TINUKE

TINUKE
    Sounds of slaps accompanied by the throwing of other materials found in the home tended to compose the order of at least  a certain day in the week .   Tinuke   a girl of about 19years of age.  Light-skinned, tall, blessed with nice curves and above all – a pretty face that’s endowed with a good look and  ready-made dimples stayed directly next to my one-room self-contain apartment. This embodiment of beauty seemed to be a subject of harsh treatment from her  supposed lover who she lived with  Maxwell – a drug addict .
     On this fateful Tuesday I think I was done keeping calm over the maltreatment of this mistress by her delusional lover that the next thing I realised was my barging into their room to meet Tinuke on the ground laying half naked while Max appeared from the kitchen with a knife as a threat weapon or whatever.
   I quickly made to push him though I must confess to his being more grounded in terms of raw strength than I was but who bloody cared? We both landed on the ground and next I received was a punch for all my trouble but I retaliated with one of my own which got him staggering and I followed it with a left hook that put him on the ground and momentarily unconscious I thought.
     I rushed to Tinuke who though was conscious had numerous signs of being turned into a punching bag written over her. Her lips were swollen as well as bruised , her face added weight  due to the slap-and-punch combo and her gown was torn to the point that it exposed the larger part of her bosoms. “Tinuke please let me take you to the nearest hospital, you’re visibly hurt” I managed to say to her. ”No thanks, I’m actually fine and please leave as I don’t like what you did to Max” she replied. I had only witnessed all these in Nollywood movies but here it was reality and it was well about the life of a girl I had gotten to like or love as you term it in silence!
     “Are you crazy?” I asked her “ this guy doesn’t have you at heart and he will go to any length to humi…” I had hardly completed my statement when I received a blow to my head by an object wielded by a human that sounded more like a wooden plank after it came in contact with my head. I fell down instantly whilst I bled and clutched my head. “You wentew call your neighbour boyfrien’ to figh’ me righ’ “   Max said while supplying Tinuke’s face with more powder In form of a slap. This tended to rejuvenate me as I got up and repaid him by ‘planking’ him twice in quick succession before hitting him with several punches and jabs which cut his lips and eye.
     Next I felt was a sharp blade piercing my back close to where I suspect one kidney is. In slow motion, I turned back to see Tinuke pulling the knife she used in ‘piercing’ me out of my back and put it on the floor while my blood flowed out like the Niger into the Atlantic Ocean. All I could mutter was “Tinuke, why” as I slipped out of this race and she tended to her drug-lover...But need I say, it is only the living that engage in love tales, like Ghanaian songstress Becca  and Patoranking will say "This Love E no be by force." Leave that abusive man, woman today, you just might make it.


#SayNoToAbusiveRelationships
#ShunTinukeismInYou
#LoveNoBeByForce

By David Aipoh

FRIENDSHIP UNTOLD

We have not been like the others.

For our guide has never been their order,

But that which transcends beyond their wonder.

                   

From the time past we have known …….. The secrets of the world,

But ours still remains a treasure which even time…… Cannot unfold,

For that is the string which makes us bold,

Our hearts so pure and shines brightly…… Like gold,

Its rhyme and beats …..  Our love control,

 And the joys therein ……. Untold.

Friendship they have sought after,

Thirsted after,

But to us it has been nothing but blood

PARTIALITY OF LOVE BY PARENTS AND ITS EFFECT ON CHILDREN

Love is a seed that needs attention and care especially at a very tender age. Even God demands we love Him as He himself has shown us what love is like by giving us his only son. The life of every being is a fertile land where love grows once planted but to plant this, is always the problem.

 Every child needs equal love just like any other child without any partiality from anyone be it a stranger or the parents.

Recently I witnessed an incident that occurred in a family between a child and his parents and ever since, I couldn’t just imagine such things happening to my own children and this has left this urge to send an SOS to every parents about the impending danger their actions may bring not just to them but to the entire society at large. No child before birth had a choice about the family he is to be born into but most parents has always apportioned blamed to their children especially those they think brought disdain into their lives.

It was on one fateful afternoon as I was gazing at the brightness of the sun imaging what could have triggered the sun to shine at its peak, like a thunder flash so fast my attention got diverted and I beheld a wonderful family having a nice time in a garden, the mood hovering above them was so romantic that even the breeze seemed to be going in rhyme with their moods and the children at an arm’s length from their parents were playing and teasing one another.

