JUMP!

(Photo credit: Flickr)

THIRTY YEARS AGO, I was this skinny sickly eight year old kid with plenty of courage. I remembered now with a huge smile on my face as my mother’s eyes usually sneaked up on me with her brows knitted in a frown because of my escapades. My dad was a lecturer at Florida State University but the rest of the family were still in Nigeria and anytime he came home, I always love reading those green Encyclopaedias he brought home. There, I believed was where I learnt a lot of things. Although I was a studious kid but I also loved to play hard. We lived in a picturesque town called ‘Ilorin,’ it was a neat little town where everybody practically knew each other then, our apartment block nestled nicely in a leafy part of town and every evening, kids would troop out playing one game or the other.

We lived on the top floor of the five storey apartment block, one day, out of boredom, my friends and I gathered at the veranda of our apartment. We began regaling each other with stories, when it came to my turn, I told them about what I had read in my father’s encyclopaedias, about jumping from a plane and stuffs like that.

One boy looked me in the eye and asked, ( I can still picture the snarling face!)

‘Can you jump out of a plane?’

‘Yeah, ‘ I replied unconvincingly, I bet he saw my hesitation and played on it.

‘I’m sure you can’t jump from here to there,’ and he pointed to the ground.’ Mind you, I forgot to tell them I hated heights but because I wasn’t going to let anyone see my fear, I said with forced gaiety.

‘Of course I can but my mum won’t let me.’ My friends pondered on that and agreed but that boy refused to let it go.

‘How about we arrange some stools and chairs and make a little mountain, can you scale the stool and jump?’

‘Yeah! Why not?’ I said without hesitation and watched as he dashed into one of the apartments and within minutes, he was back, carrying stools. Some of my friends did the same and before I knew it, the stools looked like Mount Kilimanjaro.

I watched with growing trepidation but I was too proud to say NO! When they finished, the boy asked me to climb the stools. You can all guess what happened. I managed to navigate my way to the top and looking down at my friends, I hesitated and as if on cue they started shouting,

‘Jump! Jump! Jump!!!

And I jumped.

That was the last thing I remembered. The next time I opened my eyes, my left leg and left arm bore the brunt of my fall, my leg and arm were in bandages and when my mother’s tearful eyes met mine, I simply turned away. Believe me guys, that was not the end of my ordeal but I won’t go to that aspect of the story today.

Where am I going with this story? Please don’t JUMP, stand your ground, don’t bow down to pressure from so-called friends to do what you don’t want to do. Since that day, I became my person, I can stand my ground and face any foe. Throughout my primary, secondary and university days, I held my ground, fought off bullies and lived in relative peace.

Life is too short to be easily swayed by others. Like that picture, you’re a shinning star, let no one tell you otherwise.

Have a pleasant weekend and don’t forget, ‘don’t jump! Refuse that sneaky little voice that said you are helpless, you’re NOT! End of story!!’

Much love, always! 🙂

Destiny Or Coincidence?

Aug26

(Photo credit: O. Ampi, Flickr)

So many people have said or written a lot on destiny, it’s an inexhaustible topic. I’m not going to perambulate or go around in circles, I believe we make our own destinies by the choices we made. Coincidence on the other hand is mere luck, it’s something trivial in my book. From time immemorial, I knew I wanted to be a writer but that’s not where it ended. Of late, I’ve been involved in some projects that I never believed in my wildest imagination that I was going to do but it happened nonetheless, which keeps me wondering about destiny, fate, and coincidence.

But today, I’m glad I have awesome friends like you, which brings me to this C.S Lewis quote that I saw recently,

”In your life you meet people.

Some you never think about again.

Some, you wonder what happened to them.

There are some that you wonder if they ever think about you.

And then there are some that you wish you never have to think about again.

But you do.”

Those words aptly encapsulates the people we’ve come across in life. At present, I often wonder about friends I met on this blogosphere who simply disappeared off the radar, some have stopped blogging, some can’t be bothered anymore and some are even better than friends I had known for years. And I don’t think our friendship is coincidental! I know some of you reading this might have wondered about the same thing but I truly believe that friendships makes life bearable! And saying that, I have a writer friend, Tracy Shawn and I would love to promote her upcoming book, ‘The Grace Of Crows” shown here;

Photo: Sneak peek of the cover for our October release of Tracy Shawn's novel THE GRACE OF CROWS.

The novel would be released by Cherokee McGhee Publishing in October, please check It out, and I’ll always tuck in a reminder in my posts before and after the release. Thanks guys! 🙂

On that note, I’ll say, I’m happy you’re my friends and I wish you all a lovely and peaceful week!

Much love, always!

🙂

The Goops

Aug23

(Photo credit: Nolan Caldwell, Flickr)

The Goops they lick their fingers

And the Goops they lick their knives:

They spill their froth on the tablecloth

Oh, they lead disgusting lives!

The Goops they talk while eating,

And loud and fast they chew;

And that is why I’m glad that I Am not a Goop,

are you?

By Gillette Burgess

********

Life is incredibly hard at times but I’ve found out that we don’t need to take ourselves too serious sometimes. I’ll immerse myself in goopy behaviour this weekend, laugh at silly jokes, play in the sand with the kids, watch comedy, enjoy nature (like that incredibly beautiful picture) sing, pray and enjoy life. Succinctly put, I’m gonna live. Please guys, join me and have some fun… Enjoy yourselves!

NP: The Goop is a poem that tries to teach kids to behave, but I had no intention of doing that this weekend, but on Monday, I’ll be back to the normal Seyi Sandra David!

Au’revoir everyone and have fun!!

Much love, always!

🙂

Beauty In The Midst Of Decadence

Aug16

(Photo credit: Guga)

Angela rushed through the meadows, her brown hair flying in the wind, to a percipient onlooker, she’s the picture of perfection and beauty. I watched her keenly as Jasper pulled me along the rough footpath. The howling wind whipped my cheeks savagely and I glanced up at the gloomy sky. Suddenly, my skin began to crawl and I had one of the most uneasy sensations since I left the house with Jasper. I sensed danger, Jasper whined and began to bark. I looked round widely and spotted the brown-haired girl.

That was all I saw and I sprung to action, I ran as if my life depended on it, luckily, we got there on time. I caught hold of her legs and everything paled into a blur. I was glad I acted when I did. I saved a girl from killing herself!

* * * * * *

The above story is mere fiction, but beautiful if one way or the other, we could interrupt tragedy and save a dying soul from despair. Angela was just 12 years old, and yet, she wanted to kill herself, why? Because of cyber bullying. We live in such a fast-moving world, it’s scary sometimes. I was a virgin when I entered university and met my husband, but kids of today have had sexual relations as young as 9 years old! