How?
How can we win if we do not fight,
How can we triumph if we run away from the challenge,
How can a breakthrough come when in the face of the impossible,
We redirect our path to the previously done possible,
How can we be original when a taxing and daunting creativity is left to die ,
And all we seek to do is imitate,
How can there be a mountaintop without a valley,
How can there be a high without a low,
How can there be sweet without bitter,
How can there be joy without sadness,
Bad makes good possible,
Failure makes success possible,
Every negative makes the positive possible,
Fear not,
Fear only makes courage possible,
Don't embrace fear,
Don't dismiss it,
Supplant it with bold action.
© 2010 afeseh ngwa hilary
Friday, February 12, 2010
Wednesday, February 10, 2010
Down payment with precious 27 years of a Life - Mandela... lessons for my African generation!
Down payment with precious 27 years of a Life - Mandela... lessons for my African generation!
Never before in history has the world paused in a moment packed with a flurry of a medley of emotions to focus all attention to the thresholds of a prison gate. Though many a young person may have scant memories of that time,as a little boy of 11 then, I have the relevance of the events of that momentous moment etched on my mind, just as surely and indelibly as they are on the pages of history. Coming from a continent where it wouldn't be so wrong to say it is largely ruled by a cabal of bandits who are driving the continent with an engine of greed to the edge of a fatally steep precipice; 11th February which this year commemorates 20 years of Nelson Mandela's release from prison, fans flames of a healthy pride in me for a sterling statesman like Mandela. Mandela belongs to a crop and league of statesmen who only come to a generation every once in a while. He is among the few which Robert F Kennedy talked about when he said "Few will have the greatness to bend history itself, but each of us can work to change a small portion of events, and in the total of all those acts will be written the history of this generation. It is from numberless diverse acts of courage and belief that human history is shaped." As he walked through the doors of his cell, he brought away with him a freedom which to a large extent liberated both the oppressed and oppressor in the despicable apartheid South Africa. A political genius, a charming negotiator, an endurant hard worker who despised and mocked the low road of unforgiveness and rose to the majestic heights of forgiving and finding partners in his jailers. I salute Mandela and all his compatriots in the struggle, dead and alive... Even as I salute him, I cannot help but wonder how he could not bring his charm, ability to forgive and genius to bear in salving his ailing marriage to Winnie Mandela who in no small way stood by him and made significant contribution to the struggle... Could a marriage be more difficult to fix than an apartheid south africa? that is a question for another time and day. As I salute the legacy of Mandela I think of lessons my generation and I can draw from his journey.
While Mandela made the down payment with probably the most precious 27 years of his life, there must have been some who shamelessly watched from the sidelines of passivity as the apartheid drama unfolded to the finale which saw the beginning of their emancipation, yet savored the prize of the price payed with precious lives... as many toiled for change at home, there must have also been some who gave the struggle an invaluably important voice from exile... So as young people whether at home or abroad I hear a call today for us to become a little more selfLESS and give a little of our brains and time by thinking constructive, bold, actionable ideas directed towards the self healing of africa, a request I believe any and every young person can meet...
Mandela could well have easily traded his jail time for a life of ease abroad...If you read the Anatomy of a miracle: The end of apartheid and the birth of the new South Africa by Patti Waldmeir you will see that Mandela had a plethora of choices and if you read South African History well you will also notice many many many blacks ran away from the country. In fact Mandela had more choices than we have today as a people of Africa yet he walked the hard road. See the except from Wikipedia to slightly buttress my point... "In February 1985 President P.W. Botha offered Mandela conditional release in return for renouncing armed struggle.[54] Coetzee and other ministers had advised Botha against this, saying that Mandela would never commit his organisation to giving up the armed struggle in exchange for personal freedom.[55] Mandela indeed spurned the offer, releasing a statement via his daughter Zindzi saying "What freedom am I being offered while the organisation of the people remains banned? Only free men can negotiate. A prisoner cannot enter into contracts."[53]" - Wikipedia
It would of course be naively akin to wanting to live forever to expect to find a path which leads to the mountain top which was obstacle free. When a people are bent on developing, if they don't find the path they will make one, and both involve an indefatigable hard work... When Mandela dreamed many years ago it would have been easy to say he was living and dreaming in sky-scapers of the future which he could not afford... it was not a passive inactive dreaming even against the barrage of pessimism from within and without which probably came his way... it was an active waiting which never lost hope and which was never idle even from a jail cell. We will only become noble and develop by the things we do... one thing however which the way forward cannot tolerate is any excuse for not giving or for not participating... inaction is always the easier road and great men and women never walk that path...Africans have walked down that path long enough and we have the results to show - needless to name them here but we can begin to say, not any more... inactivity will always seek to stand in the way of action, we can not let it, not any more... As a bright future beckons our generation to put our act together and step up, steering away from the mistakes of our forbears, history is watching and will judge us... No action is small, none is dumb, all is important... we can belong together and whether we realize now or not, we can rise together... the ball is in our court, the choice is ours...
