A Literary Rally of Love and Hurt

In the Penspeak Community UNEC, February Freestyles were a joy. On February 7, 2025 Iruoma kicked off;

A pilgrim’s journey to a world of plain
where I burned every bridge to find a way
My cardiac compass led me through this rugged terrain
With convictions so strong to betray
I followed to discover, this beacon of light
But each step, was a test of will
And every staking breath I lived
Was a stench in misery to give

Every turn was a sink, in a pool of despair
Every weight crushing, without a care
Yet to this world of plain, a beautiful siege, I found solace
To its music in echieteka, I danced deep to its rhythm
In ignorance of the consequences to come
The demons with enticing melody sing,
luring my lost soul to eternal doom
every move was a compromise
And Peace sold in delicate balance between darkness and light

I’ve found a different route,
where life and light entwine, A world of truth
A world of hope, the saints eternal home.
I see the truth now
And with heart in total devotion
I sing a unique symphony, that echoes the sound of a soul that’s free.

February 14, 2025 A freestyle by Neche Goodnews

We met like faith intended
Astrologers say the stars aligned for us
Palmists tap our palms and declared our fates intertwined
The dibia sees our one future
I don’t really care about all that
I care about what God says for us

What use is a tree without wood, a human without intelligence, a skyscraper without its framework?
Of what use is my world without you in it?
Its uses become less and less till it becomes useless

My one of a kind, my unique, my priceless discovery
You’re not a cog in a machine, not a gear
You’re my complement
My joy irreplaceable
There’s no other you, it’s just you
The thought of another is sacrilegious to me
People pray for a MumZee moment but I got that when we found our spark
Oko mi, Ololufe mi, a furu m gị na anya
Take a seat by my right side and let me show the world my irreplaceable one

Friday 21, 2025 Iruoma began;

Of all terrestrial blessings bestowed
The celestial luminaries that twinkle
Breath that marks the beauty of living
The blessed morning dew that falls
The greatest of all treasures beyond compare
Is God’s gift of his son, christ.

Neche Goodnews then followed through;

A knock on the door, a greetings at the door post, a welcome and an attempt at conversion
A knock at another door, greetings once again, but this time dismissal and rejection is given

The sacred journey of the missionaries
Wanderers of the Holy order
Marked by the Omni being
A higher placement than Cain they are not stained
They have not slain but are prepared to take the pain of the bane

God’s front line, God’s bravest
Courage that dwarfs that of David
Faith that rivals Abraham’s
Only his most daring actually take up this holy order, this great commission

You look flabbergasted, who is this Omni being I speak of that would be willing to do this to his most daring followers?
Whose orders? What orders?
Your heart knows who he is
Your lips shapen to speak his name
He is the one your heart beats for, it’s first love
He goes by I AM THAT I AM
The Bible does well to speak of him in details

Wanna know what those others are?
Have you heard of The Great Commission?
The good news brought unto the world
Grab your book and take notes
You have a lot to learn
Let me introduce you to salvation

That is it for February! Stay loved, stay blessed! The March will be glorious

Authors
Iruoma
Neche Goodnews

Keep Beholding Christ

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

Out-Heal the Loss

Hello, My name is Niel and these are the ChristaPoet Freestyle Sessions. This year, ChristaPoet wants to give you a special perspective to our freestyles. At first, some of these poems were published as stand-alone pieces. But in actuality, each poem is an untitled part of a freestyle session. Each freestyle session is given a topic for the poems to address.

Today, we see the last of the February 25th 2022 poems. Topic was “Regeneration”.
Yesterday, we went through the ladies who all posted inside the 11th hour. So today we begin at 12:10 PM, with the CaP goddess, Chika St. Davnique:


I feel pain every time I think of my sister.

And I’m not thinking about myself when I think of her.

I’m thinking of all the ways in which she was alive.

I’m reliving the moments in which her smile lived.

And the pain I feel, it’s not selfish.


So no.


Adjust your lenses


And somewhere around this period, she got into a sensitive discussion with MeerahZoe. Now because some parts of the discussion was in voicenotes, I will give you a summary of the most important point made during the argument. The rest is honey and milk for CaP members. To join up, GoTo the “Join Us” tab

They were talking about different people’s reactions to loss. Chika said: As Christian writers, w hen we write, we owe it to the world and our audience to say what is true, and not just what we feel at the moment. Infact, whenever we want to be so subjective, we should state that this is us and just our perspective. Making absolute statements based on subjectivity has to stop.

At 12:36 PM, Chika St. Davnique made some some more poetry:


‘Please hold on while your transaction is processing…’

I’m staring lost in thought.
My mind, a multiverse of directions my thoughts wish to take.

Another line from a poem my father taught me floats into my brain…

‘We have come to the crossroad, and I either leave or come with you’

So I go with it.

The thought that we are always in the midst of a transaction. Always coming and going from an exchange. Always living or dying, giving or leaving.

The machine is still grinding, my body is still standing.
I wonder, does the man behind me know I’m lost.
Or is he lost in the endless start of things?

Is he coming and going from worries?
Is he in a loop of misdirection? And does he know the dimensions of life’s transactions?

