A PEN for TWO

 FOR THE LOVER THAT I LOST  Your nails still hold  The last few pieces of me  That you scratched from my skin  When the sun was still a flower  Across our endless sky.  The bitterness of separation  Swept away the taste of your lips,  Milked all the life you gave me  When your tongue rubbed against mine  In a quest to find the unknown.  I pray with hands frozen For a second chance with you,  But my prayers are always torn  By the blades of reality.  If my words were shooting stars,  I would spit them before your eyes  And bring back your memory  To the world we'd created.  ©️1916 Inspired by  *Sam Smith's _For The Lover That I Lost._*

  WHAT DO YOU DO WITH YOUR WORDS? I try each and every day, I try to watch what I say. I put myself in others' shoes, I try, with my words, not to make them bruise. For I'm aware of the power of words; I know what could come afterwards. Once said, they can't be taken back; Can cause wounds that heal but leave a scar. Words can be daggers; Their force can make one stagger When they're driven into one's heart, And make one's world seem to fall apart. They can kill self worth And make one feel like a mutt; With all esteem shredded, One is morphed into a living dead. Words are capable Of bringing down a castle To ruins and shambles, And make orderlies scramble. They can weaken one's spirit And confine one within limits. Can make one feel useless and cheap, And can break relationships. In the same sense, Words can boost confidence, Awaken hope, repair And bring one back from despair. Words can be a soothing balm. Applied to heal and calm, They can be said to cure...

 BRITTLE BEAUTY Beauty lies in the eyes of the beholder. So said the wise about Beauty and left us to behold her. And behold we did, with our many different eyes. I am a woman now, with a family consisting of a loving husband and a friend. Yes, my daughter is my friend. Isn't my life perfect? But still I have these niggling worries. Worries because my daughter is growing, she is becoming a woman. And I have to let her know all the intricacies involved in that which she'd soon become. I have to let her know that she is beautiful. And she is! My husband being the most handsomest man on earth, pardon my English but that's how handsome the guy is. And I being, you know? I'm not boasting but then, simply stated; I am extremely beautiful. Mind you, I'm still not boasting. But you see, my Mother, long ago, told me something about a woman's beauty. Something more than that the eye perceives. I remember vividly then, she'd sit me down and start the lectures in a calm...

  I found a beetle while I was doing dishes. It didn't seem brittle, but breaking it became one of my wishes.  It was so black, I could have missed it,  But my eyes weren't slack and so I distinguished it. I stood for a moment, thinking what to do with it. My mind hastened to recollect, the one time I was stung in the head by it. I made my decision; I picked it and put in a bowl. I didn't need conviction, I was sure I was going to have a ball. I stood for another moment, and I watched; I saw it make movements, I watched as it crawled. The bowl was a hindrance, but it tried, It crawled to the vertex, and I took the moment to strike. Like I wanted, it fell back to rock-bottom,  Like I expected, it landed on its bottom. A smile spread across my lips,  But was wiped after it got back on its feet.  It made another attempt, it crawled again to the vertex; I took another moment, and became the hindrance.  Yet again, it fell on its back and my smile was back,...

  THE JOURNEY (Inspired by Henry Wadsworth Longfellow's A Psalm of Life ) Every step blinds the way; That is how the song goes, From those life threw away, To us who live with woes  Earth is mellow no more, And gold has become stone; Cheating for perfect score  Has made victims to moan.  Life moves by the music  You give while hot or cold; Plant deeds so angelic, And shut smiles will unfold. “We shall start tomorrow” Is a dangerous thought. God's wand we can't borrow  To book the next day's slot. Seasons change quarterly; Each dose of sun and rain, A chance to make merry,  Lest your sweat drip in vain. Learn from every mistake,  And if God gives you wings,  Fly and conquer and take,  But don't bear greed like pigs.  ©️1916

OUR LOVE STORY    (Inspired by Taylor Swift's   Love Story song.)   The story begins with a love poem!        It begins like this... The world is full of fragrance That live in your body; In your body, my love. The world is a scene That encompasses your inestimable beauty; Your beauty, my love. Be the lamp that sheds light Into my darkness. Be the salt That adds taste To my tasteless soup. Be the sauce That gingers my dulling spirit. Be my canopy when I need a shade, Be my beginning and my end. You follow the sequence as it moves. You giggle, I grin. You say, “Our existence is like that of ice and water.”  I thought and thought, and muttered, “Ice and water?”  Couldn't figure out the meaning. Well does the meaning really matter? I love you. You say, “You are the ‘ice’ and I, the ‘water’. Ice and water are no different, they just exist in different forms.”      Then the poem moves in another dimension– Like this... We would...

 WHILE YOU'RE YOUNG It comes only once, the prime time. Even when you do all sorts of things To feel or make you look younger, You can never be young more than once. Some choices made, Some actions taken, Some things done as a youth, Determine the life you live as an adult. Some set you out for success, For greatness and glory; And some for failure, Defeat and regrets. Whether they're made  Consciously or unconsciously, They never cease to make their impact, Be it positively or negatively. While you're young,  You not only make choices, But you also lay your foundation For every aspect of your life; Your career, marriage, your destiny. At that time when you're all fired up, Agile and pretty excited, Where you direct your energy Determines the years that lie ahead of you. While you're young, You fight this battle Of which path you're to tread; The right or wrong? The good or bad? “Remember now thy Creator in the days of thy youth, while the evil days come not, no...

  You could not have promised us so much glory, And then turned every scene we see gory! You could have told Jimoh that you'll end his life; Maybe then he'd have fought so hard to avoid this strife. I could have sworn you promised to maintain my safety, But I fear you'll either kill me or drive me to insanity. You never gave me a chance to watch Kazeem play Before you thought it'd be wise to kill him without delay! Tina's Mama did not raise her to end in a body bag, But then you fired bullets and killed her like a bloody hag. I've been silent for so long so you take me for a fool; Now I speak out and you're gonna kill me too? The blood of everyone else you killed cry out to me from the grave; And for the first time in my life, I just want to be brave. ©️TWC

(Inspired by Kodaline's The Evening ) Last night I had a dream; Your life was played before my eyes. Your eyes shined bright with gleam. Your whole persona alive like a beam! A beam that wouldn't go dim. I knew without a doubt You were my blessing,  Sent from heaven to give living reason. You were my rain,  Sent from heaven to quench my thirst. The World knew too,  Of the greatness you were to impart.  They celebrated too! Everyone in their best dresses, With gifts to make acquaintance. I saw your smile, I heard your laugh. The sound of your cry was the worst; Loud and full of energy like you. It did make me sad to see you cry, But I was glad to have been the one to hear it! I held you in my arms, I felt your heart beat against my chest. A bundle of joy, you were, Wrapped in the blanket I'd preserved For your brothers before you but they never got to use. Seeing you wrapped in it, All the pain I felt dissipated, And all that was left was joy. Joy that I couldn't expl...

  Your rod comes heavily as a quake, embedded with a string of love, to redirect as promised, never to forsake the beloved. You keep pursuing me, with passion and mercy; ready to wage a war, to save me. Now You've won my heart. Nothing can separate me now from Your love that calls my name. Love that knows my heart, unstoppable love that never ends! You tore down every wall, to deliver me from the Lion's mouth. Healed my wounds and empowered the scars; gave my scars strength to heal others. Despite the rough edges, the angles radiate glory, 'cause you are unrelenting in moulding; patiently building to sustain. ©Arete