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

Broken Mirror

I’m the supposed image of this cool King
Whose words are life eternal

Whose actions are as perfect as the cry of a newborn
Whose plans the whole universe reflect like the moon
Bringing us the afterthoughts of the sun at night.

I’m the supposed life He gave
The assurance that makes men brave
This eyes that look beyond the broken walls of your heart
The perfect stitchery that makes you new

But I fall short like shards of a mirror
I could barely survive the heat of this oven called living
Yes! I crafted my definition of living
Wrapped my gaze on the things I could see outside him
And I became a dead story waiting for his resurrection.

Symolean
(c) 2021

Who Am I?

I have sought a definition
A sentence that could give me full expression of who I actually am

Am I a girl?
Is my life best expressed in the gender
In the XX of my genotype
Or in the comely form of my phenotype?

Am I a youth?
The leader of tomorrow; the pillar of today,
Am I one of the millions of jolly fresh faced persons
Brewing with passion but lacking in knowledge,
Just hustling to make it?

Am I a Nigerian?
Do I get my identity from my southern roots
Trying to fit into the mold of societal stereotypes?

Am I a graduate?
Is that laminated certificate in my box my identity card
Such that I am quick to shove my titles in peoples faces
Using that as a basis for unhealthy comparison…
But deep down I know
I am not my profession and my profession is not me
So help me answer this question who am I?

Guys, it took a long time to realize who I was
To understand that I couldn’t find myself by looking inward
but looking outward
that I would only see my true reflection
when I look in His mirror
that my true life is wrapped in his death and glorious ascension
that my life is not about the external but the eternal

but that my real identity is in JESUS
not in gender or status or nationality or age or education or skill
so who am I?
I am a child of God, a joint heir with Christ
I am a spiritual, supernatural, extraordinary human being
Trust me,
I am not just a girl, I am not just a youth,
I am not just a Nigerian, I am not just a graduate, I am not just a poet…
I AM A CHILD OF GOD!

Damaris
© 2020

RESCUE

I found rags to cover up
I take the lonely road home
Trying to hold back tears
– Mum will be so angry –
I’m at the front door
And I can’t ring the doorbell
The door clicks open and Mum gasps
– What happened? –
– I don’t know –
I sob and drop to my knees
– Don’t worry honey, let me clean you up –
She picks me up and takes
Me to her bathroom, peels
The rags off me, picks out
The dying petals from my hair
And cleans off the ashes from
My body. She gently sponges
Me and shampoos my hair
I let out the tears
– I’m so sorry Mum –
– It’s okay honey, you’ll be fine –
I nod
– I love you, you know that right? –
I nod
When she is done, I look at
The bathroom mirror and touch
My face. I see the glow come into
My eyes, I smile and clean off my tears
– I love you –

IfiokAbasi Okop
© 2019

OPEN LETTERS

These letters I write to you Lord are tattered
Like my heart now in pieces
And I know it sounds awkward saying this
But, I have experienced so much change
Become unpredictable like the weather
I don’t even know my mirror anymore
I am stuck in this abyss,
Now Knocked out by life, because I floored

So I need an opening or a door
To escape into your bliss
To experience those moments I once reminiscence about
But my life seems like it has gone south
The walls of my soul has come crumbling down
My crown, I now wear with a scarlet gown
And your love, I have moon walked away from

Every morning, I drown in my own tears
And at night fall I take pleasure talking about my fears
I don’t understand how I have become
A stranger to you and my self
So I can only hope my letters rise to the sky like incense
As my prayer are littered all over those papers
I hope that as I dig through your word again to unearth my goldmine
I pray that you would patiently build my faith again like a skyscraper

Keep me from being as loose as a kite blown by every wind and doctrine
Show me how to love again with great affection
So that your grace will be only song I continually play on my selection
As you teach me to walk on water again despite my imperfection
I am sure then,
That My life will finally make sense again

Isoje Victor
© 2019

Letter to a beloved brother

Behold!
What is ahead beyond all holds
A glory not far-fetched
With a little-more stretch

Behold, Courageous and be bold
As you trend this road
Again! do NOT be told
Of the whale-sized Mack on the road

Along the aisle
Never give yourself to wine
Never bargain your mirror with Mammon
Unto the higher calling-press on!

Standards will rise
Beat up your wings: fly high
When ye fall
Let the strong man stand tall strong

Remember Christ graced your weaknesses
Even in the bashings, crashing and crushing
Take His word ever-bracing
That your bones be strengthened!

Remember Christ the song
For the lost but found
Your help to come
With whom is NO doubt
And upon His wings, you shalt mount

Beloved! in all
Beyond my beseeching lyrics
Rhymes, structures and schemes
Guard up your heart against all ill-schemes

Flee from vices
Against the fears eyes could see
Let not your heart be as the wavering boat on the sea
To your Samson, guard against Madame-disguises

Selah!

Tunde Micheal
© 2019