Your insidious wish – my command!

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Don’t be quick to wish you want to be in my shoes,

You want the fancy clothes which cover my hidden bruise,

You only see the pure gold he put on my hand,

Not the violent gusty cold winds from the breath of my man,

Be careful,

Be careful,

Be careful what you wish,

Beware of the looks of the inviting dish,

All you see is my price tag,

Not the life in this violently silent bag,

Now I invite you,

Come take my things and give me your freedom,

Come take my silence and give me your voice,

Liberate me and make your wish come true.

Brussels © April 2015 afesehngwaHilary

Write your own history!

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When you let another write your history,
You let them tell your story,
You let them shape your future,
You let them form your culture,

Through a history maimed, dislocated, and caricatured,
Many a people have been left confused, belligerent and fractured,
Tied to the lies of an untrue past,
Unable to make their progress last,

So take your history back,
Fill the historical knowledge lack,
Own it and take its lessons very seriously,
Before who you really are disappears mysteriously,
For true history brings us invaluable lessons from the past,
Today you have a chance to determine how the history of today will read,
Wake up and lead!


Brussels © April 2015 afesehngwaHilary

The strength waning in your clout!

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Sometimes you will doubt,
Feel the strength waning in your clout,
Feel ill equipped for life's next bout,
You reach out to the wells of hope and find a drought,
In frustration you pout,
It does not help so you let out a shrieking shout,

But being a determined success scout,
You let an iron will endure the success route,
To the heavens you reach out,
Praying your labor seeds will bountifully sprout,
You are appointed,
Not disappointed,
By the ripening of time.

Brussels © April 2015 afesehngwaHilary

Elegance!

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No dress more elegant than the robes of loving service,

May not feel regal,

May bring a heavy, even painful weight on the shoulders that wear them,

But try them,

And go about the business of living out the truest creed of that noble life giving work,

Before you know it you’ll be looking preciously graceful and glamorously elegant,

In robes so priceless no earthly designer makes them yet!

Brussels © April 2015 afesehngwaHilary

Whine or wine!

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... in life,

You can decide,

Irrespective of where you reside,

Decide to while away your life,

Whining and blaming your past and circumstances and life,

Employing every effort to be embittered by it,

Lap at the shores of regret for all the things which were or could have been yours,

OR you can decide to learn,

Take a new turn,

Learn the lessons from your past and life,

Become better because of it...

Think differently in spite of it,

Look for opportunities where obstacles stand,

Press forward with the stubborn steeled determination and iron clan will,

Remember the toxic effects of bitterness and hatred,

Start in the heart which harbors them...

Brussels © April 2015 afesehngwaHilary

Beauty - a constant youthful high!

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No matter how hard we try,

Court every promise for a constant youthful high,
Employ some cosmetic botox,
Surgery on the buttocks,
Try various transplants,
Face and breast implants,
Out of fear to suck,
Do a tummy tuck,
Every passing day gnaws,
Slowly leaving sagging jaws,
Naturally age will nibble at youth,
Some desperation’s distasting and uncouth,
Age's not really a disease so it needs no cure,
If you ask me I’ll say it really has no cure,
At best you delay it on the outside,
Ageing internal organs the blind side,
But the beauty of the palpable yet intangible heart and mind,
Can grow even through the years of daily grind,
Beyond the assaulting reach of age.

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Brussels © April 2015 afesehngwaHilary

Silence is the manure of abuse!

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Silence is the manure of abuse,

If you are abused,

Emotionally,

Physically,

Psychologically used,

Speak out,

Shout out,

Scream out,

Yell out,

Tell a friend,

Tell a stranger,

Tell Jesus,

Make some noise,

Get some attention,
Start a scene,
Dramatize the act,

Do whatever is necessary,

Until help can hear you,

And report with rescue,

Or else you feed abuse,

Which will grow,

Grow to be a monster,

That will claim your life,

Sometimes violently,

Sometimes subtly,

Abuse can be as good as death,

So even with death threats,

Speak out till help runs in to you,

Or you walk out to help;

Man, woman, child, adult,
Young and old,
Find your voice,

Use your voice,

Save your voice,

Raise your voice... if necessary.

Brussels © April 2015 afesehngwaHilary

Bulimic purge!