It cannot be easy... It takes time and I am painfully aware of our impatience as a young people. We cannot be in the process of building an airplane and flying it at the same time, so it will be important to go back to the drawing boards. We cannot expect results before the work is done... We cannot expect a harvest before the planting season has come... The failures of yesterday cannot stop us from succeeding today unless we choose to... If there is any hope for Africa, we must stubbornly press on and we must, together with like passion driven minds, from within or without Africa either find the path forward, create one or die trying, God being our helper... We will like to see results in our lifetime but lack of results in our lifetime and potential for change only in another must not stop us from acting today in anyway we can... I am convinced in the power of ideas, I have seen their magic, their charm enthralls and the right, bold, actionable, root cause removal oriented ideas to real problems will always attract their funding in the long run... I believe, I am a believer in the things unseen, that is where tomorrow's reality is... those who wait to have enough to give never really give... Today let us begin to drive the last nail on the coffin of selfishness and burn it so that like a phoenix selflessness might rise from the ashes in stead.
© 2010 afeseh ngwa hilary.
Never before in history has the world paused in a moment packed with a flurry of a medley of emotions to focus all attention to the thresholds of a prison gate. Though many a young person may have scant memories of that time,as a little boy of 11 then, I have the relevance of the events of that momentous moment etched on my mind, just as surely and indelibly as they are on the pages of history. Coming from a continent where it wouldn't be so wrong to say it is largely ruled by a cabal of bandits who are driving the continent with an engine of greed to the edge of a fatally steep precipice; 11th February which this year commemorates 20 years of Nelson Mandela's release from prison, fans flames of a healthy pride in me for a sterling statesman like Mandela. Mandela belongs to a crop and league of statesmen who only come to a generation every once in a while. He is among the few which Robert F Kennedy talked about when he said "Few will have the greatness to bend history itself, but each of us can work to change a small portion of events, and in the total of all those acts will be written the history of this generation. It is from numberless diverse acts of courage and belief that human history is shaped." As he walked through the doors of his cell, he brought away with him a freedom which to a large extent liberated both the oppressed and oppressor in the despicable apartheid South Africa. A political genius, a charming negotiator, an endurant hard worker who despised and mocked the low road of unforgiveness and rose to the majestic heights of forgiving and finding partners in his jailers. I salute Mandela and all his compatriots in the struggle, dead and alive... Even as I salute him, I cannot help but wonder how he could not bring his charm, ability to forgive and genius to bear in salving his ailing marriage to Winnie Mandela who in no small way stood by him and made significant contribution to the struggle... Could a marriage be more difficult to fix than an apartheid south africa? that is a question for another time and day. As I salute the legacy of Mandela I think of lessons my generation and I can draw from his journey.
While Mandela made the down payment with probably the most precious 27 years of his life, there must have been some who shamelessly watched from the sidelines of passivity as the apartheid drama unfolded to the finale which saw the beginning of their emancipation, yet savored the prize of the price payed with precious lives... as many toiled for change at home, there must have also been some who gave the struggle an invaluably important voice from exile... So as young people whether at home or abroad I hear a call today for us to become a little more selfLESS and give a little of our brains and time by thinking constructive, bold, actionable ideas directed towards the self healing of africa, a request I believe any and every young person can meet...