The mood was pleasing until suddenly a man having the look of a father stood from the table fiercely approaching the children released words so powerful that got me wondering and more interested in what’s happening and what was going to happen. Not being sure the kid to whom the words were meant for heard him clearly, he repeated himself but this time around the words came more fiercely and before I could blink an eye, a heavy slap landed on the face of a little child who from every observation is under 10 in age and there followed some collusive abuses and curses that got me pondering on what this little child must have committed that warranted such attitudes towards him at such a tender age.

Like a man possessed by some forces so powerful than him, I approached this strange man with a steamed face demanding to know what made him hit such child in such a manner and some threats which I was ready to implement should he fail to explain himself, I threatened to arrest and charge him for child abuse. From his explanations and stories that included questions which I asked him and the ones not asked, how he had prayed and hoped for a female child but ended up having a male child, how he had been having hard lucks and bad lucks ever since the child was born and some touching stories but which when analyzed cautiously never warranted this child to be abused in such a manner and which made me asked him ‘’Was it the kid’s fault that he was born?’’. This is a man who supposed to be the best friend, encourager and protector of this child but who out of an insatiable hatred boiled from his very own disappointed has turned to be the tormentor and predator to this child. WHY?!!

Parents it’s high time you all got to understand that your actions, words and attitudes towards your children has some physiological effects on these kids either positively or negatively but the negativity has a greater and higher quantum. You’re your child’s first friend, best friend and by nature his best confidant but being these things comes with a price which you must pay if you’re to get the best from your children.

 You must strive to avoid being partial when it comes to the love you apportion to every one of them, it is a natural phenomenon that as a parent you must be attracted to one child when it comes to some certain things in the family but making this obvious to other children is where the problem lies. Jacob in the bible never took notice of this and that triggered hatred in the hearts of his other children that led to them selling Joseph even though it was to fulfill that which God had planned for his life but it brought hatred into their lives which was very bad. Hatred is a poisonous thing that once it found its way into the heart of any child has the potential to destroy anything good in the life of such child especially when it comes from the parents.

I have tried my best to avoid thinking about what this child would turn into should he grow up in such atmosphere with the constant hatred displayed by his own parents but the more I try to resist this urge the more stronger the cry of other  children passing through same pains becomes… So I write to parents.

            CHILDREN

Children by nature are the very best gift God gave to you

Each day we spread our hands wide open towards heaven praying God to bless you

And a wish so strong that our presence makes everything in your life new

we’re a blessing to you and never a curse

Vessels of blessing and never of drought

Look upon us graciously and you shall behold our worth

We are your pride at the city gate

But if you destroy us what shall be your gain?

Nothing but disdain

Love us for who we are

For it was never our fault God made us this way

And never have we planned to let you down at the gate

We hate to be compared for life is not a competition

Each one of us came with a gift specially designed by our creator

And the very best He has ever created

Life was better for you before we came

This is one of the things we hate

And we have no hands in the deals of fate

Hating us will change nothing

Neither will it bring betterment to things

Parents for once try and see our worth.

THE CRY OF A CHILD

From the very moment I opened my eyes to this world as a child, I have not been like others

Your love towards me has been worse than that given to a morbid bastard

Making me to wonder if am truly your son or did mom owe me an explanation of who my real father is.

Every child I have ever grown to know boasts of how loving their fathers has been

Showing proof of such love

But when it comes to mine I bow my head in shame like one that has no father.

Everything I have ever own has been given to me by me

But always you take the glory leaving me behind the scene

All this yet I kept my mouth shut just for peace to reign

Among your other kids am the best but with you am not better than the worst

Decisions of my life you have always made

Making me a tenant in my own life yet I made no complain

The very first word I learned was ‘’dad’’

And that has been my worst mistake

For you never deserve that

My siblings sleep every night with smiles on their faces

But mine gets filled with pains I dare not question

Praying tomorrow never comes for that is the only hope I could get

But I wake up every morning beholding your face and I ask why life has given me such gift.

I live hoping a day will come when I shall know the taste and the efficacy of happiness

A day when I shall be the landlord of my own life

Until this day comes … enjoy the moment which fate has given to you.

These are the pleas and cries of most children out there yawning for nothing other than love from their parents but hardly are they ever noticed. Parents the earlier you all understand that the children given to you all are gifts and not an instrument of grief, the better for you all and the society. So value them and help them discover their potentials now, if you can’t help them then do better not to hurt them with your partiality of love.

MY HUSBAND

Family is where life begins and love never ends.”
Every day I spend being your wife, I realize how lucky I am to live such an amazing life.
Every day that passes reminds me to thank God for an amazing spouse like you.

My husband is my greatest gift from God which I am lucky to open every day of my life with him.
You should each a relationship class because other men can learn a lot from you.
Loving you is a full time job, but I love my career path.

MY BEST

“My love for you has no end, and I will love you will have my last breath.” 

“You are the best thing about my every day.” 

“I crave a love so deep, that an ocean would be jealous.” 

“You are my heart’s epic adventure.”

 “Thank you for loving me as if there is no tomorrow.”

“You make flowers grow even in the saddest part of me.” 

THANK YOU

“When life suffocates me with troubles and issues, your love is like a gasp of fresh  air.Thank you for loving me now and always.”
“Thank you for loving me on the days when I least deserve it. Those are days I need it the most.”

“Who cares if opposites attract or not? Even if we weren’t opposites, I would’ve still loved you a lot.”
“More than coffee every morning I need your kiss. Feeling blessed with you, dear!”

“The perfect husband as described by magazines doesn’t exit. That’s because he has already been taken – by me. I love you.”
“Being a wife, a mother, and a friend was never hard for me thanks to your care and encouragement. 

I love you for making all the burdens so much lighter.”
“Even if I could wish for anything in this world, I would wish for nothing, as I have you – and that’s all I will ever need.”

“A happy family is but an earlier heaven. Thank you for letting me see how the heaven would look like.”
“I’ve seen like a million people today but still I can’t wait to get home to see you!”

BECAUSE OF YOU

I never have to pick one thing between you and my dreams because being with you is my only dream.
 I love you with places in my heart I didn’t even know I had.
You know you're in love when you can't fall asleep because the reality is finally better than your dreams.
That’s what my life with you looks like.

Love is like the wind, you can't see it, but you can feel it.
I could not agree more given what I feel next to you.
Thank you for not asking me to become perfect but instead loving the imperfect me.
If I had a flower for every time I thought of you...I could walk through my garden forever.
You are the last thought in my mind before I drift off to sleep 
And the first thought when I wake up each morning.
If I know what love is, it is because of you.

THE BEST GENTLE MAN EVER

Fathers are wonderful people
Too little understood,
And we do not sing their praises
As often as we should... 
For, somehow, Father seems to beThe man who pays the bills,
While Mother binds up little hurts
And nurses all our ills. 

Father struggles daily
To live up to "his image"As protector and provider
And "hero of the scrimmage"
And perhaps that is the reason we sometimes get the notion,
That Fathers are not subject to the thing we call emotion,

But if you look inside Dad's heart,
Where no one else can see..............
You'll find he's sentimental...
And as "soft" as he can be.
But he's so busy every day
In the grueling race of life,
He leaves the sentimental stuff
To his partner and his wife,

But Fathers are just wonderful in a million different ways,
And they merit loving compliments
And accolades of praise,
For the only reason Dad aspires to fortune and success is to make the family proud of him
And to bring them happiness,
And like Our Heavenly Father,.....
He's a guardian and a guide
,Someone that we can count on to be always on our side.

He never complains of being tired come rain come sun,
His mind fill with the thought of how he will make his family proud.
He goes hungry just for the family to eat,
The best gentle man to ever live,
His heart so refined and defined,
Father is ever loving.
He misses the love of his kids
Wmth arm of his wife
,All because he aspires
and desired to make his family proud.

I DON'T LIKE YOU

My lips has not told you a lie before

Woe betide me if I have a lying spur

So believe the words I speak

Do I like you?

Woe betide me that I should

For I don’t

I have no likeness for you

For every time I think of you

My heart melts

And a smile breezes my lips.

I have no likeness for you

For anytime I see your call

I smile like one who has been doused

I have no likeness for you

Because every time you talk to me

I see the future with me carrying a baby that has your face

And staring at a certificate scribbled with your name and mine

I’m sure I have lost the little sanity I have

I have no likeness for you

The sound of your voice is a soothing balm to my aching heart

Your body is God’s precious art

And the sight of you takes all thoughts from me

I have no likeness for you

For like is too feeble

Weak for the feelings I have for you

The feelings that tingles my toes

And blesses my heart

Whenever we are together.

CHILDREN

Your children are not your children.
They are the sons and daughters of Life’s longing for itself.
They come through you but not from you,
And though they are with you yet they belong not to you.

<You may give them your love but not your thoughts,
For they have their own thoughts.
You may house their bodies but not their souls,
For their souls dwell in the house of tomorrow,
which you cannot visit, not even in your dreams.
You may strive to be like them,
but seek not to make them like you.
<i>For life goes not backward nor tarries with yesterday.

You are the bows from which your children
as living arrows are sent forth.
The archer sees the mark upon the path of the infinite,
and He bends you with His might
that His arrows may go swift and far.
Let your bending in the archer’s hand be for gladness;
For even as He loves the arrow that flies,
so He loves also the bow that is stable.

Is Jesus A KillJoy?

Dave as a young boy growing up, seeing so many things about this deceitful world envied grownups, their liberty and mobility especially the deference parents and other adults accord them.

          Then he became a teenager and tasted freedom from excessive parental monitoring, freedom to make friends, indulge in sex, play and dance anything he fancied, buy dress of his fancy style and eat whatever he could afford. Freedom to live as he desire with ultimate destruction. He tasted girls and found the experience such a wonder that he knew he was not going to stop. It capped all other juvenile pleasures he had known. His height and weight, his sense of humor, his intelligence and his captaining a school sports team gave him the stardom he needed for attracting girls. The world danced around and towards him with open arms and less endowed guys envied him.

       

 He had one problem: Religion; Christianity, Jesus Christ. It was all over the place, in the school, media, television and bookstores, at home and even on the streets “God is holy” “God hates sin” “Be ye holy” “Worldliness is sin” “Repent and be saved”. With all these intimidating messages they would add much to his annoyance. “God is love” “God loves me?” he would almost scream… and He doesn’t want me to enjoy my youth? My own life? He condemns the things I love and want? Surely our ways don’t match. We can’t get along, we aren’t made for each other, I can’t please God.

         

 “The wages of sin is death” “All sinners must go to hell”

Nonsense! Terrible. He changed his mind about nonsense and felt terrible was a better ejaculation. Terrible that when I get what I want God gets angry, so angry that He wants to throw me into hell fire. Terribly bad! Dave added.

                “But God made you: didn’t he?

Yeah if he did, so what?  Why did He give me feelings and judge me when I make use of them? Is he mean? Is he a killjoy breeding all these spoilsports who go around with bibles in their hands spreading guilt and promising a pie in the sky in the name of preaching?

                “The point is if he created you, he did that on purpose and I believe whatever you have today, you have got a purpose for them. If they continually turn against you, you would reject them….Won’t you?

These things do not have will, well my pets have emotions but not will or whatever you call it. They are not humans so please don’t compare them with me.

                “But they’re yours and you had a purpose for each of them. Anyway God gave you freewill so that you can choose to respond to his love, be his child and enjoy fellowship with him. He made you a spirit, soul and a body so you could relate with him (as spirit) and relate with other things and people…………….

                But he shouldn’t force me….

No, no, no, he’s not forcing you!. He only gives you a choice, an option to choose from: return his love and live, reject his love and die.

                “Why can’t he just forget about me and enjoy those who love him like my younger sister Gloria who is quite emotional about this Jesus thing. I am not just into him. I need my freedom.”

                “Scare tactics won’t work on me!”

                “Christianity is so boring!!”

“That’s an insult my friend, an insult to God and his creative genius. Do you mean that the luminous glory of God is boring? Do you mean that the creativity of the spirit, the power to bend the unbendable is boring? Do you mean that the toughness to stay sober, free from drugs and live above sexual slavery is boring? Do you mean that Jesus the greatest lover, healer and helper and deliverer is boring? Do you mean life is boring? Do you mean that JESUS was lying when he offered you ABUNDANT LIFE???!!!! are you trying to say that he is trying to trick you away from fun to gloom?

                “I just love sin or whatever you call it”

“Sure you love death and hell, you love eternal suffering”

                “I don’t”

“Sorry you do now but know these: unless you accept his love and reject the world, you are damned for hell”

“Wow those who love Jesus swims against every tide, they’re the real dudes, smart kids who have eyes on blissful eternity. They see what others cannot see hear what others cannot hear. They have the real fun and they laugh and enjoy life via the glory of God.

(Dave goes on his knees with his head to the ground and gives up a loud scream, crying profusely with a broken heart and a contrite spirit, he was finally convinced that indeed all he thought was freedom were all tickets to eternal slavery where pains is without limits)

 Finally he stood and with a humble heart surrendered his life to God and vowed from that day onward never to go back to those worldly deeds but to follow Christ for as long as he breathes. (GOD SAVED DAVE AND FORGAVE ALL HIS SINS)

WHAT A GLORIOUS JOY IN HEAVEN FOR DAVE’S SOUL