New year new faith

Penspeak Communities across Nigeria have recently taken up Freestyle Fridays hosted by The Godzniel. This is a collection of poems from Penspeak Community UNIZIK freestyles in January 2025.

Our very own MC Wisdom set the Christendom ball rolling,

Ladies and gentlemen,
Listen up, I’ve got a message for the masses
To the ones who think they can hold me back, I’ve got a few words to amass

This is not another new year, new me
And to everything and everyone who dissed me
This year you better receive sense, so free me

I’ll rise above the noise, I’ll shine like the morning sun
On every stage, I will stand my ground, call me the chosen one

So, to whom it may concern, listen up and take heed
I’m the MC WISDOM not to be reckoned with, my voice is a thunder that comes with a lightning decree

I’ll speak my truth, I’ll stand my ground
I’ll be the change, I’ll turn things around

So, watch me rise, watch me soar
I’m untamed and unstoppable, so sit back and watch out for more “MC WISDOM”

Just as we were still in awe of this grace, Delight came and gave us;

SCREENSHOT OF FAITH

In a world that judges by value and birth,
To us…the dreamers and the doers,
What shall we say to these things?
In a world of scrolling, tapping and clicking,
Where moments pass like a flash, never quite stopping.
There is one thing we capture, though abstract even to the believer.

You know,
The Youth today are chasing dreams
Like flashes on a screen…
Flickering fast, chasing fast, but what does this mean?
One wrong step, one wrong foot…
And you are back to square one questioning your truth.
Faith, they say, is the light at the end of the tunnel.
But what if the tunnel’s a mirror, a reflection of your struggles?
Like a dog chasing its tail, we run around in circles,
Dreams dangle like carrots, but we can’t even find the hurdles.
Irony lives here, right here in our struggle to rise,
The higher we reach, the higher the price we pay.

We keep chasing this lady ‘success’ just as she waltzes away,
More like the sun which rises but still sets at the end of the day…
We live in a world where everything is loud,
Where the pressure to rise feels like breaking the crowd!
We post, we hustle, we strive for the spotlight,
Trying to make a name in a world full of wrongful rights.
We keep chasing followers, likes and applause,
But the real faith is not about these shallow laws.

A screenshot of Faith is the courage to start.
It’s trusting yourself when the world says ‘wait’ …
It’s finding your power even when the world system says it’s too late.
It’s not about the speed or how fast you fly
It is just the courage to leap even when you can’t touch the sky!
It will tell you to walk, and then vanish from your sight
Leaving you wondering, “Am I wrong or right?”
So trust me when I say this one can’t be saved to your gallery… it’s not a picture, it’s more than a name.
It is the belief that in time we all shall find our flame.

We wrap up our freestyles here. It’s always an honor to be part of this. See you next month.

Authors
MC WISDOM
DELIGHT SHEKELS

Fear

Today, I am not going to be defining fear
Because definitions differ to people who face it.
Don’t bother searching for the five tips that would help you overcome;
I didn’t think enough to put them here.

I will like to ask;
Why do you fear?
What exactly is it that makes you uncertain even when you dare?
Do they exist or do they not?

You see, oftentimes we’ve treated fear like an illusion.
But how come it hurts us so deeply and leaves marks inscribed to our hearts?
How is it possible that what we can’t see, touch, hear or smell;
Cause a lot of damage and dismay?

Is it fear that makes us tear;
Do we pretend and lace-up hope?
Isn’t it hard to mention faith;
When you feel you may not overcome?

Own it. Live it. Because it’s here.
In this world, it may not breathe but it lives;
It eats and drinks and speaks to you;
‘You are nothing’, it says; ‘you can’t make it’, it whispers.

Just like fiction, it occurs not just in your imagination but from you, when you stutter we can tell;
It acts as the director try to make you play every scene to its taste;
It ridicules you when you try it your own way and fail;
It provides glasses to help you look at the world from its perspective.

Though you may see giants;
Feel powerless, not certain, still doubting;
Although it’s true it makes you feel worthless and no substance of a thing hoped for;
Can polish your faith to make you see any evidence of a thing not seen;
But it’s up to you to take a stand when you want to.
Because in reality, we all face fears
But the ability to face your fears is what makes the difference.

And I close with this;
Yes, your fears exist;
But that doesn’t mean you shouldn’t
Take a leap of faith to succeed.

Adedatryts
© 2019

Smile

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

The Zone

I crawl, and it’s okay for me
Cause standing tall means I could fall
But then…I will be seeing better while standing
And I could take a step or two for all to see

See, Moses was my comfort zone
I stayed sure with him until he was wrong
Now he’s gone
And I need to be strong
And courageous
And bold

Because that’s what I was meant to be all along
I had been with my 100 sheep
All obedient, no strays attached
But see the wild beast came and took one
So should I go for that lost obedient one
Or stay with the 99
98, 87, 56, 4, 3, 2,1 until I realize that I washed once again, wrong

We mistake mediocrity for moderation and vice versa
We prefer to sleep all day and be obsessed because it’s easy
than to work with our bare hands and buy a new car
No new signs!
And just as water is a good servant and a wicked master so is that comfort zone of yours
For whatever stops moving, starts moving back
And the frog that gets cozy with a warming water, gets boiled in the end

So sit, then crawl, then stand and walk, then look and leap and jump, or fly and soar
Before walking to your new seat really fulfilled
Cause, our sole purpose is to leave our restful zone to our purposed zone
Which is certain to give great comfort,
And It’s cool to work within your comfort zone but know when to leave
Cause there’s more to life than just sitting
Once!
We’re desire to become bold and courageous and strong

Azubuike Chinonso
©2019

Darling

Darling,
You can let me see the whole you,
You can stand bare before me half dark, and still soar if you’ll just let me show you,

I know life has left you stripped of all the things you couldn’t have,
Swept you off your feet from heights you couldn’t dive,
Dared you with shocks you couldn’t nerve,
Will you let me be it’s one slave that wouldn’t serve?

I’ll defy my master and dare to die,
If you will let your hands fall by your sides,
Let not the darkness cause you lie,
Cos I’m all black and still dare to fly,

To our advantage let’s stir the light,
That years from now when we add to age,
We would look back in time a time at dusk,
When unreachable seemed the giant’s tusks,
In a moment of shame and leap at once
we shadowed the form that birthed us,
Darling.

UCtruth

© 2018