Mandela could well have easily traded his jail time for a life of ease abroad...If you read the Anatomy of a miracle: The end of apartheid and the birth of the new South Africa by Patti Waldmeir you will see that Mandela had a plethora of choices and if you read South African History well you will also notice many many many blacks ran away from the country. In fact Mandela had more choices than we have today as a people of Africa yet he walked the hard road. See the except from Wikipedia to slightly buttress my point... "In February 1985 President P.W. Botha offered Mandela conditional release in return for renouncing armed struggle.[54] Coetzee and other ministers had advised Botha against this, saying that Mandela would never commit his organisation to giving up the armed struggle in exchange for personal freedom.[55] Mandela indeed spurned the offer, releasing a statement via his daughter Zindzi saying "What freedom am I being offered while the organisation of the people remains banned? Only free men can negotiate. A prisoner cannot enter into contracts."[53]" - Wikipedia
It would of course be naively akin to wanting to live forever to expect to find a path which leads to the mountain top which was obstacle free. When a people are bent on developing, if they don't find the path they will make one, and both involve an indefatigable hard work... When Mandela dreamed many years ago it would have been easy to say he was living and dreaming in sky-scapers of the future which he could not afford... it was not a passive inactive dreaming even against the barrage of pessimism from within and without which probably came his way... it was an active waiting which never lost hope and which was never idle even from a jail cell. We will only become noble and develop by the things we do... one thing however which the way forward cannot tolerate is any excuse for not giving or for not participating... inaction is always the easier road and great men and women never walk that path...Africans have walked down that path long enough and we have the results to show - needless to name them here but we can begin to say, not any more... inactivity will always seek to stand in the way of action, we can not let it, not any more... As a bright future beckons our generation to put our act together and step up, steering away from the mistakes of our forbears, history is watching and will judge us... No action is small, none is dumb, all is important... we can belong together and whether we realize now or not, we can rise together... the ball is in our court, the choice is ours...
It cannot be easy... It takes time and I am painfully aware of our impatience as a young people. We cannot be in the process of building an airplane and flying it at the same time, so it will be important to go back to the drawing boards. We cannot expect results before the work is done... We cannot expect a harvest before the planting season has come... The failures of yesterday cannot stop us from succeeding today unless we choose to... If there is any hope for Africa, we must stubbornly press on and we must, together with like passion driven minds, from within or without Africa either find the path forward, create one or die trying, God being our helper... We will like to see results in our lifetime but lack of results in our lifetime and potential for change only in another must not stop us from acting today in anyway we can... I am convinced in the power of ideas, I have seen their magic, their charm enthralls and the right, bold, actionable, root cause removal oriented ideas to real problems will always attract their funding in the long run... I believe, I am a believer in the things unseen, that is where tomorrow's reality is... those who wait to have enough to give never really give... Today let us begin to drive the last nail on the coffin of selfishness and burn it so that like a phoenix selflessness might rise from the ashes in stead.
© 2010 afeseh ngwa hilary.
Monday, February 8, 2010
One heartbeat away!
One heartbeat away.
When your success has gone astray,
And every step seems to take it further away,
And that thing you have been waiting for donkey years,
That special person who can share in your joys and tears,
Now seems to be only a pipe dream,
And your progress wagon refuses to gather steam,
And there is but a dying flame to help you grope in the dark,
With the grim realities very stark,
When your God seems so far in a distant land,
And a following wind blows away your footprints in the sand,
Tap from that indomitable spirit in the heart of every man,
Let the sun of hope kiss your skin for a healthy tan,
For like death, it might only be one heartbeat afar,
Every heartbeat might take you closer to being that dream star,
One heartbeat, one heartbeat, one heartbeart so far.
© 2010 afeseh ngwa hilary
When your success has gone astray,
And every step seems to take it further away,
And that thing you have been waiting for donkey years,
That special person who can share in your joys and tears,
Now seems to be only a pipe dream,
And your progress wagon refuses to gather steam,
And there is but a dying flame to help you grope in the dark,
With the grim realities very stark,
When your God seems so far in a distant land,
And a following wind blows away your footprints in the sand,
Tap from that indomitable spirit in the heart of every man,
Let the sun of hope kiss your skin for a healthy tan,
For like death, it might only be one heartbeat afar,
Every heartbeat might take you closer to being that dream star,
One heartbeat, one heartbeat, one heartbeart so far.
© 2010 afeseh ngwa hilary
Friday, February 5, 2010
Deterrent for bad behavior!
Deterrent for bad behavior.
Don't just give me a sermon about hell,
Like you were born and raised in it,
Don't just give me a deterrent for bad behaviour,
Give me an incentive for good behaviour,
Tell me about heaven,
How it is the surest haven.
© 2010 afeseh ngwa hilary
Don't just give me a sermon about hell,
Like you were born and raised in it,
Don't just give me a deterrent for bad behaviour,
Give me an incentive for good behaviour,
Tell me about heaven,
How it is the surest haven.
© 2010 afeseh ngwa hilary
Wednesday, February 3, 2010
Why I write!
