“Stay hydrated”

“Drink water and mind your business”
The beautiful river of my motherland
Now seems like a wasteland of hopelessness
My business, now more popular than bitcoin

I’m sorry if these waters taste like disappointment
But I won’t apologise for wanting more
I’ve been called worse than Oliver Twist
I’ve had five men in my bed, yes
I own my past, so stop slut shaming

I’ve had five men in my bed,
They all left with a piece of me
Now I live with Shame, our relationship is complicated
At least he’s better than Lust with his flowery words
Who took my innocence and a piece of my heart

Lust was better than Anger,
He sent my family packing
Anger was better than Desperation,
He stripped me of my sanity
Desperation sent me into the arms of Worthlessness

But we just didn’t last
I’d rather not talk about Self Deprecation
As pretentious as anyone with two first names
So I’m sorry the rivers of my motherland
Do not seem to be enough

I was content in my discontentment
Till I met him
As comely as the dew of the morning
His face bright as the sun
And his eyes stripped me of all my layers

When he spoke to me, I felt beautiful
He gave me water from the wells of His being
Then He asked me to bring Shame
And everyone else who’d made my business theirs
So I ran into town screaming

“Drink! Drink!! For out of my belly now flows, rivers of living water!!!”

Miracle Ifechukwu
(c) 2020

MERCY

First, Silence.
Complete tranquil silence.
Much like the peace in his voice
And the extravagant beauty in his eyes
When he spoke.
Blew me away.

Still, Silence.
Feel the time freeze.
See a thousand bearded jaws hit the ground.
Shock palpable. Eyebrows raised.
Like darkened clouds.

Now… rain.
First a drop. Another. Yet another.
Gathering pace. Pita-pata-piti.
Like ice against hard earth,
From a hailstorm out of season,
So their stones against the ground.

He Writes.
My name, maybe. Yours, maybe.
Or perhaps a million reasons why
Why I, undeserving, as I am,
Should, of mercy, partake.

Oh. Steps.
I never thought I’d hear it
Receding footsteps. With resounding eloquence
Speaking calm to my guilty heart,
Leading away my death deserved.

Silence. Again.
Complete tranquil silence.
Much like this peace in my heart
And the extravagant joy in my soul
When he speaks.
Blows me away.

Woman.
Where are those thine accusers?
Hath no man condemned thee?
No man, Lord.
Neither do I condemn thee.

Beauty.
Oh, what beauty without flaw.
Love. Like Mercy unmerited.
Pouring forth from God’s own lips.
Go, He says, and sin no more.

By Nonso

©2020

MOTHER

Mother of a god, how I birth is a mystery
I don’t need a sword no I cut with my future
Pharoah tried to touch us, I’m hurting that joker bad
Yes, I nurse the prince of Egypt, call me Jochabed

Uh!

Put that kid on the Nile
Pray that God has his time
Miriam keeping an eye
Aaron’s playing outside
Back to work in a jiff
Slave but low-key a priest
Well a priest of a priest.
Uh!

All I did was birth a knot in The Lord’s net
My Kid’s words sting, tell me what’s a Hornet?
Woman of Virtue, first you slave me then you free me
Shey the blacks have done their episode of slavery?

A Daughter of Zion, no be me go revenge
Through my kids I live on, life is about exchange.

The Niel

©2020

WOMAN

Woman:
Lord Lord, them a’ come against me oh
Wanna kii me, but they let my lover go
Trap for you but save me when you save yourself oh
Haters vex because there was a time I said No

Crowd: You say what!??!!

Woman:
Lord, Rabbi, I am sorry I don’t wanna die.

Crowd:
You whore sitting crying like we all care.
When we caught you you were lying like a blanket.
Shey you’re begging now?
Shut your stinking mouth.

Fornicating is bad
But adultery is worse…

Woman:
My marriage was arranged

Random man: You think that makes a change?

Jesus:
Taa
He, who has no sin…

The Niel

©2020

NIGHTMARE by Benjamin Skomorac

(Commentary by the Author Included)

With his mouth open with horror,
they run among
fragmented boulders of stones,
halfway between father and her,
little girls dressed in nothing,
terrified of strangers,
in the night while he forgets
toys somewhere;
as the father of the arrow,
which he throws straight into the sky
with a call for the innocence of suffering.

