Why Poetry Should Not Scare Anyone

This is our National Poetry month. There are many reasons why poetry should not scare anyone. Poetry is full of silent words. Poetry is all about the metaphors, analogies, similes, illusions, disillusions, confusions, contradictions, the big, and all the silent words that we cannot spell out most of the times, especially when one has had enough. Or, you can say that poetry is a bunch of words put together. Whether it was through our music like Rod Stewart Have You Ever Seen The Rain, Phil Collins I wish It Will Rain Now, Me And you in paradise ,  Rumi, Kahlil Gibran, or even Billy Joel when he was ranting about lunatics or The Piano Man, or even when anyone was sharing their moral values. Poetry can also be emotions spilled on a river on cold winter days (that is a metaphor, too). Please  make no mistake about poetry, no one  can save the world if they  don`t have a combination of everything which includes but is not  limited to , sadness, empathy,  anger, isolation, bystander,  humanity, sufferings, illusion, confusion, Hate for injustice, poverty,  Bible, arts, love for children, culture, series of disappointments, honesty, integrity, and most especially conscience. You give what you have and you do not give what you do not have.

For most of us, poetry came before children were born but may be a new thing for you. But for people that have lived their lives in isolation, poetry is a way of life. I have been asked over and over how I made it out of Africa,” and my answer was a combination of everything including calling out on nature, especially rain”. There is something powerful about nature, especially if you grew up in Africa where good things do not just happen, they happen by chance. Nature was there for us to experience and make our own observations and judgment. The things of nature are cheap, they do not cost a dime, and you got to feel them and make your own deductions.

From gift of poetry, I learned that there are only two ways to succeed in life. One is to recognize that no one is prone to suffering,even writing a blog here on  internet has not  spared any of us. Secondly, as a poet, you totally get it that all the goods the world has to offer was originally designed to suite all mankind, yet man made problems, and the obstacles surrounding us can also overshadow its goodness, too.

From sufferings, I totally understand that there are no two ways to be successful in life than to know that life is full of obstacles, and dangers; I do not care how  happy you want to be at all times.

Poetry can speak to us through other poets, from understanding other poets before us; one can equally see that there are two things we were given as gifts. One of them was the strengths and abilities of overcoming obstacles.  Martin Buber was also a great observer and poet who never let fear stop him. In the article

“The Walls Of Distrust and The age of Mistrust,” he was quoted as saying

“he said we had come to a stage where the individual life had been completely gobbled up by politics and that political life now represents a world without any exits and without entry”.

But looking at what is happening today in the world one cannot help but lament. I wrote about the children of Africa, which has become my work that speaks to me. A place where corruption was played over and over. If everyone joins the corrupt wagon, who is going to speak on behalf of the little ones. We cannot all have a wonderful life, someone somewhere can be in a position to use his or her wisdom to lead. Do not allow yourself to be carried by all the things you see that does not make sense. But ask questions at all-time and at any given time. He also talked about a lot of issues befitting humans. But those types of issues were not only relegated to that era but have continued to take us over. Obstacles are part of human endeavors, so we need courage and resiliency to be able to accomplish all that is thrown at us.

There is also the emotional resilience that poetry brings if you listen to the right music or read the right books. Then with knowledge built over the years, you can then build your strength of resilience; therefore, whatever anyone thinks may become assumptions not necessarily how it really was. We were also given the abilities to nurture them for a good fight. But you can never waste your energy fighting a losing war.

Poetry has a way of pulling emotions from the beginning. For example, some children will learn how to express their discomfort early and some may not really have the same opportunity to. Most children can live their lives not knowing where their anger was coming from and where to vent their angers or even where to channel their energies. Knowing exactly what can hinder children from exceeding high, how can we help these children to gain their optimum heights now that we know that there are high hills on the road? It is no more about the education like we have all agreed on, but there was much more to it.

People use prayer as poetry all the time. Some prayers  in  form of Poetry, can serve as a relieve too.

In reality, most introverts can also use poetry to cover their own deficit, reading and expressing their selves can also help them to cure boredom that often plagues them. Poetry can also be a way for people to understand their strengths and limits.


Poetry is a therapy and can be played out on the street. Recently, we saw a guitar man in front of a gas station singing his heart out. I really got what he was doing, but my children did not get it. He was so emotional that his words turned into rap. I was so moved and wished that other children could learn how to express themselves with music instead of engaging in a war. Whether from their parents, society, environment, lack of leadership, and discouragement from all sources. There are series of them; this was also based on what I know to be truthful and facts.

