The Fortress

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

To an Unknown God

Sometimes Church feels like Athens
Worship-wielding wanderers wondering

To whom do we gather in obedience?
Men masking maladies making monuments?

Our fellowship should be love in experience
For Father’s foundations form family finesse

So from what root then comes our difference?
Banal boastings blurring basic believing

To a known God shall be the gathering of brethren
Rightly revealing restful reverent righteousness

In knowing God the Church must find her essence
Honing humans hosting heaven – holy harness

  • Ezeonyeka Godswill
    (c) 2025

Ode to my father

As a father carries his son, all the way you went until you reached this place.
Deuteronomy 1:31

My father believes that children
Are God’s benevolence to a lineage
Treasures committed to their parents
So he lets himself shepherd them
Offering fortification & fortune

I’ve heard of fathers who bathe their children with curses
& then dry their future with a flaming tongue
But my father wakes up every morning
Breaks the dew of heaven on us
Greening us to greatness with his prayers—
Our shield against daily darts

Today, we are the celebrities he couldn’t become;
Giants the world applauds
But he, an unnamed hero who
Laid down his armour to watch us win
Oh, my father is such a jewel among other fathers!

Ayooluwa Imisi
(c) 2024

The Fathers Pride

When your falls end up on the trampoline
When you are celebrated like a muddy kid
When you have a trash can to let out how you feel
When you have a diary to express your promises, your vows on impulse
When you make deals with dirty hands and bounce out because you have backup
When you talk rashly and he saves you from the consequences
When you had to say you are saved because your looks do not say so
When your uniform is all flesh and no authority
All bark and no bite
Harmless as a dove but not wise
Gentle as a dove but not bold
Too many call him Saviour
Yet not willing to join his league
Save others with your skin
Be the servant that wears the crown

If only you make him Lord so he can wear you as glove
He saved you but he cannot make the most out of you

Tell me, whose father will be happy
The one who sees a son take his car keys and drive mommy to pick the groceries
Or the one whose grown up son still begs to be taken to the candy shop

Not through the corners anymore
It is you I speak of!
You who has refused to let him make you his kind
You who has refused to do his bidding, close his deals, take his ideas into reality
Yes, you who has refused to use the gifts embedded in you
To double it
To perfect it by the reason of use

Is it too much to ask?
To live a life of the One who died in your stead?
Had to come back to life so Guilt will not become your friend
Had to stay back so that you will not lose track
Too many call him Saviour
Very few know what it means for him to be Lord
I hope you are the few.
I have said enough.

Hannah DGinus
©2024

Gone prodigal again

_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

Submission

Children are known for plays
Errors and cravings for ice creams.
They love the Father
And He loves them too.

But in this kingdom
Sons submit all cravings
To the eternal will of the Father.
They approach Zion
Bowed in reverence.

Children are looked after
But sons bear responsibilities
The Father loves all
But the Sons knows His heart.

Ugwu David C.
©2023

A Cry For Help


Help!
I’m at my wisdom’s end
There are now fewer wisdoms found in my speeches
Words tend to rush out all messed up
Before I remember to clean them up
Making more troubles than giving solutions
Help! Father! I’m at my wisdom’s end
I’d rather your words take hold of my tongue


Help!
Gradually, I am forgetting me
How you see me
How you value me
Living a false life
Is quickly becoming my reality
I find myself lost in doubt
Forgetting you’ve placed me in certainty
Help! Father! I am forgetting me
I’d rather your thoughts about me fill my heart

Help!
I have lost my direction
I think back to be front
And when I try to move
I find out I’m still facing back
My compass isn’t as accurate as I thought it was
It’s broken
Help! Father!
I don’t know where I’m at
But I’m certain you will find me
I’d rather continue this journey with you


Help! Father!
’tis all I can mutter
I no longer have hold over the matter
Father, I know you can hear me
‘Help me!’ Is all I’ve got to say now
Yet, I feel comforted that you do understand
Even more that a thousand words could have explained.
Help! Father!
I really need you.


Pearlythoughtz
© 2022

Words for My Father

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