WAR: OH! MY DARLING

2 Comments

As we sat eating peacefully at the table
I, my darling and my children
Kataboom! ketekete! came the sudden sound of gunfire
A peaceful moment was turned into chaos

At night we couldn’t stay there anymore
We packed our few belongings
And scrambled to the bush for safety
With my darling in tow

Suddenly I heard an anguished cry behind
I turned and saw my darling
Clutching his chest, his mouth spurting blood
by a ghastly wound made by a stray bullet

My sun went black, my moon wept blood
The clouds poured acid rain, as my darling said, “run”,
I left my darling, lyin gin the dust
Smiling sadly at me, before giving up the ghost

I stumbled blindly on, led by my distraught children
Tears blurring my view, sorrow clouding my reasoning
Till I could run no more, and we found a place of hiding
Far, Oh! so far away from my fallen darling

Nights later, when I crept out to get some supplies
I saw the infants, toddlers, young and old
kissing mother earth, sleeping to rise no more
My heart sank in utter despair

Stifling a sad cry, I strip them of their clothes
For my children – the dead won’t need clothes anyway
As I crept sadly back, since I couldn’t find food
My legs kicked a papery object, and I picked it up curiously

Laughing mirthlessly, seeing what it was
It can be used for fuel, if it can’t be eaten as food
I trudged on to refuge, safe in the arms of the bush
Since I couldn’t sleep, I sat up to read the queer book

I read of a supreme being called God, creating the world with words
“Surely, these people cant be serious. Unbelievable and far-fetched!”
I read of a God in form of a man (“really?”)
coming to die for mankind, sacrificing Himself

“Ha! This is ridiculous! how is it possible?”
However, as I read on, tears crept slowly out of my eyes
I read of His love, His compassion, of His sorrow and HIs temptation
of HIs battery and His crucifixion, and I felt my voice catch a little

Somewhere, somehow, like the dripping of dew,
Peace trickled slowly into my heart
clutching the book, I devoured more of its contents
to draw more peace-drops

Well, if Jesus actually did this, then I have hope to the extreme
That’s how He came into my life, after hours of reading the book
I gave my heart to Him, and my heart was set free from sorrow
My heart became clean, I felt alive, and felt happy! Yes!

I no more missed my darling so much
cos I have a new, most precious, darling
His name is Christ Jesus
Oh! my Darling

(I’ve got to introduce Him to my children right away!)

#bursting forth

QUICK QUOTEs

Leave a comment

The fact that anyone does not see the point in Jesus dying to save humans from misery and hopelessness is not evidence that the Christian message of deliverance is inadequate. Its a pointer to the fact that he’s gravely in need of being saved himself.

In deep slumber…

Leave a comment

Untitled-1

Slowly went off the flames of the light
Casting shadows of a heart-breaking sight.
She cried in a broken desperation
because it seemed she and her inhabitants were left to die

In the ugly claws of rejection so she stared in fear
Doom seemed near
While in a deep slumber were God’s own tabernacles
Snoring aloud, head supported by feeble ankles.
In an alarming stillness, she thought them dead
Because all that blurred her vision was red

If only they knew
That her cities were ruined
Her buildings laid desolate, home crushed;

Cries of distress, a blasting tune
Her men in tortured labor, had begun to split up caves
Making spaces to dig up their own graves
If only they knew her enemy!

The man of guile had seized and plagued their streets
Leaving them with shuddering teeth that only grits
All that is left are weary souls grasping for breath
Earnestly longing for an easeful death
So with everyday becoming night
They are weary, white out of plight
Despite the surging wave of thick darkness
There lay no hope of light
Crazy!

She couldn’t understand why!
Were they not the saviors?

Who were supposed to build up the waste places?
The army meant to raise the foundation of many generations?
To repair the breach and restore streets for dwelling in as said the Lord
Through the mouth of prophet Isaiah?

For whom does she wait?
Achan or Zechariah?
Would they leave her in darkness and cold?
Their power and authority exchanged for insatiable vaults
Pleasures and filth the price to the devil they had sold?

Children of God indeed they are
She weeps at the hallowness of their claims
Because right from the beginning the scripture never said it so!

An unbearable shame even as my own tears comes afloat
I weep for a creation whose earnest expectation of manifestation
Is exchanged with devastation.