In conclusion, this is just an opinion. It may or may not be truthful. The last thing you will do is to tell people how powerful you are. They will find a way to get you one way or the other. I have noticed and my message is very simple and clear.  But here is the thing that sets poetry apart from everything. You got to feel the rain. Why because it is nature. And it soothes all souls. With poetry you can ask as many questions as you can. Questions like, what will happen if all children can write their own feelings in a piece of paper? What will happen if all poets know how well or how bad internet can be to their creativity? How can we live in peace without so much confusion? How can we get along without dragging on issues that has helped to divide us? Think about ways you can be that exceptional being.

     Rod Stewart vhttp://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2oX2FSv4Rys#aid=P9b3ZEeJKeY

Phil Collins


Thank you so much and Continue to love no matter how difficult or pain it will cost you.. May you continue to shine above all obstacles?



Assembly Of Peace.

To all my friends in the world
Assembly of peace
Rain down from atom
State of mind
Open for direction
Accustomed to this
In my wiggly mind
This is not a time to sabotage my chances anymore
Thank you all for your kindness,
Your humanity
Your love, and affections,
Your wisdom to discern what is truthful,
 I couldn’t do it without all of you
I know that the world is better than what we knew of it
The best part is the unknown………
The unknown is here again,
Things you know may not matter after all
It is simpler when we understand how it works
 I couldn`t have done it alone even if I try
I have tried and have failed twenty times
I ended up with frustrations because no one knew how much work I was putting in
I have tried and failed many times too before
 Always looking for a lift that felt totally distanced by my own actions,
Words and things that never make sense, but to my own world
 This is my time to tell you that I have risen to the challenges
And will be forever free.
I am now free from distress, a personal guilt, and procrastination.
The forlorn need to hide from the universe
Turn between things that were hard to define
Do it my own,
And my highest ways
 Redirecting, wishful thinking, doubts, durations, and timeless
 You have found another soul
That is still a working progress
Thank you heavily
Waiting to be used
 I say rejoice for the peace is here today

Women`s Roles Now And Beyond Part 1

Five Reasons You Should Care And Understand The Uncertainties That Still looms.


 It is so liberating to live in reality. It is equally appealing when you interact with other women who had experience similar issues. This is 2014, you should expect that we are no longer in the 50s; we are liberated to a core, but wait a second. Women’s problem is everyone’s problem and should concern you too.

 In reality, what determines our children’s well being or assumed success rate was based on many factors. Factors like how well off their parents are, how traditional or untraditional they were. You can also put good environment into the equation, but things are not always the same for example, if you take their fathers away, most children will spend a big chunk of their childhood with their mums preferably. But what happens when the mother is not around? Then the next alternative even closest to mum will be grandmother. Yes women`s role as women are everlasting, It does not have an end. Women’s role therefore factors more in our children`s life. Women are not afraid to get into argument with their children especially when there was need for it . Grandmothers try their best too, but I would rather advocate for a disciplined dad to take care of the children in a special circumstances than a soft grandmother who will always give them a  million reasons why they should drop out of school early. When there is no discipline in the house, children tend to do whatever they want which will still come back and haunt them including those around them.

 The question still remain, how many grandmothers are ready for the unexpected? How many are educated to handle early child development knowing that if  a child misses any part of that early stage of development, it would be hard to recover? For example, my grandmother was not educated. I was eager to learn, but I never did my homework. If only my grandmother was educated, I would lament. I would have been in a better place now.

 Yet sadly, according to Population Record Bureau, growing numbers of children in the United States are living with a grandparent.They confirmed that in 2010, about one in 14 U.S. children (7 percent) lived in a household headed by a grandparent—for a total of 5.4 million children, up from 4.7 million in 2005.  But here is the reason why women`s problems should concern us even if they are grandmothers helping out.

photo bucketPhoto bucket.

  1 First the job that women do cannot be underestimated. Without women, whether they are our mothers or grandmothers, many children will still be in poverty .As someone who grew up with her grandmother in a poor neighborhood in Africa, I saw a lot of potential in women that would have helped them and their children, but during those times, women had no opportunities to help neither themselves nor their children. They were less educated and only became farmers. But the progresses that women have made over the years are remarkable. Yet women`s struggles are still on the rise. Today, women are still poor and that affects everything. But even with the standard of education we have now, there are still sets backs that is why women`s problems should be given full attention.

The problem may not even be education anymore but how do we transition from A to B without obstacles like finding a perfect schedule, or getting into a high skilled jobs without so many eyes rolling, or take for instance a woman who has three children and thinking about going to Iraq or even Africa to cover a project; can she just wake up and go? or will it take months for her to prepare. Or can anyone imagine a mother living the house whenever she wants without worrying about her children. But all this issues can never be an issue for any man regardless of how insignificant his job is. But to say there is competition with men is to do injustice to them since their roles are different from our, but as a woman, I guess something got to give. I have faced more challenges recently than I ever thought otherwise.

As a big advocate for education we can scream about education for our young girls. Yes, educate more girls early is a good way no doubt about it, but what happens after the education might shock you. So there is still this uncertainty surrounding us.


It is sad to think that women’s problems are getting better but not so fast. As we are still unable to transition very well from the old accustomed roles; cooking, dish washing, laundries, and making crafts.I  never knew I will be discussing this. The worst is that our own children. Are we preparing them for those roles which will come back and haunt them one way or another? Grade three elementary cooking book is not going to do it as my daughter had just found out. Unless they chose not to be married like the people in the medieval period are now accustom to.  Throughout this month, we will be looking at the improvements that women have made over the years, and the areas that we still need improvement. This month with the help of the Clinton Global initiative, we will be following facts. In as much as I hate to campaign for women’s role in the society, but we cannot help now to see how our roles are changing so fast. How can we comfortably say what we are doing, who we are, and where we want to go without getting some mixed signals? Why are males still preferred when hiring for a job. Can we have it both ways without some obstacles?

This post will be so long; therefore I have reduced it to 1 point per a page. Thanks for understanding.

Only few people can write poetry and avoid topics like children, politics, women, and hard ship.  I feel depress when someone suggested that because I talk politics, children, and religion therefore I get confuse. The truth is that my life will not be complete if not for all the experiences I had as child growing up observing disaster after disaster, yet I was smiling. Little did I know that those memories will come back to haunt me. I got involve with the bible and then fell in love with poetry because I was able to express my feelings without someday saying anything about it.

Next time I will look into how education is seriously affecting us the good and the bad. Stay tuned.

In another article : Google aims to change under representation of women in ‘Doodles’http://www.prdaily.com/Main/Articles/16220.aspx#

You can also read: Ten ways The Global initiatives is increasing opportunities for women and


Note: What bothers me more than anything I have experienced here is how people attach every honest opinion to race.

The Street That Spoke The Truth

Where are all the new zones
I want to be in the street that lays out the rules
So that children will learn how to follow direction
A street that told the truth                                                 
The problem of telling the truth is that
At home you are taught about truth
You are lectured about telling the truth
At six, you are spanked for telling a lie
Inside the church, the bible tells you about honesty
Your mother is happy whenever you say the truth
But remember truth does not always bring you happiness
Truth outside your home brings you hardship
Truth must be twisted for it to gain momentum
You must live a lie to become what you are not
It helps you see that what you were told
May not really exist
But telling the truth is not wrong for us
If only you can hear the truth
You must know what you want before you can stand on the truth
Try to move to a land where you can hid in your true words
Little truth could have saved many more children
Complication would have left them
But I still wonder why the public knocks you down from saying the truth
I will go back and relearn what it means to be truthful
Truth will save us from hatred, from destruction, from liars
Mothers be ready to teach your little ones the truth even if it will cause
Them their joy

Living On Memory

Happy Valentine’s Day!

There`s a saying that says whenever one woke up is his or her morning. Valentine’s day is over but will still go on until the end of the weekend if I am not mistaken. I love the word Valentine as it means so much to so many people of different ages, young adults and children.


For older adults it may mean real love followed by a proposal. A love story about a boy meets a girl and fell in love on a valentines day and they got married. The end. For others, it may mean the exchange of gifts like flowers,or going to their favorite restaurant or playing golf in a very cool place.

For some  it may mean disappointment. For example, I bought a product that I was suppose to use for my blog today, but I  could not get it to work.

A perfect valentine would have been to showcase my new skill,the art that I have been learning recently. But I was exhausted trying to put it together to no avail . I spent an extra thirty minutes before  realizing it was not going to work regardless of how hard  I tried. It was funny because I had planned this for a week, and now to see it was not working . It is funny  how our lives revolve around our work.

I learned  an important lesson that not all products work the same. Some products do specific jobs regardless of how we try to move them around.

I also learned that some people know how to protect their works on internet. For example when I copy and paste, the whole website where I copied it from followed me which is strange.