I have given the reason why I write deep thought many times and it is a role which I take very seriously... as I a poet/writer I don't believe in writing for writing's sake...while I believe style is the garb of thought, I also believe that the words which are the wheels of the same must be deeply substantive and seek to highlight/dramatize and bring attention to an important issue which is receiving not enough attention or a deaf ear, to encourage, to give hope, to offer guided counsel, to identify with fellow man, to whip our common conscience and give life to our collective humanity, to share an experience, to unlock some positive energy in the reader as I try to take them on a mental journey with me about our common reality etc... tough call so I can only count on God... I think poets/writers should be impossible to bribe hehe haha :-)...
© 2010 afeseh ngwa hilary
© 2010 afeseh ngwa hilary
Monday, February 1, 2010
To those we love the most.
To those we love the most.
To those we love the most,
We give them the power to hurt us the most,
Love was never wrong,
It has never been wrong to love,
Even as intensely as you have loved Lindsey,
In spite of and despite what you got in return,
Yes love might hurt,
And very much so,
But love was never wrong,
Sometimes it is only in hindsight,
That we are wise enough to make it right,
But the tragedy or commedy if you like,
Is usually that by the time we can make it right,
The chance is gone and lost,
With every life in me,
I believe that He(God) still makes all things beautiful,
Beautiful in its time,
She might be part of some of your most cherished memories,
But now that she chose to walk away the way she did,
Even as you continue to cherish her memories,
An undue focus on them might bring you to the unfortunate place,
Where you fail to see,
And reach out to that sweeter song,
Which is always there waiting to be claimed,
By those who refuse to wallow in the regrets of the past,
And cling to the comfort of the moment,
I can imagine how you feel,
Pray for her always and wish her well,
Give instructions for your letters to be sacredly kept,
They sure will give us a window to a love which never died,
One whose undying embers will still be fanned to a fiery flame,
Any day , any time by the harmattan winds of mere sight,
Tomorrow I can bet my life you will realise,
That you were spared life long worry and sorrow,
Not being a life long partner to the woman you have loved so much.
© 2010 afeseh ngwa hilary
To those we love the most,
We give them the power to hurt us the most,
Love was never wrong,
It has never been wrong to love,
Even as intensely as you have loved Lindsey,
In spite of and despite what you got in return,
Yes love might hurt,
And very much so,
But love was never wrong,
Sometimes it is only in hindsight,
That we are wise enough to make it right,
But the tragedy or commedy if you like,
Is usually that by the time we can make it right,
The chance is gone and lost,
With every life in me,
I believe that He(God) still makes all things beautiful,
Beautiful in its time,
She might be part of some of your most cherished memories,
But now that she chose to walk away the way she did,
Even as you continue to cherish her memories,
An undue focus on them might bring you to the unfortunate place,
Where you fail to see,
And reach out to that sweeter song,
Which is always there waiting to be claimed,
By those who refuse to wallow in the regrets of the past,
And cling to the comfort of the moment,
I can imagine how you feel,
Pray for her always and wish her well,
Give instructions for your letters to be sacredly kept,
They sure will give us a window to a love which never died,
One whose undying embers will still be fanned to a fiery flame,
Any day , any time by the harmattan winds of mere sight,
Tomorrow I can bet my life you will realise,
That you were spared life long worry and sorrow,
Not being a life long partner to the woman you have loved so much.
© 2010 afeseh ngwa hilary
Wednesday, January 20, 2010
Communication!
When there is no communication,
There is no understanding,
When you do not communicate,
You do not relate,
When you do not relate,
Relationship is stifled,
Relationships are the life wires of community,
Stifled relationships make up fractured communities,
Find time to communicate,
Tough call in a busy world,
Right call in a busy world,
Right relationships keep you grounded and sane,
Easy to drown relating to materialism and fame,
Relating to the validation of the world,
What we really need is one another,
Come on make time for one another.
© 2010 afeseh ngwa hilary
There is no understanding,
When you do not communicate,
You do not relate,
When you do not relate,
Relationship is stifled,
Relationships are the life wires of community,
Stifled relationships make up fractured communities,
Find time to communicate,
Tough call in a busy world,
Right call in a busy world,
Right relationships keep you grounded and sane,
Easy to drown relating to materialism and fame,
Relating to the validation of the world,
What we really need is one another,
Come on make time for one another.
© 2010 afeseh ngwa hilary
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