DON'T CALL ME REBEL

i was told DON'T

don't dream too much

less you be seen as overly ambitious

don't smile at all

else you be accused of debauchery

don't look too serious , you must be a hag to do that

don't have expectation as a lady

men will stay away and 

it's anathema to the African culture

and when i tried to break free from their hold

i was told, you CAN'T

you can't ever go against their rules

they will hate and scorn you for doing what they can't

you can't amount to nothing, unless they permit you

you can't make people listen to you

it's your place to shut up

you can't be fulfilled unless a man gifts you his name

you can't break new grounds, until you conform to societal dictate

you can't ask that you right be given, your thought be different, and your style not be in vogue

When i dare to be that odd one

they say you won't

you won't make us,

you won't  change us

you won't sway us

you won't entice us

we won't support you

we won't be part of this 

we won't accept this taboo

when i chose this part, it wasn't so i could  make them, change them, sway them or entice them.

it was only so i could be free of their chains.

just so i could be less them and more me

To make a dream

When you have a burning desire to make something,  fulfill a thing or just grant a wish.  You must realize everyone has their role to play in that dream of yours.  Some might be there to  critic your dream,  some are there to make a seemingly small dream become bigger,  yet some to make it smaller.  A few folks will walk the talk with you. Among your  friends,  you will find those who don't understand it. Even your family will have those who can't make time for your dreams. But along the way, you will find strangers who love your idea, are willing to help and may give all to make your dream come true. 

However, you need to learn that everyone you meet along the road has a role to play. Some important and some not so important. Yet they all contribute in making or marring your dream.  When we find friends who are not willing to create time for our dreams, does that mean we should  hate them?  Not everyone is suppose to give their time to building your dream, not all you speak with, will go all the way in inspiring you. You must understand that even the naysayers have a lesson in their answers. Maybe it is so you can fine tune your  prospect  or restrategize or even close the chapter entirely. We should also bear in mind that, the utmost ability to make people key into our vision lies with us. Some may key in when it is intangible, some others will get involved only  if they can quantify the gain. While for a few,  it is solely for adding value.  That does not make your dream any less than you wish.  No one can see a dream better than the dreamer, neither can anyone have a clearer blueprint of a vision brighter than the visioner.  We should learn to shoulder our dreams, and not berate those who may not take to catching on quickly with us. Just know their own purpose for that dream is simply what they are acting out. We cant throw our hands up in despair because others can't see what we see.  The question is,  whose dream is it? Yours or theirs?  Whoever said it was going to be an easy ride? Who mentioned it will be like a walk in the park?  For all those you celebrate in public, you need to see how much of time, talent and more they invested in private before getting to the level of public acceptance.  It takes more than sweat to make a dream come true.  Like a pregnant woman. She carries her baby for 9 months, she knows it has to be 9months, yet before its full term she longs for the delivery so bad, should the delivery come as pre-term she gets agitated. Yet she wants the delivery to come sooner. 

All dreams must go through its full term. While it may be uncomfortable, enjoy the process.  Though,  it may feel tough to beat, learn each lesson. If people do not get it.  You as the dreamer must get it.

Go on and dream on. The world is yours to conquer.

By- Adaeze C Nwankwo

The space in-between

From the hellos
Where the pounding of my heart
Scares me crazy
Where the thought of you ripples in my being
When you call my name and say
I am the one
You added 5 seconds to my breath
With your smile that unburdens a frozen rock
Until your goodbye bid my heart a stop

From the dream that makes my night comes alive
Waking the morrow i dare and fear
Sometimes a day-mare from waiting the night tale
Causing falls louder than a giants
Baring seeds only my mind can fertilize
Until that fruit a feast we share

From the cradle where i stutter to form sounds
On fours weakness thrust me ahead
Grinning when obstacles i conquer
Hoping my protector make the fall easier
A triumph of walk, a moment of good
Until myself a being become

From the question
Challenging all truth, flat space
Thousand planet found in unknown quest
Through search endured from smirk and jeers
A lonely truth that must rise as sun
Hidden under darker nights
Shades of horror and misty dawn
Until the breaking no dusk can stand

From me,  shaped by my will and brute
Molded through fables and reality of old and new
Identity of race sploushed through skin and grit
Formed from self and all of you
Your ways i conquer,  your conscience i reflect
Until in all souls, dash of me found in you

A Mother

A Alone with a child

M Musing and asking Chukwuabiamiri

O Of what to do to sustain

T This little human being who

H Has no teeth to feed him/herself

E Even if Mother can afford any food

R Right now in this unsettling time of want.

Only a mother can endure

The baggage of a child

Who from Chukwuabiamiri

Comes entirely handicapped

Depending on no one else

But a creative mother

Who, like Chukwu abiamiri,

Makes things happen

Out of nothing.

A Mother!

By - Gerald Nwankwo