Jungle Justice

Their therapist was the wood, stones and metal,

The therapy was the degree of each throw, 

The process of inhale and exhale was vile vaporizing into the environment.

He stole food.

To them, he was the cause of their problem.

She stole money,

To them, she is the reason they have no meal to execute vengeance on.

They intend to be his judge, jury, media and executioner,

And each throw was life leaving a body.

He is their brother, husband, cousin, neighbor, son,

She is their sister, wife, husband, friend, daughter,

Yet, for every throw, they feel justified,

For every crack, they feel vindicated,

For every whip, they feel the video is a mirror image of justice.

The world calls It jungle justice,

Ironically, its neither a jungle nor is it justice.

It is a brother killing a brother,

A sister stoning a sister,

A friend spitting on a friend,

A husband punching a wife.

Not in a jungle, but in a community,

Where everyone watches day light murder,

Petition to have the perpetrators arrested,

But forget that perpetrators begat perpetrators.

The Power of MUSIC By Somto .S. Okeke

Venom 101

Jealousy,

The black smoke that reveals how brown the teeth is even if the smile is the only thing the other person sees.

Envy,

The green monster that chokes happiness out of one, leaving us with a beating heart that spreads poison through our veins.

Jealousy,

Dragging ones life essence through the mud because of another's person life essence. If twins are different, why would we compare our imprint with another?

Envy,

The regurgitation of bitterness just at the sight of another,

Clearly recycling venom through ones mind.

Jealousy, Envy 

If you want to be unhappy,

Befriend these two 

If you want to fill your heart with malevolence,

Hug these two 

If you want to easily forget how far you have come,

Accommodate these two 

If you want the stunt root of bitterness to be the veins through which your blood flows,

Feed these two.

If you want your days to be dark,

Light up the candle of these two.

They don't need much to grow, just discontentment and ingratitude and they are good to go!

Life In Waltz Mode

When the music changes,
May we continue to dance.

When the terrain leads to multiple lanes,
May we hold hands together towards destiny.

When our tempo has its own temperament,
I hope our temper remembers to kiss goodnight.

When the wind blows,
May our ship sail with you as the captain.

And when I turn around,
May I always see you present minded,
May I always be present in your sight and thought,
May I not only expect from you but be your well of expectation.

Hey Little Girl

Hey Little Girl 

Chin up! There's nothing for you on the ground..as far as your eyes can see ,

Below, the ground ends but straight ahead it bends.

For the step you take creates the next, so keep moving.

Avoid comparing your footprints to another, 

You will never have the same compression as another

And another will never walk like you. 

Look up! Soak in the clouds, absorb the colours around you, ask your never ending questions, 

Be the butterfly and dissect the caterpillar,

Because a time would come when you would notice the thunder but not the lightening,

When you would run away from the thunder and forget what the clouds look like,

When you would see shapes and not colour,

When you would miss the butterfly and eat up the caterpillar,

When you would see life but not living.

When you would wish you could go back to staying a child.

I hope you stay a child. 

Because as a child, you jump into the fire to admire the flames,

You jump into the ocean to taste the salt,

Because as a child you see the unattainable,

You believe the impossible,

And others opinion of you have never robbed you of speaking your mind.

Stay a child,

It is a free gift given to us from God,

That we have traded with the world for a promise of Freedom,

And we forget freedom has always been us,

And when we made the trade,

We traded us for their version of us.

Hey Young Lady,

Smile!

Do not let them change you,

Do not let it become you.

When you were little, you dreamt of being a grown up. 

I wish someone corrected you by telling you being grown is not an end it was never an end!

It is just a concept that means you would be able to tell the difference between credit and debit.

I wish they told you growing up would be the fragrance of your existence but being grown will cause you to fold your arms too soon!

That grown is a friendly enemy,

But growth is the friend you cannot shake off.

With growth comes pain 

With growth comes risk 

With growth comes adventure 

With growth comes movement 

With growth comes fear 

With growth comes doubt 

With growth comes options

With growth comes belief 

With growth comes confidence 

With growth comes experiences

With growth comes self awareness 

With growth comes naysayers 

With growth comes friends turn family 

With growth comes feelings

In growth comes you.

From growth comes you.

Through growth comes you.

Keep growing,

Don't let one phase skew you,

Don't let it tip you over the edge,

Your biggest threat is you,

Your biggest asset is your mind.

If you trust you 

We trust you.

You are not one phase,

You are the delicious blend of it all,

Keep growing,

Not for us.

For you.

