Smile

November 1, 2019November 5, 2019Leave a comment

The only medicine that has no prescription
No unpleasant taste
And cost no vortex of energy
Is to always smile
A take with incredible equanimity
Your generosity comes in times of scarcity
Done brazen facedly
Am vaccinated by you against infection
Because you give me a sense of humour
To maintain Stoic indifferent
And also impervious to the chilly wind of scorn
You become an aid as to a good riddance to the poor
And as a scaffolding of hope to the hopeless
A charmed strewn of sunlit shard
To lovers in happy relationship
Within the dying ashes
You blow the sacred spark
And make the hearts of lovers
To leap against the dark
You send happiness and a million pleasant thrills to the heart
To parched souls thirsting for love
In the vast desert of human affairs
Playing aide of rhythm to
Encouragement in circumstances.
A therapy used regularly to heal
Persons with varied ailments
With wonderful tonic for life’s ills ..

David Darby
© 2019

WHEN TROUBLE COMES

October 25, 2019October 21, 2019Leave a comment

When trouble comes
When the storms gain the heart of raging beast
And comes charging with such ferocity

When sweet dreams become nightmares filled to the brim with adversity
When the night becomes a drowning ocean
And burdens feel so heavy; all movement is in slow motion

When life is a long line of lapses
And fear is a marksman
Who just loves using my heart for target practice

When trouble comes to me,
I will smile, I’ll laugh , I’ll dance
I will drop a legwork allover the devil’s failed plans

I’ll treat my hands like an orchestra
l’ll turn my voice into a hundred man choir
And give the Lord a full worship concert

I’ll rejoice , for my solution arrived two millennia before trouble came
When I met Christ, there was an exchange of an old life for a new
And through him God’s spirit came too

When God’s spirit became the active ingredient in my composition
My point of view was re-positioned
So as to see beyond the fear illusion

For when he is at work in you, in that instant
The odds against you are variable
But victory remains constant.

When trouble comes I will activate the divine spirit I received
When trouble comes, I may not even see it coming
But I will surely watch it leave.

– Ini Brown (2019)

Dear God #1

October 24, 2019October 21, 2019Leave a comment

Eyes that see
Ears that hear
A heart that knows
A life that does

1

I’m stuck
I don’t know how to describe it
I feel numb and distant from you
I searched for answers in a world that proffers lies
I’m sorry I didn’t trust you
I’m sorry I doubted you
Distance from you is seeping life out of me
I look for meaning and reasons to live
Dad, it’s vague, dark, empty and I’m loosing myself
Please show me
Give me eyes that see you in everything
Ears that hear your reassuring, soothing words
A heart that knows you, all of you
Let my life do your desires, be your heartbeat, live your life
Your Zoe

Your lost daughter

– Ifiokabasi Okop (2019)

TO WHOM IT MAY CONCERN.

October 23, 2019October 21, 2019Leave a comment

If you are reading this, you are already here
The anthill is now a mountain
The pond is a sea
Life is now a fountian
Bursting with whatever troubles may be

If you are reading this
Dark clouds have converged
For the storm is now fruitful
Your feet and head await to be submerged
As all previous plans don’t feel as useful

If you are reading this you may be at worlds end
But “be not afraid” is the Lord’s trend
And his love is past, future, and present
Even at the world’s end

If you are this reading this
Know that Gods love is breath when you are left gasping
And his embrace can fill all your gaps in
The issues of life tend to always buckle under his name’s weight
And his word makes mountains mere exercise for faith

If you are reading this, you are already here
If you are reading this, you already won.

– Ini Brown (2019)

A letter…

October 21, 2019October 21, 2019Leave a comment

Dear Boss of the Ship,

My Man, I have carried the name on my Instagram
even had it flying with the tweets
Cap_quchi for more than a few weeks

I have lost and gained my pride in writing
A couple of times; looking for rhymes
I found that I could lose myself in trying to get lost
And never find the things I have found about things:

New Techniques stay undocumented
In the old days there’d be government
At the very head of the endeavour to exploit
Now we taunt them

Tell me that you knocked on doors
Let me show you how high gates get in Abuja

But please, I apologize for digressing
Every time I speak, I’m the first learning
That makes me new to me although I think I knew me.

So I put God first and his yes or no
When I turn to walk away, they watch me go

He brings me back to the races
When I leap right over the gates
He’s made surrounding me to face his enemies
It’s plain to see I am thinking I am so enough,
Yam dipped in blood red anointing oil;
Is it the lamb today or the lion?

I hope you read my mind on this “write” thing
I will continue to propagate the writings
Stick the Word in it and let The Lord speak
My imagination defeated before the Lord’s peak

Every time I speak, I’m the first learning
Even when I read what I don’t remember knowing
The trick is to stay grateful, it’s calming

The thesis should be NielQuChi is growing
And he teaches me how to love and to war
How to defend and how to trust or
Do things they will later tell as lore
What has God not seen before?

Me, I think I’m a bit enough
to give a life of this writing stuff
Even when I read what I don’t remember knowing
The trick is to stay grateful, it’s calming

Thank you for the opportunity,

– The Niel (2019)

HOPE

August 21, 2019September 2, 2019Leave a comment

I walk into Mum’s room
She has laid out
Another beautiful dress
For me with flowers for
My hair.
– You don’t need a dress to make
You feel beautiful. You are beautiful,
Loved and blessed and that’s something
You have to know, for yourself.
No matter how many times you feel alone
And forgotten, don’t forget to come to my
Front door, this is always Home –

The smile on my face bursts into a beautiful
radiance; the joy of a thousand hearts.

BOOK REVIEW: NORTH by BUSAYO KEHINDE

August 9, 2019August 15, 2019Leave a comment

Reviewer: Ubamara Ezenobi.

Life happens to everyone. It’s inevitable. The things that you never imagine would ever happen to you could take place in the blink of an eye. You could become a person you never imagined you would be in the space of a few days. In these times we are thrown off balance, left to decide who or what to hold onto as anchor. In this book, North, Busayo Kehinde tells us in the best way possible, the best direction to follow.

North is the story of a young woman, Laura, who goes through much distress in life despite her love for God. First, she loses her younger brother to leukaemia. Next is her dad who walks out on them. And then, as though she has not lost enough, she loses her fiancé who loved God so much, to a lifestyle of drugs and women. Eventually, he dies. These tragedies turn her south, and she decides she doesn’t believe in God anymore.

Busola helps us realize that it’s not really about the many challenges you face, but about what you choose at the end of the day: life, or not. By placing special characters like little Ire who battles with sickle cell anaemia yet has unwavering faith in God, and other people who constantly remind her of God’s love, especially for her, the author shows us that God knows us inside out, and knows how best to proceed with healing us, and blessing us beyond our wildest dreams.

For Busola Kehinde, North is the direction that leads us above, and to choose north, is to choose life. In the epilogue, she shares from her personal experience how she has had to choose north at different points in her life, just like her key character. She enjoins us to choose life, to keep choosing life no matter what, and to never lose trust in God.

North is a book to read now. No matter where you are, it’s going to meet you right there and bless you tremendously.

Click HERE to Get the book