Thanksgiving

Thanksgiving.

Could have easily been a heartbeat away from death,
But you make it a heartbeat to the next moment of life,
For everything I give thanks for,
For every worthwhile thing I dare to do,
In my moment of truth,
When pride is drowned and humility brought to life,
There's a reason why I say it wasn't me,
Because God's fingerprints are all over it,

Today I am thankful for the things I take for granted,
Like the breath at my nostrils,
Like sound and peaceful sleep,
I am grateful for the ability and willingness to learn,
For knowledge of my own ignorance,
For the air in my lungs,
The bread in my stomach,
For potable water,

For teeth to help me chew,
For the pumping of my heart,
The blood of life in my arteries and veins,
I am thankful for the hands which type these words,
For the feet which still carry my weight,
For the hearing in my ears and the sight in my eyes,
For proper toilets,

I am thankful even for the difficult things,
The things which test me and tax me,
I am thankful for how You use them to make me better,
In exchange and traded by barter for the bitter me,
I am thankful for my family and friends,
Woes and throes and foes,
For in one way or the other they help me grow,

I am thankful for those who spend today in the heat of battle fire,
So that the bastion walls of freedom can remain standing,
For those who spend today away from loved ones and home,
To make sure I can be at home with mine,
I am immeasurably thankful for their selflessness,
For the lessons they teach me in their service,

I am thankful that I have a choice to choose to worship baal,
But if that choice was ever taken away,
And my only choice was to bow to baal by force,
Dear God,
Even in my thanksgiving I make a request,
If that day ever came when somebody or anybody,
I don't care who the person is,
Dared to take my freedom and ability to worship and commune with you,
If I was ever forced to worship anything but you,
Take me home with you before I bow to baal,

I am unspeakably thankful today,
For everything I have become,
For everything You do for me,
Big and small,
I am thankful for our humanity,
For all these wonderful people you bring into my life,
To hold me and help to mold me,
I am thankful for opportunities to serve,
To touch a life or two,
In ways big and small,
Above all I am thankful dear God that I still belong to you.

I am thankful today,
You are amplified and magnified in my praise!

© 2010 afeseh ngwa hilary

Ground Zero

Ground Zero.

This very place in which I was burned,
Hallowed spot where my giant structure tumbled,
Tumbled and crumbled,
Here I met life with a clash,
Parts of me hit the nearby waters with a splash,
From the purifying fire my ashes emerged,
Like the proverbial phoenix from the ashes I rise,
Taller than before,
Stronger than in the past,
Help me God,
In this place where my demise was hatched,
Let a better me be rehashed.

© 2010 afeseh ngwa hilary

Refugee child

Refugee child!

I watched those near hopeless eyes,
Very faintly lit on a listless body,
Body familiar to hardship and suffering,
Testament of the inner strength of man,
She carved a more genuine smile than most,
Lean flesh on malformed bones,
Hapless and helpless,
Yes but not hopeless,
Hope didn't shine forth like a new moon,
But I could see it brewing in her every breath,

Oh life behooves every man,
With greater and better opportunity,
To reach out and lend a hand,
In lifting up every such sorry frame,
No refugee child earns that title for themselves,
Adults usually connive in their greed to make them so,
Nature might help catapult them to those depths,

But we have a collective responsibility,
Doesn't matter how you look,
Or where you're from,
Babies are innocent across the board,
Whatever you can do,
Make a contribution to protect them,
Show them some love,
Send them some care,
Educate somebody about the preciousness of children,
Keep their abusers away,
Raise a prayer to heaven,
Revolt against wars,

Every violent war is fundamentally against a child,
They cannot protect themselves!
They are the future of the world,
The child you can and fail to reach today,
Might be your nightmare tomorrow,
The nightmare of the world,
The bandit on your door,
Help a child today!

© 2010 afeseh ngwa hilary

Scary day!

Scary day!

I got up this morning,
To a day as scary as hell,
Because I feel no opposition,
Opposition from the devil,
I might be on his side,
And the thought of it freaks me out,
I don't want to go without you God.

© 2010 afeseh ngwa hilary

The arm pit of Africa

The arm pit of Africa

See the African map,
Neighbor to Nigeria,
Gold mine,
With a few seeking to call mine,
Cesspit, Cesspool,
Dirty pool,
Arm pit of Africa,
Harboring lice of corruption ,
Accumulated sweat of mind and spiritual pollution,
Infested with bugs of greed,
Insensitive to common need,
Arm pit of Africa,
Starless night time with no moon,
Cee aiiye ehm eee and add the roon,
CAMEROON,
Exploited, manipulated,
Used and reused,
Misused and abused,
But there is hope,
Buried in those willing to pay the price,
And let another get the prize,
No prize too high to pay,
Any time, any day,
Hope, doggedly stubborn hope,
Born of those ready to cope,
In the fiery furnace of faith,
Indefatigable, selfless and loving,
Prayerful, patriotic and resilient,
Insistent and consistent,
Willing to work hard,
But also to work smart!

© 2010 afeseh ngwa hilary

If you mean it!

If you mean it.

If you mean it,
Even when you eat,
Do it like you do,
Mean it when you say it,
Say it like you mean it,
Mean it when you do it,
Do it like you mean it.

© 2010 afeseh ngwa hilary

Give it your heart.

Give it your heart.

Give your work your heart,
Do it with passion,
Unleash some compassion,
Give it your soul,
Otherwise it ends in still birth,
Child without a heart,
Art with no pulse,
That means it is dead,
Do not work at all,
OR
Give it your best,
Give it your all,
Give it your life,
So work can come to life,
No one is immune or indifferent,
To work that throbs with vivacity,
Reaches out with vitality,
Work that grows on humanity.

© 2010 afeseh ngwa hilary