Mammary Gland

Night and day

On knees and on feet, 

We prayed for you,

We held you in our arms 

We wept 

I am praying for you 

I'm holding you in my arms 

I'm crying 

In joy through pain

As your cute lips smack against your snack,

As your mouth with eyes closed, sniff for your inheritance, My mammary glands,

As your lips suck out the liquid gold from my breasts, 

I bleed

I weep

I bleed 

And already as your mom, I am shedding blood for you,

Thank you Jesus for counting me worthy of such sacrifice!

I'm sobbing through pain in joy 

Because you haven't been taught otherwise,

You weren't created otherwise

It came with you,

The need for more 

The desire to be heard 

The desire to get what is yours

The mindset that everything is possible  

Impossibility....what is that? 

Everything can be held and everyplace can be thread upon..

No one is 'bigger or better' than you 

If they hold you down, you hold them back with peering eyes...

Your inquisitive eyes seeing shapes and light, yet absorbing it all,

Your flaring nose inhaling just because you can,

The smile after you are breastfed to stupor...the smile of satisfaction after your day's work,

Your ears following every conversation ...no one has told you to stop listening, no one will except yourself,

Your mouth spewing such wisdom, the Angels are at your command, 

Your hands grabbing on to air...making our impossible, possible

Your fingers grabbing on to anyone or anything trying to hold (bath) you down 

Teaching the infamous person that they can't bring you down...no matter how huge the challenge might be, you have the strength to rise above them...

Your legs walking on air, standing before Royalty because every fiber of your being is Royalty...

You were not created otherwise 

Everything Goodly is in you 

Perfectly and Divinely,

You have brought Heaven down...

I started this piece to talk about my red coloured Liquid gold, thanks to your kissable lips, soft yet unyielding 

And through my thoughts you make me a philosopher...

Cheers to my life changing forever!

...Drowning

Feet dipped in salt water,

Aimlessly making ripples that can’t be worse than those stored in the heart.

Eyes gazing far away into the distance,

Emotions all sodiumized from an instance.

Sitting by the ocean shore, working an absent mind to be present,

While the spirit is invalid and the body defines itself as a convalescent,

One look at the reflection on the ocean and it is the face of a stranger, slowly fading away.

One look from the dog stroller and it is the face with the brightest smile,

A moment gaze from the jogger and it is the sound of the saddest sigh.

One second hugs from the coincidental neighbor and it is a moment of selflessness.

Self-Lessness….How did they all miss that?

The one person who they momentarily saw,

Is truly selfless, less of her, has no self, more of less and none of self,

How did they all miss that overdose of selflessness?

Wanting to be free from pain so painful, she would die on it?

How did they not capture her one definition of selflessness?

Waiting to be one with the waters?

For if there is anyone who can define selflessness,

It is the ocean.

Her fingers caress the pebbles; her spirit caresses her vacuum,

She hums a wordless song, her mind as dry as the desert,

In the midst of plenty…noise, friends, food, music, laughter, social media, selfies….

Not one drop of happiness trickle from the external to the internal,

She questions herself…Am I taking life too serious? Or is all this just a waste of time?

Her pain-jerked heart beat slowly as she continues to hum the tasteless song,

No one can understand, No one cares to understand but they seek to be understood,

She takes off her shoes and her tear-stretched eyes see what could be, if only….if only…

Her body walks towards the ocean, Her spirit admires the sun set ,Her soul irritated at its brightness.

She feels like a swim, Her spirit desires freedom, Her soul longs for feelings.

She craves for a shoulder, Her spirit weak at its rims, Her soul has no strength to cry any more.

She yearns to be relevant, Her spirit has no inspiration, Her soul has lost the inspired.

All three finally agreed on one thing, The Ocean was warm and she could not swim.

For the first time, she busted out laughing,

Maybe someone will miss me,

Maybe something will miss me.

She kept on laughing as they dragged her out of the water…

They ask, are you alright? You were screaming?!

Her body was screaming

Her soul was laughing

Her spirit was looking

She answered ‘You can see me?’

 ‘Of Course we can!’ They said

She says ‘Take me home’.

‘Where is home?’ They ask

Home is where my heart beats for life and not death.

Home is where my tears taste like survival and not defeat.

Home is where my blood nourishes and not perish the life of me.

Home is where my spirit connects to her source and cleans me of all disgust.

Home is where my soul sees how far I have come and not how much I have left.

Home is where my body protects me from the claws of fact and covers me with the truth.

Home is where my heart rejoices in the wake of a new day and forget the wake of a lost dream.

Home is when I reach the bottom to spring forth and not dig a grave to bury myself.

