expressions are dethroning parental instructions and exhortation. Elders are gradually being relegated to the lowest background while the younger siblings can 'do' and 'undo'. The lifetime of a family seems to be going in the anti-clockwise direction. Happiness is cut short when scoldings rear their heads. The joy of being a parent or an elder is drastically drained from family set-up.
The elders are sometimes pushed to the wall before reacting; the consequence of which may be condemned by the public. Even the respectful elders are having their boxes of disrespect. It is true that a respectful person ultimately becomes a respectable personality but this happens only in a sane society.
Discipline is nicknamed or misnamed 'strictness' by the culprits. Social gatherings often only touch on these things without necessary actions. It is these that even promote the abnormal growth of youthful exuberance.
Will we ever be free from these? Are these meant to tempt, try and test the offended and evoke meaningful actions? Are these days just passing by like a dream? Will we wake up from such nightmare? Is there the need to compromise for 'peace' to reign?
I think the answer to these questions is NO. We only need to continue, as elders, to improve on ourselves maybe they, the younger ones, will look on us and follow our legal, moral, loyal and godly examples for a better relationship.

Election

2015-02-28T13:15:00.001-08:00

What is election?
Is it not a united people's choice medium? Hardship on the Mount of Compulsion signals your reign.
We are left baffled to toil and tread on the prickles poured on the selfish route of the incumbents. The honey-coated oration of the propagandists beckon on us to stir up from slumber of yesteryears and grope into the dark unsure future.
Some vote in sentiments, others in spite.
Some seeking to sit on the fence found their buttocks seethe with unfavourable negligence. We think 'are we to start again or continue in penury?
Do we choose the unknown newness or the known continuity?
What are the supernatural beings thinking of us? Is our future not washed down the drain built by the gerontocratic personnels?
What are we? Puppets or puppeteers?
We have unsaid thoughts on if our choice will be selected by the selfish philosophers in government.'
Think and thank your thoughts afterwards if good.

Still on the stage?

2015-02-18T10:59:00.001-08:00

Ask yourself this as i am asking myself now.

Theatrically, am i still on the stage of fame?
What role am i playing presently?
Am i changed by surrounding phenomena or non-responsive to them?
Do i still remember my lines well enough if not perfectly?
What stage am i(climax or anti-climax)?
Who is my director, i or another?
How do i respond to my director's instructions? Do i deserve an applause or better still an award for my part?
Will my role be remembered long after i have left the stage, will i be named after that?

The Book of Life

2015-02-15T05:52:00.001-08:00

The only Book not published by man.
Written by only God and kept as the Most High's only Beloved Library.
Heaven's only righteous Library.
It is not a scroll of papyrus, not written with a pen or printed by a machine.
The contents can be deleted at will with no traces. The Book of Love (God) written with no sentiment or partiality.
The Greatest Book after the Bible is gone.
The Finished Product of the Bible.
The Register of the Righteous and Saints marked only once, in which there is no one absent- all present.
The Container of Citizens of New Heaven and New Earth.

We walk long

2015-02-11T00:14:00.001-08:00

We walk long
For we want more
Till the road not taken we reached
But which they have flown over
We tred in pain over the leaves
Whose dried bones crush under our feet
seeking the broken bricks of yesterday's mistakes
On which we can hop
And arrive Tomorrow's town of succour.

2015-01-25T12:09:00.001-08:00

Beneath the sun spreads a day Under the moon hides the night Staring up at the stars is the lurking dark Beyond words breathes feelings Of an action is a gesture In a heart is a belief Same as a leaf shudders in cold embrace of gentle breeze A written thought is kept only if the book burns not A focused one is engraved on the rock of mind A friend it is Who though is free to rend the heart Deems it fresh to end the dispute in troubled minds of both.

Havingthismindset

2014-08-01T23:59:00.001-07:00

I live in two cities which are The Graceland and the City of Refuge. One is God's Love in that while I was yet a sinner, Christ died for me. The other is God Himself since I live in Christ and Christ in God. Halleluyah!

Aluta May 21, 2014

2014-05-22T12:50:00.001-07:00

'Embus!' was the alert 'Disembark!' was the notice Aluta was the mission Road block was the tactics A long walk to freedom park was the aim Unity in movement was the strength Songs were the ritual and interlude of every intermission 'Studentship' and peaceful protest were the security Allegiance and obedience were the compass of every passer-by and on-looker. Aluta continua! Victoria aserta!

Bringbackourgirls

2014-05-21T23:56:00.001-07:00

Blood pours from her heart through her eyes In hunger, she casts lustful glances at the withered grasses that served her couch. Her bed is empty and moaning her missing weight on it. But she wanders in thoughts Through hopeless deserts Swam the non-finite streams Seeking proximity with her progenitors' quiet cry But still drifts further from the hut of hope. ‪#‎ bringbackourgir ls‬

SEA

2014-05-11T15:57:00.001-07:00

Multiple ridges of liquid pictured the frontage before land In a never ending Trojan-Grecian race to battle The sea engage its shore with its many attacks Scandalled feet strive with the intruding sands for a safe return to and fro the shore Your watery rise-fall walls, o sea, are projects not researched For deceitful constructs are they.