Author: westernwind24

a nature lover, a poet and spontaneous person

The Fortress

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I stand here, witness to a shelter God shaped
not from stone,
but from the quiet, patient ways He mended me.
A refuge lifted from the ruins of every moment
His mercy refused to let define my story.

For years,
I mistook strength for silence
but even the softest prayer can rise like wind,
and mine learned to swell
because God understood my trembling
before it ever touched my lips.

This place, His making
isn’t just somewhere to hide;
it breathes with the memory
of battles I thought would end me
yet left me standing.

Its doors hold the imprint of fears
my Father pressed into the past.
Its watchposts lean into the sky
because He has guarded both my midnights
and every new morning.

Do not call these walls fragile;
they were shaped by the One
who refuses to let my soul collapse.
Every beam carries His assurance,
every layer His voice
reminding me that surviving
is not disgrace, but grace.

I learned a fortress isn’t meant
to keep the world out,
but to remind the heart inside my heart
that it lives under His covering.

So I turn the lock on doubt
and pull wide the openings
where His Spirit enters,
letting courage breathe its way
through every hidden room of me.

So, If you see me standing higher than before,
it isn’t pride, it is gratitude.
Gratitude to the Most High
who raises me, and keeps on raising me.

For even iron can falter,
but the life held in His hands
learns to rise again and in rising,
His stronghold becomes my freedom.

UbdaPoet
©2025

Olorun Onile Oke

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Olorun Onile Oke
God, the stronghold
In a world full of threats
I call you my Abo Oke
The one and only high fortress

The lord my eternal refuge,
Olu ibi Isadi
Your everlasting arms O Tobi Ju

With it you thrusted
Out my enemies from before me,
You silenced the voices That cried out threats

The threats that threatened to break all hell loose until my back hits the ground

You stood your ground In battle until their strongholds did rattle,
Mighty man in battle

Jagun jagun segun
You broke the gates of brass and cut the bars of iron in asunder

At the sound of my cry,
You caused the foundations of the hills to move,

You heard my voice
And the earth trembled,
You kissed away the tears from off my temple

Apata ayeraye,
The rock of ages,
My help,
In ages past,
You bowed down the heavens and came down

And when the thick darkness surrounding me saw you,
It took flight

My high fortress,
Because I have you I don’t even have to fight.

Ebubechi
©2025

Consonance

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I dream of a day when my smile won’t be an illusion,
A day where there’s an alignment between my emotions
And the carvings they make on my face,
A day where my mind bears the fruits of joy and happiness,
A day when my soul isn’t a carcass infested by fear,
A day where my heart isn’t a timed bomb waiting to explode,
A day where my spine isn’t grabbed by anxiety,
A day when my scars aren’t just painful memories but wise lessons,
A day when my healing is the path for someone’s healing,
A day where the palpitations in my heart are from good news

So, while I wait for my dreams to hatch
Into a reality I can feel in my palms, I’ll wear this smile,
A smile that’s not the disposition of my heart
A smile to cloak the tremors of my mind,
I won’t lose sight of the hope I have in my Master’s Touch,
The touch that stopped the bleeding of 12 years,
That moulded new pairs of eyes for the blind
That will bring me to the day when my smile is not an illusion
But till then, I’ll sit here, deeply rooted in HIS word.

  • Olaoye Adeleye Emmanuel
    ©2025

Gone prodigal again

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_I did it again!_
Left my place of rest in search of fading bliss
I called ‘inheritance’ what was mere gifts
Dropped my daily routine to unwind with wild parties
Past achievements that have become ashes
I knew I was out of power but the fan’s still turning in my direction and it felt cool
I knew my embers were getting cold but I couldn’t resist the urge to dance without recharging and see what it felt like
I knew my  light was getting dimmer but I claimed I was shining in the darkness
Away from my Source
Away from who made me son
Away from my true inheritance
Away from my natural habitat

_I did it again!_
How can I face Father this time with shoes on?
How can I expect his forgiveness after the limit for a day?
How can I tell him his robe got torn?
How can I tell him the reason I am back was the memory of the tasty beef in my mouth?
That I want to be welcomed again?
That He was right and I lived wrong again?
How can I tell him I did it again?

Hannah DGinus
©2024

Forgive!

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Good day, friends,

Today, during our freestyle session, we fixed our gaze on
Forgiveness Benefits. Niel stirred the ship in the right direction with his words at about 9:09 AM. He wrote;

I forgive forgiveness
Left my cares on Jesus
Half a blunt discussion
I see no reduction

Enough eyes for the wrong head
Love max like the Lord said
That side that the Lord bled
Whose spear? We do not care
Monster, no be loch Ness
Get hurt and I get stressed
Choose light but I don’t drag
Love rice and I cook spag
I street light to the Most High
Most High!

Hot right? That’s the way we do things here and it was just getting better. Feast on the words Uba Isoje at about 9:42 AM.