Secondly, Just like adults, valentines can mean so many things for children. For example, in my daughter`s  class  party today , their ideal valentine is the decorated cookies and the icing. All the candies, the pizzas, the juice boxes and the goody bags. Looking at how happy they were, none of them  could care less about all the other things that we  adults worry about.

Some kids ate more than two pizzas and you will perhaps be wondering what  an adult  would have done  in this situation especially if that person  was  in love . That took me back to 20 years ago in a similar situation that my stomach refused food because I was overjoyed. But the following year same time same occasion I ate because  all I have to be bothered about was food .

For the majority of the children it is about the color of the sprinkles, pink, red, white, and one can see their eyes sparkles as we sprayed more sprinkles.

Valentine has been about  memories.

As a young girl growing up with many questions, I wrote so many love letters for my friends. What made it remarkable was  the memories. Both the good, the bad, and the ugly still lives with me. Everything I knew about the  missing cards was part of  the memories.  In those days  a girl spends all her money to buy, a card  just to  realize that the man she was dating has a wife who lives far away and had never told her . But please do not let that discourage you, for it is apart of life.

I could have gone to bed today without worrying about this special day,  but I should not have ignored it because I know so many of my readers and those I read that are so much into Valentine’s day.

To ignore this day is to ignore why we are here on earth. Love is what makes the world merrier.

Recently, I have been loved more than ever in my life. The people have shown me what love means. Their dedication, caring, and kindness has made it so hard for me to  disappear. I am not so good with emotion when it comes to  expressions of love .

But please from the bottom of my heart, thank you for all that you do. You are an inspiration to me and others . Words cannot express what your kindness means to me. I wish you a very Happy Valentine’s Day.


For extra help you can read more.


Thinking Globally Might Be Actually Good For you.

According to Urban Dictionary thinking globally means that “a country, company, university or individual thinks not just in term of their own existence and prosperity but they realize that people are now more connected worldwide than ever before via information technology and  that what they do have, not only impacts worldwide but also has the capacity to improve the lives of those in far flung corners of the world”.

There are some topics I do not like to go into details about because I usually leave it for the experts to talk about. I hate topics like global issues because I am still confused about many changes that had taken place over time. I started blogging thinking my blog was still in Phoenix where I had my computer; it took me three months to realize that I was on the World Wide Web. Secondly, I thought all Nigerians on my Facebook were all living in the United States, until they told me they were still in Africa. I was shocked that the world is closer than I supposed.   My strength is in poetry, going to college for 16 years( which seems like forever), having children, and empowering others .


 But recently a lot has happened. Our kids are 13, 10/1/2, 8, and five. In trying to avoid filling their brains with all that did not matter to them at young age, we stayed clear of so many topics. Topics like Africa as a whole and Nigeria in particular, slavery, racism, injustice, and stereotype. We always let them figure out the world by themselves. But the bad side of not teaching your kids things yourself is that they will learn it somewhere regardless. Guess what? Our kids know about Africa but only know the poor Africa where people take showers with a bucket. They know that there are plenty of roaches, monkeys, and animals in Africa.  They vowed that they will not go to Africa until they are ready.

As parents, it is imperative to help our children to diffuse some myths about Africa, poverty, racism, and stereotypes. One fascinating thing I have come to know is that most children now get their information on TV. They know more than you think they know.  As soon as they see any African picture with children carrying a bucket, they automatically assume that is all of Africa. They know so much even when you hate to teach them about race and all that has nothing to do with them.

 I am just like them too. Growing up in Africa, I had these similar myths that there is nothing that could be done about Africa; I also wrote a poem based on what I experienced as a child, called Children of Africa. But the best part of writing is that you use a past history to remind people about what was wrong and how you hope that things will change. Does it mean that corruption will go away in Africa? No because there are still things you see and believe that they have a long way to go.

 Then there are other areas of improvement and all one will do is give credit to this entire people who started this movement of elevating children from suffering. If I hadn’t come to America, I would have still been stuck in a place not knowing what was wrong with me. Sometimes children are born into different circumstance that they were unaware of but we still have to give them the opportunity to survive. We need to give them an opportunity to do something right for others to achieve success.

