The Death of the Prince, Part 1

The sound of the sonorous music was dead

Feasting, merrying and drinking had all fled

For the unusual sorrowful state of the king's house

And the king laid down on the ground like a wounded mouse

Who would rouse our mourning king?

The elders of the land visited him, even his right wing
But he wouldn't raise himself and listen to their wise words

To my lord, the skilful harp player now plays untuned chords

In the new wife's room, laid the ill child in his mother's hand

Being treated by the best physicians in the land

"We have not seen this kind of sickness before"

I overheard them as I listened behind the door

"What an anguish upon the innocent little thing"

I said to myself as I walk back to the king,

Along the beautifully adored palace walk way 

Sadness has turned the precious ornaments to clay

I could perceive sweet-smelling freshly roasted lamb steak

Garnished with knead bread of the king's delightful bake

I asked the maids: "My lord, still won't eat?"

They walked pass me as they nod their heads as to a beat

Suddenly, a wailing arose

Together with the maids, I hurried to the close

Alas! Tragedy finally happened, yes, it did

Life, the poor child couldn't bid

The prophet had beforehand came out of the blue

I can't believe that his words are true

This whole event couldn't be

Why should the innocent child pay the fee?

The news spread around the palace like a wild fire
Grieve is in our veins like a hot steel wire
Weeping and wailing fill the air
Telling the king no one can dare

"Who is going to tell my lord the king the news?
Whoever does has his life to lose

The furious wrath of my lord is a great danger"

I thought, as I ran up to the king's chamber

The other servants were also already panicking
A looming upheaval of the king was ravaging
"He might do some harm!"
One of the servants raised an alarm

The task is on me, since I am the king's chief guard
How can the tidings proceed out of my mouth
"Is the child dead?"
We suddenly heard the voice resounding from behind

... to be continued

Can somebody hear me?

Will I ever see the light?
When I sleep, it is dark; it is night
And I always hope that when I wake up, all will be bright
Will I ever know what is called white?

I move, I feed, I breathe, Oh! I have life
Since the first day I was formed here, after I won the strive,
I started growing from a cell, just like every living thing came alive
But like flowers, I hope I won't soon be cut down by a knife

Everyday I hear words that reverberate and thunder
They make me shiver and wonder:
"This shame is too much … this baby also has to go. It is a mistake", says mother
Only hate, abortion, murder is in her mind, no other

And today, the partner in crime is here
The shouts of the big for nothing bully goat is all I could hear
When he got to know about me and I have been engrossed in sadness and fear
I am unwanted and I will never be anyone's dear

I'd like to join the other babies I hear playing around and go to school
Learn maths and history and I won't be a fool
Play "hide and seek " and splash water at others in the pool
Act like a superstar and sing in front of other children and feel so cool

I'd like to go to the university and study
Fulfill my dreams and have a good and happy family
Enjoy life, travel around the world and be a good representative of my country
And assist the needy with some money

But now, the monster rabbit is here with soft words "Dear, you will be fine"
Where are we going now? I feel something terrible is about to happen, I can see the sign
The car has stopped, we are walking, oh! It smells like a hospital now and it is just nine
"Be calm, dear, you can do this" says this wicked devil, who is always drunk with wine

The doctor, nurses … and now, we are in the operating theater, laid on the bed
Metal curette, syringe and other instruments, all on the table they are spread
My life, my dreams, my hopes will soon be gone and I will soon be dead
Can somebody please stop them? Oh, they still want to do it after all I have said?

Please, mother, I will be a good child, please, don't do this
You will give me a good name like Chris
I will not be any problem to you and you will always give me your good night kiss
And when I grow up, I won't stay out late and party, so my presence you won't miss

Oh Father, I am sorry for calling you bad names
Please, want me, want me, I am begging you, Mr. James
I will be your best buddy and we will play together your favorite games
He does not even care... oh! My body is hot; it is like I am in flames

Ah ah ah I can now feel  so much intense pain
They are pulling my limb out with so much strain
Who can save me from this slain?
Can someone please hear my cry, it should not be in vain

Where are my grandparents and my relations?
Where is the government and the religious organisations?
No one really cares about the cry of an unborn child and his lamentations
But like every other person, I have life, emotions, hope and expectations

Dear God, I know that only you can hear my innocent cry
You know the unbearable pain I feel now and my impotence
And only you can save unborn infants from man's wickedness
This is the travail that aborted children go through before they die