Does he know what matters? Is he exchanging his time here for true treasures?
Or has he bought into the lie that he owns real estate in Time’s garden park?

‘Thank you for banking with us’

My fingers move of their accord. Cash in hand, I hold the physical equivalent of my time. I stroll on still lost… in thought trains.

Like, are we living or dying slowly?

And what is breathing if life is lived in beautiful moments?

Why does it come in cycles of the same patterns?

Are we living lives once lived?

…car honk and I remember to find myself.
Here.
On the road home.

Kinda like life, right?


And then, at 12:38 PM, catch a glimpse of what MeerahZoe was saying during the conversation:


This in itself is not a bad thing.
I’m a mental health advocate, and I know that self care is not selfish.
I also understand the human impulse to defend what we feel or are experiencing.

I was actually talking about the often masochistic need we have to hold on to pain even when we know it is crippling.


I have to say, I understood both their stances…but I just wrote on at 1:53 PM, probably with the mind to de-escalate the matter:


Black gems;
– made of what I used to call trash
– make me valuate my answers
– prayers sneaking outta coffins
– studded both my belt and cufflinks

What else?

I didn’t heal when you hugged me
I felt hate from my sulking
But I knew that was not important
I’m glad you haven’t kicked the bucket
Glad you haven’t kicked the bucket

Big wolves leaving bite marks
Farm hands turning lone sharks
My heart used to have cracks
Now it’s powdered like its custard
So I give it up to Father
Me I know he’ll take me farther
Speaking healing past the storm’s parts
Wash my eyes with water God spat


After a bit of silence, probably because I write mouth-shutting stuff, at 3:45 PM, Hanna Azubuike:


Please stop burning my eyes with how one should mourn a loss. You have healed, you have forgotten the pain you went through. Help with the Word if you must say something. Let her fully heal before you share how you mourned yours. You will never understand the closeness either. Let the eyes be dried before you point the picture and the different colors.


And at 5:49 PM, Imani Dokubo finesse with a few words from her beautiful:


Things die quickly when plucked from their source.
Root, the plants source.
God, the believers source.

Regeneration never happens without a source.


At 6:44 PM, the final freestyle of the day was delivered by Cap founder, Ezeonyeka Godswill, an enigmatic leader whose words always clear the air:


Writing is vulnerable. To war with the worlds in your mind so that you can birth words is sacrifice. We bear in our hands bleeding mysteries as we concise conscious constellations into careful captions. We know not all is said but what must have been said. The world wonders at writers not because it cannot produce as they do but because writers learn through the pain of introspection how to transport seedlings of thought across mind so that on the winds of communication the death of a world can find regeneration through the planting of these words.


Enough said; REGENARATE NOW, In the name of Jesus!!


Authors:
Chika St. Davnique
MeerahZoe
The Niel Quchi
Hanna Azubuike
Imani Dokubo
Ezeonyeka Godswill

N.Y.S.C

When corruption becomes
The pest eating the plantation
Of our nation
And compromise is the only meal
Served as your last option
STAND OUT!

When your altar is shattered
Battered and scattered
And the only way to subscribe to their Data
Is to denounce the name
Of your Father or they use
Your head for a slaughter
STAND OUT!

Let your heart beat this
Let your mouth spit this
For a life without Christ
Is a life of stasis, Vices, Lysis
And Crisis

This is who we are
Nigerian youths serving Christ…..N.Y.S.C
We are pressed on every side
But not crushed
Perplex but not in despair
Persecuted but not forsaken

We are unbeatable, Unstoppable, Un-daunt-table, undefeatable
This is who we are
A city set on a hill
Marked with a seal
Love is our will
No matter the kill
Christ is the REAL DEAL

Don’t you ever forget this
THIS IS WHO WE ARE!

King Uwe
©2021

Optimist Stare

I see the day so crystal clear
In the midst of the Darkness scare
I see the future, bright and fair
Though the glimpse of hope is rare

Threats of terror, here and there
Stampede seems to gain it’s flair
Foes and allies, set their snare
Hands on deck to throw the spear

As the hassle drags on near
I pray God’s guidance wraps our
sphere
And if my reflex detects fear
I dare my heart to face the Bear

When words of battle stirs the air
I breathe out peace to the atmosphere
Amidst the travails and despair
My eyes won’t lose the OPTIMIST STARE

King Uwe
© 2020

WILL YOU BE?


The trickle of salted water
Opened up the flood gates of its tap
The fiery gaze of hurt and pain
Like boiling blood
Will you be the hands to wipe off?

The bleeding of the shape I call love
The grief of the cut in two
The loss of the pieces fixed to it
Will you be the one to mend?

Like stones hurled at one
The weight you can’t bear
The pricks it leave behind
Of fear, of poor esteem
Will you soothe my ears?

Steps higher steps above
In doubt and fear
With skills but no grit
Will you be the one to urge on?

My love my perfect
Imperfectly perfect
Frail, grace and calm
Will you hold my hand?

When my eyes are covered with fear
And my hands quiver in despair
When my Feet drown in doubt
Will you be my Anchor

When the day wears a black gown
And the Sun refuses the smile
Hiding the face of the moon
Will you be the voice hope?

Oraegbu Philipa Ada
Olaoye Adeleye
© 2020