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The doctor said the food made me ill,
Gave me a high fever which brought me chills,
The nurse helped give me the prescribed pills,
From the pack lying on the window sill,

I lay there very still,
Praying that at the end of this health-less drill,
I'll have a small bill,
Thank God the poisoning didn't kill,

Nobody knew it was all engineered by me,
I let the food go a little stale,
So after my compulsive obsessive food binge,
It would be much easier to initiate my bulimic purge,
But this time in my desire to lose the calories,
The calories almost brought my life with them,

Oh the toxic pressures of being a skinny teenage girl,
My secret, a secret wrapped in masked pressures.

Brussels © April 2015 afesehngwaHilary

When tall dreams call!

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The race is daunting and long,

Be not be paralyzed by the crippling fear of being wrong,
The task is tall,

But we must heed the call,
The call is urgent,

The challenge is big,
The need dire,
Mediocrity wouldn't do,

We have permission to stretch a little more, 

Do a little more,

Dare a little more,
Dream a little bigger, 
Run a little faster, 
Reach a little further, 
Grow a little bigger,

May take a while,
But settle not settle for mediocrity,
When excellence beckons still,
Grow it Lord...

Brussels © April 2015 afesehngwaHilary

A woman's charm!

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Arguably the woman's most potent charm,
Just being a woman, 
Fully and without restraint,
Being a woman,
Not as the world sanctions or endorses,
And not as the world wants or pleases,
But just as she is,
Everything she is made to be,
A woman,
Living it out as if it were impossible to be anything else,
Knowing her place is irreplaceable in our collective humanity,
And that my dear,
Is the thing which appeals to me the most about you,
The woman in you!

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                                        Brussels © April 2015 afesehngwaHilary

An elusive 'happy ever after'!

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Beautiful with childlike innocence,
Marked to be princess,
Plucked from the obscurity of naivety,
Thrust into the world stage,
To meet the rising demands of providence and prominence,
Princess to a prince who appeared to have it all,
Stuff only read in fairy tales,
Becoming true in real life,
Stubborn doubt stole the certainty of her vows,
Yet she was quick to dismiss them,
She had come too far,
It was easier to ignore the signs of future trouble,
Than to confront the warning signs begging to be noticed,

So in stead of running away from trouble,
She walked down the isle,
Prince and princess,
Set on a futile journey,
To pin down an elusive 'happy ever after',
Neither effort nor time,
Was a good enough ally,

Against all odds,
Despite mind boggling endurance,
In the midst of unspeakable loneliness,
The sailing ship of marriage,
Which sought the promised bliss of prince wedded to princess,
Hit an iceberg of built up deceit,
Too serious for the ship to survive,
And once again this was proof,
That fairy tales are fairy tales,
And real life is real life,

In real life,
Fantasies work,
When couched in practical realism,
A lot of daring,
With a prayerful indefatigable hard work. 

Brussels © April 2015 afesehngwaHilary

A day in May!

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It was a warm beautiful day in May,

They were very gay to be sitting together on the hay,

On the way to the ocean’s bay,

One letter shy of the same, their names were Jay and Fay,

They lay and watched the donkey bray,

The sheer brilliance of the sun’s piercing ray,

Made them uncontrollably shout hurray and hey and yay,

It made them pray,

That the magic of that moment will stay.

Brussels © April 2015 afesehngwaHilary

To evolve is to love more!

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Dear Counselor,

To evolve is to love more,

Children don't ask to be born,

Let us spare them the egregious pain of being torn,

They don't choose their families,

Even when they are beautiful like wild lilies,

They happen in their circumstance,

And are affected when adults do or don’t take the right stance,

Let us not consciously subject them to the whims of chance,

We must change the music and the kind of adult responsibility dance,

We have an obligation,

To do a universal child abuse ligation,

Starting from where you are,

Please stop bringing them to the bar,

So as long as any one is a child,

They can be spared a life confusingly very wild,

And each of them should get a chance at worthwhile life,

With opportunities very rife,

A child is a child,

In the palace or in the cave,

Let us treat them right,

Protect their fragile children rights,

Spare them the countless many societal blights,

Nurture a nourishing culture,

They are the undeniable future.

Brussels © April 2015 afesehngwaHilary

Acid test of love!

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A good feeling is a good feeling,
And love is love,
Sometimes they meet,
Sometimes they don't,
True love is not a trophy to be earned,
It is a habit to be learned,
It is a free will gift,
With the power to lift,
It is a choice,
It is a voice,
Which only the heart can hear,
And in the process calm its fear,
It is a tough call,
A call to be tall,
With overtones of sacrifice,
Sweet when love grips you like a vice,
Love's company can be a tear,
Accompanied by a heart tear,
Which only more love can heal,
Till the wound is sealed,
The truest call is the toughest,
The call to love the roughest,
The most undeserving,
The one who put a gun on your head,
Shot your daddy,
Raped your mom and sisters,
Robbed you of every valuable thing,
Love is a choice in grace...
It is the heart of life,
The beginning and end of life,
The toughest call to love is the acid test,
When love is not stimulated yet it loves.