Fear, The Painter

It is a mirage
Comes only on the hot days
I dare not move closer
It scares from afar
Give me some little confidence
To move closer and to gaze at the fairy-like
Behold, it is not there

 It is a picture, a mind set
I don't want to see it, but it keeps coming
It's scary and evil, really frightening
My mind is cloudy and stormy
Can't attempt any step forward
But all I need to know and believe is,
The picture is not real

 It is the unknown, uncertainty
I think the unknown should be invisible
But FEAR paints it clearly before me
Should I live by the instinct of the painter?
Life will be miserable, dreary and uncertain
because, I'll live in the unknown. Otherwise,
Peace, confidence and success are all mine
These are the works of Fear, the painter
Should I fear Fear? No. It's works are not real

Green Oranges

It was the planting season of the year
We planted fruits all around the compound
No one cared about which was here or there
We only ensured that we planted on good ground

New seasons came and years passed
The bananas, pawpaws and mangoes brought out fruits, really sweet ones
Those good old days of feasting on these fruits I really missed
So good to eat fresh and natural fruits, not just a few but in tons

Out of all fruits, orange is our favourite
And we anxiously waited for the fruits of the big orange tree, booming on the south
I know what you're thinking, "oh, it didn't bring out fruit", right?
Oh, no. there were fruits but they were not attractive to the mouth

"When are you fruits going to be ripe?" I heard mother speak to the weird orange fruits
"Never!" the fruits would answer, if they could
"Green is for the leave and we like to cleave to green"
So everyone thought the oranges were not good

We all left the fruits untouched until one morning
My brother looked at the oranges and said, "I will eat you this orange, whether you are ripe or not",
He purposely ate the "unedible" fruit from the big for nothing tree, ignoring any warning
Surprisingly, the oranges tasted really sweet and that morning, we ate a lot

The orange tree, useless as we first thought, became a point of attraction
In the cool of the evening, we would sit under the tree and eat the green oranges to our satisfaction
Oh, I haven't tasted oranges with such a sweet juice
Who would have thought our strange orange tree would be to such a delightful use

An idiom says "Don't judge a book by its cover "
The story of the orange tree restates the idiom and the message is the same
The orange's colour or cover of the book might be like a man's nationality, background, religion or race
A person is not defined by these things; there is more to discover

But wait, why should we judge anybody for any reason whatsoever?
All green oranges are not unripe, just as not all swans are white, so we've learnt
People are not all the same and that is absolutely correct
Discover, explore and get to know people without any prejudice

The Missing Fourth Tyre

(These are the lamentations of three Nigerians, Ade, Pa Julius and Joseph James.)

"I'm over 40 years now but I am not living my dream life. I never thought I'll be like this at this age. I had everything I wanted. My Daddy was a rich cocoa farmer in Nigeria. We both thought that I will inherit his wealth and multiply everything he had but life didn't dance to our tune. He died when I was just 14 and his wives took everything he had leaving nothing for me". Ade sighed. "Dreams, dreams, dreams ... ", he continued, "there is nothing as fake as dreams. I thought it's as simple as it is: I can just imagine things in my head, dream good things about my future, wish myself good and I will have everything I wish but I've learned the truth about life the hard way. And then, I would boast about it before my friends in school. If it works that way, I would have been a worldwide renown multibillionaire. That was my dream when I was 12, to be the youngest richest man in Nigeria by 30". He paused, and said "I don't believe in dreams anymore. That's just it. Dreams don't come true."

"My son, stop disturbing yourself about the issue of this country. Things can never go well in this country again. I remember when we got our independence in 1960; I was in Form 3". Pa Julius narrates to his son's friend, Kelvin. "We were all happy for our dear country and we hoped that Nigeria will be one of the best economies in the world in the nearest years to come. No more British rule and Nigerians will run the affairs of this country by themselves. As school children, we saw a brighter future and a better Nigeria. I personally wanted to be the president of this country". Kelvin smiled and continued starring at him, showing more attention. "Yes, that's what I wanted to be, the President of this country". "But look at me today, I can't even boast of ruling an ordinary ward; my family is shattered because of poverty. Look at Nigeria, where are all our hopes and aspirations for our dear country? Is this the bright future that we foresaw in those days? Where is the buoyant economy we had, the cocoa farms, the palm plantations and the groundnut pyramids, where are they? My son, they are all gone. There is no hope for this country again".