 

EVERYDAY JESUS

1 Comment

It was the first day of the month of April.
The day we decide how sober and how drunk we want to be for the rest of the month. What significant changes we wish to achieve. I woke up miserable and not thinking properly so I’m fooled by my younger brother twice! I was weak owing to my three-day medication of anti-malaria and it was the third day. Time passed as chores were completed and the TV was on. Until afternoon, there was no more power supply any more than there was in my body. I had just had lunch while chatting with my friend Uchechi and I never mentioned my condition to him. More importantly, my bones were broken but I was forming Ada* and went to prepare evening bath water for the family.

Power was back, though not yet in my body, so I went ahead to boil some water with the heater. My bones were broken, but I was forming. Unable to remain standing, I found my way to the bedroom and dropped on the bed. I hugged the teddy bears and the bed so much I fell asleep. My younger sister and brother were with me there watching the TV but I was too weak to notice the electronic. Next thing, my mum came in to take my sis with her. They and my dad were going out. So I was left with my brother, and I didn’t even tell anyone about the heater!

Soon, I was sweating and when I noticed power was out again, I cursed under my breath. This time, I didn’t even remember the heater. Towards evening, the rest of my family returned to dark house. I was reminded of the bath water and simultaneously that reminded of the heater. The darkness reminded me.

Finally, it turned out that the heater dried the water and was set to burn the bucket but nothing happened.

*So when mama says never leave the heater unattended, I should take her seriously 🙂 So much for the fourth commandment.

I want to thank God for saving us losses. I wouldn’t like to dismiss those interruptions (in power supply) as mere coincidences. For if they were, most buildings that experienced fire outbreaks could have got as lucky! I’d like to call this a guarantee of the Lord’s protection for my family, and a reminder of how he has loved us and is not quitting yet.

Yes! The darkness reminded me!

-Adaobi Chiemelu

#THANK FULL

Leave a comment

I want to praise the name of God for the awesome transformation He is bringing into my life. God has been connecting me to great friends, linking me to treasured books and tapes. Most importantly, the scripture is opening up to me with such depth of revelation like never before. I can’t be grateful enough for the visions God is birthing into my heart. Glory to God!

-Agbaroji Chimeremeze

QUICK QUOTEs

Leave a comment

If I do not feel a sense of joy in God’s creation, if I forget to offer the world back to God with thankfulness, I have advanced very little upon the way. I have not yet learnt to be truly human.

-Kallistos Ware

This is My Plea!

2 Comments

Hi. My name is Yahweh and I come from a State called Forever. I bet you’ve heard my story before so I’ll just give a few lines here just to get straight to the point.

I live just across the street so you can find me anywhere, anytime. However its not been that easy catching up with you. I know you been busy; a lot of times you’ve had to show up and say hi. A lot more times however, you didn’t. I know you’ve had to go through so much stress so often. You’ve got kids, work to do, stuff to attend to, business to manage. The technology that makes life easy ironically makes the world faster and your world harder. Yeah, I know; at least, I guess so. I guess that’s why you’ve not been picking my calls lately either. And then I wait all day long just to hear from you, waiting by my phone, hoping you’d care to call. Dashing my hopes every minute I thought I heard my cell phone ring only to find that there’s not as much as a missed call from you.

Point is, I’m guessing you’ve had old friends to meet, addresses to locate, invitations to honor, assignments to submit, cases to close, colleagues to deal with. That’s not to say I haven’t got any of those but I always have time carved out just for you. Yet I don’t fall in any part of your schedule? I mean, is that it? Cos you haven’t as much time to even at least write and say why you won’t be coming; and I thought we had a relationship.

So I want to ask. I want to lay it down right here, right now, straight as an arrow. What do you say? You know I couldn’t just break up with you even if I wanted to. Why? Cos I love you so much already, I cant! I just cant! So what do you say? One advice: decide for yourself. It wont do you any good to just let the ‘nays’ have it, cos you are your own man. And c’mon, I just want you to be happy.

You know, I’m done guessing cos all this guessing just wont make any sense in our relationship, just as it wouldn’t in any. I’m just saying, talk to me. Just talk. Tell me ’bout your fears, your day, your feelings. Let us talk about faith, about love, about anything you can ever think of! I am saying, learn to talk to me. Just talk. Just come to me anyhow and we’ll talk some more. Beat time and come. I mean, what have you got to lose?
So this is it. My name is Yahweh. I am just, and this, this is my plea.

 

Signed

Yahweh