BOSNIAN TRANSLATENoćna mora

Otvorenim ustima od užasa,
Trče među
Rascjepkanim komadima kamenja,
Na pola puta između oca i nje,
Djevojčice obučene u ništa
Prestravljene od stranca,
U noći dok zaboravlja svoje
Igračke negdje;
Kao otac strijele,
Koje baca ravno u nebo
Uz doziv nevinosti stradanja.

COMMENTARY

The content of the lyrics of this poem hides many metaphors and hidden meanings. This means that the song Nightmare encourages thinking and searching for the deeper meaning of each word. Hidden motifs like “toys” or “arrows” paint the whole picture of trouble. Because of that, the song is called Nightmare. Father and daughter are the figures discussed here. The verses are sorted by pictures of distress. The song has a sad effect and a very important message for the whole world. Likewise, the verses mention innocence. So these people in the song are innocent and want justice for their people. In all this, the worst pictures are watched by children, watched by war, fighting and dying. These kids are dirty and hungry for the whole situation. Therefore, this is a message to the world that we need peace. We see tears and pain in the eyes of children. We are all sensitive to the baby crying that is painted in this song. Here we see salvation in a plea to God that can only help us deal with every problem. For the great God is always with us and always helps us in every trouble. That’s why we need to reach out to him and ask for help. Every believer knows that God always responds to our prayers. This song is a support and a strength for all the people in the world who are hungry and living a bad life! Emotions are stronger than any word!

Bosnian translation

Sadržaj stihova ove pesme krije mnoge metafore i skrivena značenja. To znači da pjesma Noćna mora potiče razmišljanje i traženje dubljeg značenja svake riječi. Skriveni motivi poput “igračaka” ili “strelica” slikaju čitavu sliku problema. Zbog toga se pjesma zove Nightmare. Otac i kćer su ovdje prikazane brojke. Stihovi su razvrstani po slikama nevolja. Pjesma ima tužni efekt i vrlo važnu poruku za cijeli svijet. Isto tako, stihovi spominju nevinost. Znači, ovi ljudi u pjesmi su nevin i žele pravdu za svoj narod. U svemu tome su najgore slike djeca, gledaju ih rat, borbe i umiranja. Ova djeca su prljava i gladna zbog cijele situacije. Stoga je ovo poruka svijetu da nam treba mir. U očima dece vidimo suze i bol. Svi smo osjetljivi na bebino plakanje koje je oslikano u ovoj pjesmi. Ovdje vidimo spasenje u molbi Bogu koja nam može samo pomoći da se riješimo svakog problema. Jer veliki Bog je uvijek s nama i uvijek nam pomaže u svakoj nevolji. Zato mu moramo pružiti ruku i zatražiti pomoć. Svaki vjernik zna da Bog uvijek odgovara na naše molitve. Ova pjesma je podrška i snaga za sve ljude na svijetu koji gladuju i žive loš život! Emocije su jače od bilo koje riječi!

by Benjamin Skomorac
(c) 2020

Trojan

I do not have a face to sink a thousand ships
Nor a jealous lover the size of Greece
But I came bearing a gift
the penultimate one

A two edged sword and fancy words
Add a message from Jehovah
Those were the parts of my trojan horse

I do not have a face to sink a thousand ships
Nor a jealous lover the size of Greece
But a slice to the gut and the king lay dead
A message from Jehovah I had delivered

You don’t look a gift horse in the mouth
They’d all said
But this time they were wrong.

Miracle Ifechukwu
(c) 2020

MONTH OF MAY

In this month, you shall glare
Like the flash of a sparkling ray
Your day of grace: everyday
You shall run without relay
And arrive with no delay

Thousands of nay,
Won’t stop your yeah
Your past story, got no say
But your glory shall display
Divine favour in your way

As the sun comes with a stare
Graze the field, make your hay
Write your goals on a clay
As you run, watch & pray
And you’ll see it come to stay

Your hardwork must surely pay
At the end, your back shall lay
On green pastures in a bay
This is your season, this is your year
Welcome to the month of MAY.

Happy New month!

King Uwe
(c) 2020

reVERSED: The Life and Times of Jesus

What if someone from the life and times of Jesus sends a poem to you today, detailing his/her/its first-hand experiences with Jesus?

Would you like to read?

Well, imagine our surprise when we found these poems in our e-mail boxes.

Trust me, you’d love to read these.

Click this link to download.

‘Nonso John
Editor