""All's well that ends well", says the great writer, Shakespeare. Life is not well at all for me and it may not end well. Caused be the person that says dreams come true. Life is all about chance. If good things come your way, then life has favoured you, otherwise, your story is not the first. Maybe life is not fair then. All our wishes only die in our head. The rest is the misery of life we face. My story is a typical example. Who could have imagined that I will only be an ordinary school teacher now?" "I, Joseph James, I know who I was". He said with lots of pride and ego. "No, this is not happening". "I was the best student in any class I was from primary one to my university days. I knew more than all my mates even my teachers. That is even small, I set records that nobody has broken in most of the schools I attended; I got countless numbers of prizes, awards, scholarship and recognition all over the country. Like my mentor Isaac Newton, I wanted to be a renowned Lucasian Professor of Mathematics at the University of Cambridge. I believe so much in him and in myself. But wait". He paused for a few seconds, "Isaac Newton achieved his goal, but why not me? I have the potentials like him. There must be something missing".

Yes. Joseph is absolutely right. He asked the right question to address the situation. Of course, dreams come true. We have great people who conceived their greatness from their childhood. The difference is that they did the right things to achieve their dreams. 
Our lives may be filled with different potentials, gifts and talents but that is not sufficient to get us to the place where we desire. This is the Potential energy. It can't get you moving; it is only the energy relative to your position. To get you moving and to reach your desired destination, you need the kinetic energy. This is the energy that gives your potential the drive and the velocity and the momentum to reach the goal. What drives you, what is your inspiration? Many youngsters miss this. They have wrong drive for success; a drive that won't last. To some, the drive is just to be famous and to get wealth; to some is to show to others that they have the potential; to some is for other selfish reasons. These drives only give ambition and this is what these three lamenting men had.
The purpose of a right drive is not for you but for others. It gives vision and passion to affect the lives of people, nation and the world at large; to make life more comfortable for people more than you met it; to live a life-lasting impression in the mind of touched lives. The drive doesn't fade away; it lasts longer. This is the missing fourth tye that most people don't have in their car full of potentials. However, it can only be found in God.

MindOut: Pushing out your thoughts

What is MindOut about?
I will use the story of Tony to explain what MindOut is all about.  Tony had a car accident some years back and after the accident his two legs got paralyzed, which means he has to use a wheelchair for the rest of his life. He got a nice wheelchair and he is used to moving around with it, without much restrains. He is now happy and grateful, at least, for life. And now Tony tries to socialize and he got to know about the popular azonto dance, which is now the craze among the young ones. He watched a lot of videos about the dance and he really thinks that he can dance it. He would try to move his hands and the rest of the body like the other azonto dancers, but unfortunately the legs are inevitable in the dance. Poor Tony! He wishes that someone would invent for an incapacitated guy like him.
We humans are sometimes incapacitated to carry the intent of our minds and we say we are somewhat limited in our abilities to do things. Actually, a lot of people hold on to this fact and they never get anything done all the days of their lives. But the truth is that if Tony is so keen on dancing azonto, he could invent the azonto wheelchair dance. It is not an impossibility; we've seen wheelchair dancing on Britain's got talent and other TV talent shows. There is no limitation that life can impose on man that he cannot surmount neither is there a mountain that is too high, that you cannot climb. Like Tony, "I wish I could" is the most favorite phrase of some people and I don't know what world wishes are horses, at least, not in our present world.
Wake up! Wake up from the dream world and come alive to our present world, where things work by action, hardwork and determination. Our world works based on the principle of what you give in is what you get. If all you give to life are only wishes in your mind, likewise, your results would in your head: fulfilled dreams in your dreams, imaginary height attained, and a life well spent all in your head. What kind of life is that? It is a life of disappointment, failure, regret and a sympathetic life.
The truth is that ignorance of our capabilities results into an incapacitated life. Anyone, who gives limitations as excuses, doesn't know himself and what he can do. In order word, he hasn't found himself. The journey to finding oneself is an inward journey to find potentials, possibilities and capabilities. Look inwards, think, meditate and find what you can do. You will, then, be able to go from just wishing to doing.
The world is waiting for a lot of young people like Tony who are ready to push beyond the limit of their incapabilities and then going into the level of possibilities, inventing and attaining greater height. Don't let that dream just stay in your head, get it out and make it a reality.

If you don't know azonto dance, you can watch this: