Tag: Sadje’s picture prompt
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The awakening
A newborn baby is like one who wakes up from a dream that’s forbidden to be remembered. And all around the baby throughout infancy are many people screaming, like in some inferno. The baby joins in, until somewhere in their teen years they begin to wonder what meaning the motions carry? Why the shouting? To…
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wake every beast
honed every skilltried every trickcombed every streetwoke every beastcrossed every seatossed every diceate every lielicked every woundpaid every duesplayed every tunedealt every cardtook every chanceknocked every doorfought every dogticked every box yet for all my effortsa harvest of winds but I keep pressing onunrelentingly https://wp.me/paf3ao-m3z
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The lone bird is done singing
The lone bird is done singing,and the migratory season is here.It has joined its clanto sail across the sky,to a new land. We cannot help but keep lookingwhere it once stood, singing.The lone bird is no more,only echoes of its voice. Like nicknamesof old high school friendsheld together in indelible inkagainst fading classroom walls,your name…
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This nosy Tijani of ours
Watching him from the summer hut under which we grilled meat and prepared drinks to be served to customers reminded me of spy movies I watched a long time ago. He looked like a spy. Or maybe he was one. One could never be sure. We could predict when he’ll come, the things he was…
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Holidays
Whenever we were caught up with so much work in the office, we longed for public holidays. Then like rain on thirsty lands, we receive some update on a WhatsApp platform or online news website: some public holiday had been announced and was lurking behind the uninformed, waiting to see their surprised looks and giggles…
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The Blast
It was a normal day just like anyWe were busy about our activities It was even the anniversary of a giant telecommunications network All over town people were in their colours, jubilant It was probably late afternoon Suddenly, there was a blastLouder than a bombOr anything that could be imaginedIt was the sun itself that…
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One Sunday evening
It was a Sunday evening. I was alone in the room. The lights were off, and I lay on the floor, half asleep. Then came a knock on the door. Wasn’t expecting anyone, so I wasn’t particularly bothered about waking to see who it was. Besides, my roommates had gone out. But the knocker was…
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Not my Africa!
It was at the reading room I first met him. I couldn’t help but stare. At the dreadlocks. Dirty, unusually bushy, on his tiny, skinny skull. He stood out. In his shabby clothes. A sharp contrast to the atmosphere of decency and order and respect in a room filled with serious students. I wondered what…
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Sophie
Her job drives her nuts! She tries to keep calm, tries to act normal, tries to blend in with the others, but the cracks in the pretense are too visible. No wonder those who worked there for over thirty years were tight friends with alcohol. At night, it’s hard to stay awake at work. And…
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Pages flipping
An album, pages flipping as its owner narrated the stories. Of how they met, when he proposed, how many times she turned him down even though she liked him, the games and finally the trophy, which is her ring she got for winning. “What about you, Paul”?“Me? ” I asked, stunned.” Yes! “” Tell us…
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Missing cigarettes
I used to steal from my father’s pack of cigarettes. I hid somewhere to smoke. I remember the sensation as smoke escaped my lips, into the air. It felt great. Especially the effect of the heat on the tongue. This went on for weeks. Little did I know that the old man was aware but…
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Seasons together
You and Ihave witnessedso many seasons togetherI’ve seen youreturn from townjoyousbursting with newsof an old friendyou run intoand how he had promisedto assist youin your new businessTrue to his wordshe did help youHow we laughedand celebrated that new chapter How disappointing it waswhen we discovered his true colorsAnd what lookedlike a new chapterflipped many pages…
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Enigma
Her attitude towards me and the gift she gave me. An enigma. I was leaving the country. A rather embarrassing exit. Things hadn’t work out like I hoped. But life goes on. As I stood at the bus station, about leaving in a few minutes, I hugged her, said a few final words and got…
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Dilemma
The fortune-teller reshuffled the cardsI pulled out oneA bereaved sparrow on a rooftopNot a good cardI contemplated the contents for a whilebefore handing it backDropping a coin into his bowlI walked awaytoo saddened to be distractedby the sudden commotionat the market square Why invest in somethingThat will only be washed awayOver timeLike a sand castle…
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Glistening in the distance
Maskyour hurtsTurn your backto all they’ve saidbehind you The mask will chafeIts pain will fadeNo condition is here to stayYou’ll soon forget your sorrowful daysAnd what the wasted years took away Glistening in the distance, a medallionRaise your head, tough stallionObstacles do not define a championEven if they seem unmovable like Mt. ZionEven if they…
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What have we grown into?
A child in my class walked up to me and told me that he spotted me walking to school and he told his dad to pick me up in their car but his father said they were late and the stop would delay them further. It’s the second time on two separate occasions he’s told…
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When courage frays at the seams
Like a clockAmbitions chimeLike a frogI’ll take one leap at a time Turning back seemsInviting, but forward is forwardEven when courage frays at the seamsAnd pressing on seems awkward I’ll pat my own backAnd carry on with faltering stepsOn this narrow pathWith its twists and turns
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*Akwaaba
Kwame shifted his eyes from the fly buzzing against the glass window to the stack of dirty clothes on the floor, then to Amina who thought she had found a good listener, a listener whose mind was far away, as far back as the years he thought his dreams were made of sand, to be…
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Gadji’s wife
Gadji’s wife, Olivia, needed a nanny. The girls were off to boarding school a few weeks after she gave birth to her only boy. Soon, her in-laws would be visiting. She had sent a message to her mother to come and spend some days with her as the business of housekeeping was becoming overly burdensome.…
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A stone at God
The stillness of a lazy afternoonInterrupted by the hissing of bulletsFrom a thirsty gunCoughing and bleeding regretsWriting on woundsThe story of a lone riderOf virgin loveAnd uncultivated passionsOf a young lady he tried to bendInto a sweet marriageA marriage broken andSullied with infidelityHis reward for sheltering an old friendAnd for loving a womanA hot court…
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This is your land
This land belongs to all of usLet us not sit idleAnd watch savage dogsTear it apartIf our leader is an iron beastWith no emotionsWe must show himThe road to the zooWe may fly to greener pasturesBut let us rememberTo come back homeAnd build our motherlandin rubblesThanks to talented thievesin our officesWith long noses and empty…
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She is mine
She’s been mineSince nineShe’s thirty and still thirstyOf my affection Cold and dusty hazeTried to turnOur relationshipInto an old and rusty cage Our love will not be tamedEven if it were caughtIn the metal teeth of a trapOur bond will never break https://wp.me/paf3ao-i9d
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It’s no coincidence
Life is a long lecture. You may choose to sleep in class, but you will eventually wake up to find your mates ahead of you and bills to settle, including lessons you’ve missed. Nothing is free. A new life costs lots of pains to birth. Whenever you are fed up with an old life and…
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Bloom with cheerfulness
Funtime and sunshinePotions to help cope with daily motionsDon’t wanna look back when oldWondering, where did the days go?My wrinkled face, an attraction of gloominessLike money magnet Why let time slip byWhile you sit, doting on silly notionsSpread from head to toeThat all worries must lose teeth and holdOn your happinessBefore you can bloom with…
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One starless night
Dark melodies, playing over and over all night from a nearby cottage. Anna sat in their little farmhouse, attention fixed on Grandpa recounting dreadful tales best left untold, and hoping that evil spirits will catch a whiff of the incense mother was burning and be warded off. “For years she had no news of her…
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Fertile connections ?
To passers-by, this was luggage. To Awal, it was his destiny wrapped in a box, carried on his shoulder. What he once called homeland is now a stretch of empty hopes he’s given up chasing. Initially, when the idea of abandoning his shop first occured to him, he thought it was his impatience speaking to…
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On the airwaves
It’s Earl Nightingale on the airwaves and his talks of strange secrets.As I listen, my mind wonder off. It’s been three years now since I left home for greener pastures. The pasture here is no greener than that of home. Damn! And I haven’t saved. Only once have I sent money home. Shame on me…
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Sip by sip
Strong facesare baked in tough ovensAnd tough feeton rough roadsYou and Ihave come from afarAnd if this strugglemust mean somethingwe’ve got to hold ontill the very endThose who have come a long waystarted out with a single stepfollowed by anotherIf you must drink this bitter cuptake it sip by sip
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Date
It was weird. The food, the music and her attire that evening. What was on her mind? There was something odd about her movements as she served the food. The food tasted nice. She didn’t use most of the spices on the market. Chemicals. And chemicals have become the bulk of what we eat these…
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She isn’t picking up
She isn’t picking up. Just like yesterday. Everything seems normal till it’s late night. That’s when it all starts. Is she seeing someone? He sighs. He shouldn’t be the only one calling and texting all the time. Yesterday she said her phone’s battery was empty. That was why when his call went through for a…
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Old walls
Where has she gone?The little girl singing in the rainSailing in the sandPlaying in the sunWith a smileRadiating innocence and purity Where has it gone?The beautyThat sons and loversOnce flocked to seeOne admirer getting a black eyeFor all his troubles Where has she gone?The fair LadyFace of glitz and glamourIn the citiesIn the sixtiesIdol of…
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Beyond the noise