Talking about improvement, in the early 70s most Africans did not have a way of getting their green cards which could have allowed them to travel. Usually, a green card gives one an opportunity to travel in and out of the United States. A green card gave them the opportunity to work hard, live a decent life in America. Without a green card no one could achieve great success. Before, most Africans carried all their families’ financial burdens. They sent money home despite all the challenges they faced.  Later as their status began to change, they began bringing their siblings over from Africa. I was one of those siblings who came because my sister was already living in the United States.  When those siblings came, they started to help others. That means their older brothers now got a break; with time more people came over. With more people coming over, things began to change; those who were here too took their knowledge back home. They became professors in African colleges; they started transferring their knowledge making Africa a stronger Nation. They started helping those with corrupt minds with how things are done. What you and I knew before does not matter as they are myths and not really facts. Things had changed.

How can we help our children to understand that helping someone is good because it will create more opportunities for others?   It will make their own job easy too. I am sure if children took care of themselves, their parents would have a break too. Looking at three myths from Bill and Melinda Gates will help you diffuse those ideas. Things have changed so I heard. Many African countries are doing great in terms of poverty, but it is not in my power to convince anyone that Africa is getting more work done now.

As an African myself, I have not really done a good job in explaining to  my children  what other good things that could come from Africa  if things were in order. I get it that things have changed, but it will it will also require more knowledge which will go beyond what is in a paper. Recently our children started making crafts from yard sale which I bought for  50 cents to be precise. The crafts looked so good and well-organized that I started to navigate how they can go to Africa and share some of their works.

 Now having come from Africa, I was skeptical at first because I know it will take a lot of money and preparation if I have to involve my kids. How I see Africa is totally different from how others see it. I see it from my personal narrative. Things I wished   that were there. How corruption took over.  I do not think it was advisable traveling with the children with less than enough money.  Africa has changed from all the things we now know. This article from Bill and Melinda Gates can help anyone to make a good decision on that. Things have changed. We need inspirations from everyone. We can thank all the people of the world for making the world a better place. The world is becoming closer. Thinking globally, according to Peter Kivistos, is one of the key ideas in sociology.” Looking towards  the global future”. How we can share ideas, learn from one another. Just like Kivisto said it in his book,, “what the future held in store for you at the dawn of the Twenty –First century? A brief look backward indicates how different is today from what it looked like at the beginning of the twentieth century. The sheer tale and scope of change renders this century distinct from its predecessor”.

In adding to what you know before, you can read this article from Bill and Belinda Gates about the Three Myths that block progress for the poor.

 1 Myth One:  Poor countries are doomed to stay poor. I think people worry about corruption when it comes to African stability. People hear more about corruption in Africa than other good things happening over there.

2 Myth Two:   Foreign Aid is a big waste of money: Recently a lady told me that she is tired of being a big brother to foreign nations. She hated the idea that the federal government is wasting their money on foreign Aid. What she does not know is that the world is changing a lot. We have more people who will give anything to come and live here work and gain knowledge. The more people gain knowledge the more they are willing to help others..

3 Myth Three: Saving lives leads to over population. This is a big lie.

How things have changed over the years will bring happiness to our hearts. Talking about “Wind of Change” , without sociology, things would have been different. . One of the key ideas in sociology is how we can share ideas, share knowledge, borrow language and learn from one another, produce more teachers to go across border and teach. Just like Bill and Melinda Gates said here. According to them, “Countries will learn from their most productive neighbors and benefit from innovations like new vaccines, better seeds, and the digital revolution. Their labor forces, buoyed by expanded education, will attract new investments”.  It is time again to think globally. Think Oneness. Your input means so much. Thank you for reading.

Love To The Phillipines.

Love to the Philippine’s
A place running around in circles
A river stuck heavily in green grasses
An island with a fiery shaft
Open arms and stretch to the domino
Chastised greatly by just the unkind weather
Forever strong the people of the Philippines
Our heart goes out to you
Your suffering has no boundary
In your faces lied the unbearable foes
You will forever shine
Through adversity you will  conquer
Always with grace
Words can only imagine what you have been through
Sleeping near the lifeless of your beloved
Tears dried down in your forlorn
Human made sufferings that has no end in sight
The flight of those storms yet unknown, still unsettled
Unspoken hardship bestowed on innocent people
Yet, you remain true to who you are
Always reading the 7 guiding principles
Those are what set you apart from others
Even when all you have left is gone
Yet, your joy exceeds the darkness, the imaginary foes to the frivolously you
Even time, and time adversities has told us that human sufferings is inescapable
Yet, you know how to manage misfortune
And bury the hashes.
Our heart will forever be with you.
A heart-felt beyond unseen
 A word spoken, written in a broken isle.