Whose spear?
Definitely not Britney
My worship, beautiful symphony
My life, ain’t no phony
Whose Akon when you got the Holy Spirit
I ain’t lonely
Once life was Thor
I was Loki
A shadow of my identity
l just dey lowkey
Slowly, the word grew me
I live free, abba paid the fee
Remission to forgiveness
This Life now makes sense
Na why I dey follow gate
I no dey jump fence 路

Sleeky!!!! sleeky!!!!! Uba showed his prowess with the word play but Niel wasn’t done, read what he had to say to Uba;

I no dey jump first
Walk through the _waka’s_ circumference
I am a godly attendance
And I out-prance
The grudge nonsense
When I get bitter, I give space
Lord, when you talk am, the net flicks
Casting is wrong until God speaks
And I touch sticks with the future QuChi
God’s love is a call of duty

A blend of faith diced with features from the popular CODM, and no, he doesn’t play games, he’s into Anime. Niel’s word caught the attention of his friend, Mindsmith. This was what he had to say to him;

But this COD speaks heart shots
Burning like amazons kindle paper
Guided by abba, and if _uche bu akpa_ then sanctify this bag of thoughts.
Hurt and hurting but love be fronting
To err is human but bitterness? Never

I nor de jump fence, too heavy, na for this heart God love condense
Nwa the good shepherd, I sheep through life
So even with an abattoir before me, my ship too light
The ship na relationship with abba tor.

And the light? Na street light to the most high
Na Dutchman cos e too fly
Solar powered, my energy is from the son, so when I shine my light, forgiveness na the norm.

What do they say about friends that dine together? I will leave that for you to figure out. This was Niel’s reply;

Free kick, he kicked
I just frolicked
Hands on ploughs of Spirit profit
What is Whot when God has picked it?
Could have never gotten to the Niel on fleshy
Bless me with this
Love till it sticks

But peace
Be the reason that I get peace
Tell me tellings that will not cease
I been smiling in forgiveness
I am Jonah on a beach, please

I don’t know what Niel was on but it made him spit fire!!! I am sure that’s what caught Ebube’s eye.

I’m in great need of this love that forever speaks, 

That through blood stooped low and carefully picked.

This love need to stick so when I’m painfully kicked,

I just stylishly move
back to gather strength not to punch back,

But to smile and embrace JOHN, forgive JOY, infact forgive both and move on with ceaseless joy.

Women and love sha! But it was a beautiful piece! Don’t you agree? Mindsmith dropped his verse at about 1:28 PM.

Harboured hate hovered holding hand-held half-hostilities, having heads heavily hanging without humour

While
Actively aborting all attempts at attaining anthropomorphism above angels, avoiding Godhood altogether

And
Tactically turning tails towards the truth to tell tales that tore trails towards false teachings

Till
Eventually evading every expressive embrace, ending exemption from enmity

Because
Divisive decisions delayed doings driving divine deals down drains dug from delusions

And
Inciting inimical decisions indicting even I

But…
Err, err, even enemies endeared, every effort expended towards forgiveness

Now
Decisions decided, delusions divided, dutifully delivered daily till *hate died*

Mindsmith’s mind webbed words together to create a masterpiece but the best way to sure end the freestyle is to have UC Truth drop heavy bars. Don’t stay caged by his art!

“I for give” nothing.
Not a regret I ever want to have because I plan to die empty.

Unlike the first time when I died from an excess of pride. Was so full of myself.
Brim spilling guts of a broken man, a broken boy, a boy so broke he couldn’t pay anything. or anyone.

Attention was too much of a price for a mind that always wondered about the roads to tomorrow. Will there be a path after the curves beyond what I can see? Will I ever buoy or am I doomed to perish at sea?
Will my eyes blink success with every closing lid?
I needed to figure tomorrow today when the worries of today already had me bloated, yet my tomorrow was figure eight. Lean cow that will never swallow nothing, even if a seer dreamed.

My hope was Shapeless and I knew it, like the earth before breath spoke to form it. Like jollof rice turned to vomit. Hollow me had nothing to give.

So “I for give” is not what I want to ever say. When a need is to be met by someone i want to be there.
For giving will never go out of fashion, as long as long as mended spirits sew.

A few seeds will leave us a forest. Lives will be blessed by the shades we’ll spread.

But we’ll never see the need to be giving, until we understand how much we were given, when we got forgiven.

And that’s it! I hope as much as you have enjoyed beautiful words crafted into masterpieces, you don’t ignore the message buried deep in each word. See you soon!

Niel
Uba Isoje
Mindsmith
Ebube
Uc Truth
©2023

#FreestyleFriday, Forgiveness Benefits

Keep Beholding Christ

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Our focus creates our energies.
It acts, it spells our destinies.
Good or bad , holy or evil,
Our focus is the cause.

Estranged from God,
Descending into despair,
Unrest and faithlessness
Are all but effect of our focus.

Do not be a fool,
Suffer not unnecessary
Focus on the light
And darkness dispels.

Remember,
Your hope of glory
Keep beholding Christ.

Ugwu David C.
©2023