Home is where I cry, bleed, cry some more and tell myself, even if I lost it, I would get it again.

Home is where my life is away from the definition of others but in my creator,

And if I cannot embrace myself, I choose to be homeless,

Please take me home, I want to go home ‘She says’.

aka I am over IT!

I am wiser today because I choose my foolishness over yours.

I am stronger today because I choose my weakness over yours.

I am braver today because I choose my fear over yours.

I am better today because I choose my worst over yours.

You are entitled to have a gospel,

I am entitled to have my gospel.

I must have done some good in my previous life,

That your cost in m present life is variable and not fixed.

Inhaling the free air God has blessed us with,

And remembering He created man in His own image,

Why then is it often said ‘If man were God, all will be dead but him’.

I guess it is because there is a fine line between being God and having a god-factor.

One inspires and the other expires inspiration.

One is merciful and the other is the judge, jury and executioner.

One is powerful and the other needs a constant reminder by being a predator.

One is the all wise one and the other has a degree in reverse psychology.

Life in itself is but a fleeting moment,

So I will still choose my action over your reaction,

I will stand up to tie my shoe lace, so I can see your shadow pass away,

I will still choose my foolishness over yours,

Because it is comical seeing you, trying to play God.

Emotional Roller coaster!

Wow! There is definitely a reason why they say let sleeping dogs lie, because when you awaken them, you cannot be sure of what is waiting for you at the end of their slumber!

For my Facebook friends, I am sure you have been thoroughly entertained by my childhood pictures! Those pictures have memories upon memories layered upon them, that all I can do in retrospect is laugh!

How did I find those pictures, especially the one in which my head looks like it is a square in shape?! Lol.. Ok, so I was looking for an old poem I wrote many years ago in an onward book (C’mon people! Remember the days of ONWARD book!!)  

And as I went through the pages, I came across some package and inside it were pictures from my childhood with my siblings! I was shocked! Lol.. Going through each of them and looking at my face, wondering what was going through my head at that time of my life just made me vulnerable immediately.  Stories and memories from those pictures would compose a new blog post.

Now moving on, talking about letting sleeping dogs lie, is what I do not intend to do in this blog post.

I saw one of my poems from the ‘old days’ and reading it was refreshing and liberating!

Do you want to know what I am talking about? Read below and you can also listen TO ME EMOTIONALIZE IT (<< Click on that link :) for special effects!

ROLLER COASTER

How can I give you what I don’t have? Squeezing my heart vessels for one drop to fall but I see me choking instead. Emotional roller coaster, you have literally taken my breath away.

One day we are in love and the next you are not sure? One second we plan and the next second we are flat.

What do you want from me? My heart on a platter with kisses on my lips?

When would it be enough for you? When I burn my body just because I want you to see my heart beats only for you?

What more can I give to you? I volunteer myself as your slave and every word you say is my lifeline!

Like little children we thought love was enough and was all we needed.

I felt my tummy rumble when you pass me and your scent in every fibre of cloth I wore.

My pleasure was kindled when you smiled and the twinkle in your eyes took me to the stars.

Like little children we embarked on a journey we didn’t care for the destination, as long we held hands together and our attestation was loud in our silence.

One step at a time, we took baby steps as little children,

One leap at a time, you threw me forward as I got the rope to bring you closer,

And I never stopped to think how come you could take me this far emotionally, but you are far behind.

Like little children we kissed our bellies asking, did you feel that butterfly? And we lied to ourselves as we both smiled yes.

You noticed my hands were coarse and I noticed you had four fingers. All of a sudden it mattered to our destination, in fact you started having revelation that my coarse hands would slip away from yours but we still held hands in our differences. Or did we?

We stopped looking at each other but our hands had not changed, our eyes had.

 I saw you text her favorite pet name with your other free hand and you saw me serve you with your least favorite cup with my other free hand. We stared at each other for a second and then we looked away.

We still held hands and moved forward, our eyes had not changed. Out feet had.

I was moving too fast for you, you were moving at your pace. You said you could not catch up with me, I questioned if you still wanted to move? We stared at each other and we looked away.

We moved forward and we realized our feet had not changed, It was our heart.

Speaking the same language, love without compromise but emanating love with no sacrifice.

No one is perfect we tell ourselves yet we measure ourselves against the illusion and the difference became the topic of our dissertation.

It finally looked like we had gotten to the proposed destination and as we stood on the carpet, you bent down and dragged it from under my feet and I landed on my bum. With your eyes, I could see me through them; I could see me hoping you would stretch out your hands, but instead you asked me ‘why are you on the floor?’ I don’t think we can do this anymore. I know what I want but you don’t. I don’t think we are ready for this.

