A LETTER TO MY OLD RUGGED CROSS

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Dear old rugged cross
Blessed are you among wood and timber
Because on you rested the greatest sacrifice ever
On that night at Golgotha
On you was my Jesus crucified
And now I stand justified
Before the God of my salvation and life

Dear old rugged cross
It hurts to tell you that many are lost
And those who remain cling to a civilised cross
They have forsaken the ancient landmark
While on a self-satisfaction task
Ignorantly falling to damnation on a fast track

Yes you may have seen some violence
But not as much as there is in my presence
For the love of men wax cold
And iniquity is in abundance
The time of true faith fades away
And religion, false belief finds its way
And unfortunately, the Christians refuse to take their place

I must confess you are quite heavy
And I might stumble and fall on this journey
But all my cares on Jesus I lay
Dear old rugged cross
On you, I sacrifice all my flaws
As I wait for my Lord’s applause

Yours sincerely,
The Young Believer


Ezeonyeka Godswill
(C) 2011

Chief’s son

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Imagine just for a moment
That father and mother had tossed you
Because you hurt them to immeasurable lengths
Imagine you became an orphan and you deserved to

An orphan on the street surviving
You make a habit of peeping into Chief’s house
You know you shouldn’t, but you just want a glimpse
Of life, of everything good on the other side of this wall

You imagine if you could get a job
You will prove yourself worthy of existing so close to Chief
You daydream of seeing Chief smile and hand you a bonus loaf
Working for Chief would be everything, but you have nothing

The least in Chief’s house outranks you
You have a stained history, and your skills fail you
Chief is kind but the worker must earn the pay he is due
Your orphaned soul sighs as your hope dies anew

Now imagine Chief finds you at your spot
Seems unlikely but what if Chief took you to the other side
What if Chief announced to everyone your speedy adoption?
What if you went from orphan to son in the shortest possible time?

Imagine the servants’ puzzled faces
The ones you envied now wait on your next command
Imagine your shock as Chief takes you to your own spaces
You can feel your lack disappear as Chief holds your hand

Chief invites you to walk with him
Chief says he has grown to love you
Chief has given you an inheritance of all that is his
Chief has made your life completely new

Now stop imagining, the moment is gone
Chief is still in the room, he still wants to adopt you
You don’t have to stay orphaned in this world alone
Take Chief’s invitation, your transformation is due

You don’t have to work for this
But you will learn to walk with Chief
And when you taste the goodness that Chief brings
May you never think you earned this

– Ezeonyeka Godswill
(c) 2022

Words for My Father

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Baami,
For the times your words enveloped my fear,
Times your voice echoed courage into my soul,
And you became strength for my arms,
When the weight of the world became too heavy for me to bear,

Nna,
You built an image our lives could reflect on,
And carved words into pointers to guide us,
As we journeyed through the world,
You denied yourself of pleasures,
So we could afford the luxury we desired;
A price you’d pay as long as you had breath in your lungs,

How can I forget the touch of your rod,
A few lashes to straighten us when we went wrong,
How can I forget lessons enriched in respect, integrity and diligence,
Lessons drawn from the scenes of your life,
Lessons we could hold in the palms of our hands,
Lessons that moulded us into the men we are today!

Abba,
I choose to count my flowers while the sun still shines upon your face and the wind gently caresses you,
When the air in your lungs still warms up your chest,
And your heart still beats,
Today, I choose to celebrate you for being nothing short of a father!
Happy Father’s day Baami.


And to those Father who has gone beyond this world,
We choose to remember you and say you live on in hearts!

Olaoye Adeleye
(C) 2022