Brussels © April 2015 afesehngwaHilary

My biggest fears!

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It was Sunday …for Brussels an unusually sunny day…It was Easter…celebrating a famous death… one meant to be a public spectacle… on the cross… a shameful death… transformed into a pillar of light… illuminating many lives… lighting many paths… renewing hope… triumph…over death… weakness…darkness… 

It was my birthday…the day I was born…this day born again…out of the ashes…the failures…the rubble... my entire being flushed… with gratitude… my mind wondered… and wandered… to meet my biggest fears…the fear that I may keep growing old …without continually growing up… the fear that someday… I may go to my grave… without being everything I could be…all I am meant to be…all that I was sent to be…with wasted talents and un honed skills… 

I don’t want to be a duplicate…don’t have to be same…embrace my difference…to the best opportunities show deference…let my compass be truth… not acceptance…a daunting feat…makes me not feel fit…so I pray I’ll have courage… to be a better man…find value in everyone… lace my humanity with care… steep it in love! 

You see my name is afeseh… means given by God… a gift…from the hands of omniscience…omnipotence…and hilary’s me too…though powerful… a hilarious giving… I intend to make the gift count… growing the world’s stock of human hilarity… I don’t know how… not sure how… not sure I will… I may fail… but every day I’ll start… one moment… one day at a time… may fall but I’ll be up again!

                                         Brussels © April 2015 afesehngwaHilary

Death of the caterpillar - weird metaphor of Easter!

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Morphosis the caterpillar knew for sure that it was the end,

The inevitable end of life as she had known it,

Shock and denial,

Then death finally and unavoidably came visiting,

Its ugliness morphed into the transcendent glory of better life,

In a spectacle of breath taking sentience,

A thing of ethereal beauty,

Rose from the ashes of the past and the place of death,

Full with the magical feel of velvety silk,

Metamorphosis the butterfly was born,

Caterpillar friends wrote the orbituary of Morphosis,

As she flew away in the magnificence of Metamorphosis,

Into the flower loving pretty butterfly,

So to find Morphosis,

Look for Metamorphosis,

Otherwise you find her not,

Her past is irretrievably gone.

Brussels © April 2015 afesehngwaHilary

Take an African trip!

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Yes Africa is still a continent,
With a flow of woes incontinent,
But that is only part of the story,
Disabuse yourself from the partial story,

Get on a mental flight,
Meet ignorance with a fight,
Take an African trip,
Redeem your ignorant slip,

Africa's not only the wars,
Neither is it only the sores,
Nor a starving child on tv shows,
It is also those who rise when the cock crows,

Looking at uncertainty in the face,
Summoning courage for every race,
Excellently doing countless little things,
Rewriting the song that circumstance sings,

Surviving against unfathomable odds,
With the defiance of mini gods,
To put food on the table,
After taking care of the stable,

Send a child to school,
Give them a survival tool,
Plow a stubborn land,
In a day which is all but bland,

Africa has corrupt and dishonest leaders,
But it also has countless strong honest feeders,
Who by the sweat of their brow feed a nation,
Sparing convulsions from a meager food ration,

Africa's not just about dictatorships,
It is also about numberless correct mentorships,
It is about heroism being an african truism,
Unsung heroes who live a taxing life with matchless realism,

Let the African make the story complete,
As non-Africans tell it incomplete,
Be careful when the hunter is your only story teller,
Be in the audience where the hunted is the teller,

Seek the right avenues,
Commercial and non commercial avenues,
The media - If you don't want what they sell,
You must sell what you tell,
Silence is not an option,
Except when drowning is an embraced co-option.

Brussels © April 2015 afesehngwaHilary

In memories of you I steep!

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My heart did leap a mighty leap,
Leaving a hole of dire longing very deep,
And since then I have been unable to sleep,
Wondering if I did all I could to keep,
If my efforts were not at best very cheap,
If I should have been a little more radical than sheep,
Wondering if instead of a worthwhile chase I did not opt to creep,
Unable to accept that I earned the poor harvest I am forced to reap,
Triggers from your picture on my phone as it vibrated in a second long beep,
I am not sure if you mistakenly called me from your sleep,
In the fondest stinging memories of you I now have to steep,
I weep!

Brussels © April 2015 afesehngwaHilary