I admired the ground as you said those words because as a little child I believed you then and I believe you now. I made a decision on the floor to make an incision called love into my heart and when I do, no one can deny its existence in me; and as I looked up at you one more time, you put forward your hand to bring me up but I just stared and stayed in my thoughts.

I’m in a canoe in the midst of emotional turbulence but I chose to crash and not return. I choose to crash so that I can start with the pieces and build a ship instead. I choose the floor because it is the lowest point with the highest view. I deny your outstretched hands because I don’t know if it is my imagination or my death wish. My imaginations have become flawed; I gave you so much power that my reality and imagination have become one and the same. 

I choose the floor because in its cold state, it told me my fate with no prejudice. 

I choose the floor because it won’t cave in from my insecurities and imperfections. 

I choose the floor because I deserve more than an outstretched hand, but outstretched arms from one who is Love himself.

I choose the floor because it makes no promise of a roller coaster just a promise of a fresh start for a better beginning.

SocialMedia Therapy Poem

THIS IS SOMETHING WE ALL NEED, EVEN I,

Eyeballs away from the screen into undiluted light,

Waiting to pierce through my soul to show me the path.

But blocked out by images of all those I follow on Instagram and Facebook, disrupting this light,

Light waiting to fall on the shadows of my questions, Who am I? Where am I? Whose am I?

But the light is blocked out because all it sees is the reflection of the dress of that chic, the muscle of that bloke, the cute picture of that couple and the color of the red lipstick she has on.

Every second I look down into my phone, my heart starts beating faster,

My hands fondling through my feeds, migrating from the picture to the likers, do I know them, what are the up to? Oh wow she looks so perfect, oh wow, I wish my business was just like hers, wow I wish my life was hers!

I step out to the loo and as I take my phone along, another picture is uploaded and I defecate in misery.

The light still hanging around the gates of my eyes, waiting to enter in, if only I could look up and stay up.

If only I could look up, and get to work,
If only I could look up, and talk to my neighbor,

If only I could look up, and put my ideas down,

If only I could look up and stop my mental comparison,

If only I could look up and appreciate my own,

If only I could look up and drop that phone,

Just maybe I would be the one on people’s feeds,

Just maybe I would be the one making the impact

Just maybe I would be the one distributing light,

Just maybe I would be the one hanging around superstars.

Just maybe I would be the one on the cover of global fliers,

Just maybe I would be the one on that stage, speaking life

If I could drop my phone and look up,

Just maybe,

I might stay up.

NEVER ALONE

Its’ petals were dying,

Other flowers could see it,

Some flowers were smiling,

For they could not wait to occupy its space.

The stalk could not stand anymore,

It was no longer fruitful.

It had been deprived of its sun,

It had been deprived of a lot of things.

Once green, now brown,

Once straight now bent,

Once surrounded with friends, now standing alone,

Until she came along.

She flew around looking for shelter,

She flew around looking for food,

She flew around and she saw it,

She flew away, but she flew back to it.

Tears rolling down her eyes,

For she saw life leaving it.

She flew away because she could not bear it,

She flew back because she could help it.

She saw the cause of all this sadness.

An enormous tree, spreading its branches,

Its branches spread all over the space, covering the sun,

inhibiting everything this poor fellow needed to smile again.

And as the sun rose that morning,

She flew to a branch and made way for the sun to pass through.

In her sweat, she inhaled and pushed the branches away.

He felt it, he felt hope

Something was happening,

Life was happening.

Strength was coming upon him,

He was standing, he was trying,

Then it was gone.

Looking around, he saw nothing,

For a minute, there was hope,

In another, there was darkness.

The bird flew away because the sun was gone,

But she had another plan.

Looking at himself, he was no more.

Petals drop daily and timely,

Sleep eluded him for everyday is dark.

People take the piss at him,

Even the ants dump their food at his root.

Then he saw all of them,

In that darkness, he heard all of them.

Flock of birds, all perching on a branch,

The sunray coming through over their head,

Hitting him like electricity,

Jolting him straight up,

so much better than photosynthesis.

The fear of death all swept away,

The tears of fear all wiped away,

The garment of death all torn away,

The smile of hope is worn again.

Every morning before the sunrise, they perch,

Giving way for the sun to rise on me,

Giving way for me to stand again,

Giving way for me to live again.

Once brown, now green,

Once dying, now alive,

Once broken, now whole,

Once alone,now surrounded.