One step - the only way to eat an elephant!

https://farm3.staticflickr.com/2660/4237896953_b2c6b97428_b.jpg

Begins with the first step,
Progresses with the next step,
Ends with the last step,
All you need is one step,
One more step,
Just one,
Only one,
One more,
It is all you need strength for,
All you need energy for,
All you need focus for,
One more,

There is only one way to eat an Elephant,
One bite at a time!

Brussels © October 2014 afesehngwaHilary

The slip that whips and tortures my mind

https://farm1.staticflickr.com/5/5571452_00e1396aa8_b.jpg

Dear Nsohnwi,

Somehow I refused to believe that a day will ever come,

When a FuhNiba triggered amnesia rocks your mind so hard,

Because I screwed up,

Out of human frailty,

Not out of any malicious scheme to harm,

Not out of any Machiavellian concoction to hurt,

But only because I slipped,

Terrible slip but a slip all the same,

Like everyone invariably sometimes does,

Even though you held my hand I still managed to fall,

From my fallen state I heard you call.

Because I screwed up big time,

Fine memories of a beautiful past are suddenly obliterated,

As if they never ever happened or existed,

Leaving a vacuum of time and past experiences,
Work and toil of countless years rubbished thanks to a careless smear,

A whole armor is flung to an age of memory lapses by aching pain,

When mending could make it whole again,

While I am immeasurably sorry and share your pain,

I wish you wouldn’t forget so soon,

I prayed you’ll give second and third and fourth chances a chance,

I am held hostage by the nostalgic sting of everything we shared,

Confused by the memories of everything we dared,

Unable to understand why we cannot try to fix this,

I know you have been hurt, and wounded and devastated,

But I am here to try to make it right again,

This slip that tortures and whips my mind,

I take full responsibility so give me a chance to set us back on course.

Repentantly,

With a love that even this terrible slip could not diminish,

FuhNiba

Brussels © October 2014 afesehngwaHilary

Nakedness which announces the break of dawn!

https://farm1.staticflickr.com/109/285810700_b5b0f731b7_o.jpg

They part with the monotony of the verdant garb,
And don colors of every hue that paint on the canvass of autumn air,
Streaks of beauty matchlessly picturesque,
Dancing in the celebratory song sang by the gentle autumn breeze,
One last attempt at a joyous gladness,
Before they strip nude,
Baring their whole physiology and anatomy,
In an intelligent act of nature which gives the season its name,
One of the reasons I miss Ames Iowa,
One leaf after the other they fall,
Until a nakedness which announces the break of dawn,
The brief dawn of winter,
Which quickly transforms for many into a long night of cold discontent,
As the animals frantically grow extra layers of fur to cope,
Some go into hibernation until the assault of all the frost bites passes by for that is their only hope,
And mankind change their wardrobes to match the coming times,
For them nakedness is not a viable option.

Brussels © October 2014 afesehngwaHilary

Ambivalent Tremors

https://farm4.staticflickr.com/3701/9648409425_3e0736c846_b.jpg

Dazed in a stupor of confusion from conflicting feelings which will not settle in any one direction, bipolar and extreme, a sense of right and wrong, angst, relief and pain tugged her from different directions. She picked up her pen and wrote the words:

Dear Ambivalence,

I have prayed for a while now that I will never get to write these words and that even if I ever had to write them, they will not be in a letter addressed to you... but here am I, sitting here, traumatized by guilt, hurt, steeped in pain yet convinced that it is the right thing to do. I have not come to this place easily... ah the agony which has rocked the path... it is amazing how a conviction of right can feel so wrong. I have given this careful thought, wrestled with every word, rationalized every feeling, debated every justification, and I have come to the unavoidable conclusion that for your good and mine, we stand at a junction in our relationship which offers us the gift of a forked path that we must separately take or forever be miserable on a single path to life imprisonment plus hard labor.

You have no opinions, say neither yes nor no, you quibble, have no positions on issues, and are constantly shirking the tough questions. I have struggled to find your identity and while you come forth as a sweet human being with no objections and a flow designed to shadow me, I have often felt like I was spending time with myself. I feel like I interact with a clone of me, a robotic prototype of my mind. Your detachment from taking a stance voids your personality and denies me the chance of getting to know the real you. When the rubber meets the road, I want to minimize as much as humanly possible the embarrassment of meeting you for the first time after I say I do and then life happens and you finally show up.

For our good, for your good and mine, for the sake of a future we still have a chance to salvage before it is wrecked by blind loyalty to a commitment entered in error and without the benefit of reason which happened to be drowned in the pleasantries of sweet emotions at the time, I ask you to understand and join me in moving on, on separate paths. I have your back... always... thank you for everything we shared, everything we learned.

Wishing you everything good you can become and with one last kiss, albeit virtual, I seal this note. 

Tremor.

Brussels © October 2014 afesehngwaHilary

You don’t have to be jealous!

https://farm3.staticflickr.com/2480/3561846577_d0b8883dd0_b.jpg

Looks like you are really serious,

You don’t have to be jealous,

When I give others material things,

In the process I give generosity wings,

Even if I gave the world silver and gold,

I give you something which could not be sold,

I give you something not as cold as gold,

I give you me,

I give you my heart,

I give you my time,

I only give them things because I have no time for them,

And can’t give them what is meant for you.

© October 2014 - afesehngwaHilary

The younger older lady!

https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4094/4908284340_6b27850500_b.jpg

One of the upsides of using public transportation,

When news around the world is recipe for dark and grim and sad,

One is blessed to catch more glimpses of the finer angels of our being,

Seventy may have been the number of her years,

Her legs were tired but her heart was not,

When she saw the older lady who may have been eighty,

With slightly more tired legs,

And more evident scars of the nibbling effects of time,

The younger older lady sprang to her feet quicker than a running bunny,

Yielding her seat in a celebratory act of some of the finest moments of our humanity,

It was quiet,

It was powerful,

It was pedantic,

I stood there flushed with pride for sharing in their lofty humanity,

I stood there feeling blessed to have witnessed it,

Privileged for the opportunity to be hopeful,

I sealed it with an effortless smile,

There are still glimmers of hope burning with unquenchable rigor around the world,

Challenging each and every one of us to stay open to being those pockets of light,

That give our collective humanity might.

Brussels © October 2014 afesehngwaHilary

Courage which defies her age – what is your excuse?

https://farm8.staticflickr.com/7339/13008047475_969d558612_b.jpg

She debunks all myths that wisdom and fortitude only lie in age,

She cuts all threads of logic that a certain age is a requirement,

A requirement to make a difference in a world gone wild with unconcern,

Her breed and ilk is rare,

Her courage is beyond compare,

Her determination second to none,

Her most potent instrument is her tongue,

And an unquenchable desire to learn,

An unquenchable desire to make it possible for others to learn,

She opens up her mouth and speaks anywhere she is,

And somehow the world listens,

Maybe she earned her right to be heard by the bullet she took in her head,

Her assailants made their worst mistake with that fired shot,

For they unleashed the growing power of a voice,

One voice which is in no small manner changing the world,

What is your excuse today?

If it is your age then think again,

Look at the 17 year old Nobel Peace Price winner for 2014,

Her name is Malala Yousafzai,

She has accomplished in a few years,

What many live up to a hundred and never accomplish,

Today I salute her.

Brussels © October 2014 afesehngwaHilary