Whatever new field you enter, it will be filled with noise. The noise of beginners like you, pushing hard every day and making very little progress. You are not the first in this field, neither will you be the last. But remember, the footprints you leave behind, will be like no other’s. Keep in mind…
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Perhaps
It was her first time visiting him. She was hesitant in going, wondering how he would react to the ugly scars and stretch marks on her back, buttocks and breasts. Pretty face. Fine body shape. But many did not know what she sees when she stands before a mirror, naked. It was the reason she…
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Hope chimes
LostIn the search for selfLostMany friends wounded inadvertentlyLostSo many years learning so littleLostTrying to make meaning of failuresLostAll energy in staging a comeback LikeMidnight bells, hope chimesLikeA morning star, I shall ariseLikeThe blazing sun, I shall shine againLikeA raging bull, I shall win this race https://lifeafter50forwomen.com/2023/06/26/what-do-you-see-192-june-26-2023/
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A collection of memories
me, over thereon grandma’s lapsGeorgina, our puppy,the house help,didn’t knowa picture was being taken he. he’s no more. snakebite here, under these treeswe held a simple prayer ceremonybringing along food and drinksand flowersplucked from trees along the roadwas the custom every Christmas there! mom in her teensher once pretty facenow taken overby cobwebs of wrinkles…
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foggy path
she strutted through the open doorto a photograph on the room walla supermodel in a nude pose starreddown at hershe had come to say goodbyeto years gone by every girlhe’s tried to bendinto a relationship, brokeno choice but to let it all goseems he too had come to the terminusof writhing in wrath and endless…
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Temptation
have you seen a Phariseein a pharmacy?ever heard of a rattlesnakein a milkshake?or an ice creamfrom a wet dream? saw it in a Hollywoodmovie staged in InglewoodCaliforniawhere the protagonist had herniawho ever thoughthis idle mind would be the next stop for a devil on a guilt tripsuch a weird filmof how unbriddled inclinationscould be tools…
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call me Caesar
call me Caesarruler of the wild and unconventionalanointed with scars into a starand symbol of dominionmy genes are allergic to defeatborn to keep risingbecause kings do not falleven in the noise of warmthand comfortwe hear the call of the wildto return to the greatnesswe livedon rough roadsin tough jungles https://lifeafter50forwomen.com/2022/09/26/what-do-you-see-153-september-262022/
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How does it feel?
What does it meanto be a mother? To what can labor pains be comparedfor a man to understand? How does it feelto mother ingratitude,to raise an ungrateful child? How does it feelafter 9 monthsof 9 hellsto be unwelcomed homeby an abusive husband? How does a mother feelseeing her childthat reminds herof how far they bothhave…
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seventies
born in the ninetiesattached to anything antiquewatching a music video of the 70sa disco in Cape Towndazzling streets, hypnotizing sounds of artists, young, gifted, and blackmusicians with incredible knackfor releasing subtly lustful trackstracks on weedfor dancers on heat vanityinsanityof the seventiesfantasies ofa nineties born https://lifeafter50forwomen.com/2022/09/12/what-do-you-see-151-september-12-2022/
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Like men that dreamed
Is this Salemor another Harlem?Looks like a priest in a frockOnce stood there, flocked By masses seeking greener pasturesBattling cold, hunger and fracturesFrom ethnic clashesAnd backlashes The stones there, perhaps for namesThat bravely fought for their fameMaybe this ground symbolized toil, screamsLoss, and the fulfilment of long lost dreams https://lifeafter50forwomen.com/
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A wild child
A wild bird is away Grandma casts perfunctory glances every now and then At its home She’s heating the hearth The smoke snakes out through the window Stinging impotently at the thick foggy air outside Wild bird roaming the woods like a wild child Will soon spot the fumes Beckoning it to return home To…
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Peace
Tell my little kids Mama wishes them the best in life Tell all my friends who believed in me That I’m sorry Tell those who stabbed me in the back That I forgive them My clansmen have a saying That when travelling Hold no grudges Peace, I leave with you https://lifeafter50forwomen.com/2022/08/15/what-do-you-see-147-august-15-2022/
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staring straight at a new dawn
Was growing up into a great donkey A sweet donkey everyone sat on And decided which direction it should go Walking miles in heat and discomfort Swallowing my complaints, careful to not spit them on gold diggers Didn’t even know I’ve got places of my own to go Finally found my path rather late Finally…
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Sometime in July
I remember the first day your luggage was brought in You were newly married to a man you’ve never met A strange man who had a room in his house he forbade you from entering And who never saw your nakedness I was your servant Curiosity and loneliness recommended me to you I remember that…
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Forever
A doorway into afterlife An ugly exit Where everyone has gone with the wind No man’s land where every man lands A door with a post only those inside can read So much talk about this place At last, this is how it looks Not impressed Response to Sadje’s picture prompt on What do you see #144 July…
Diary of a Wanderer 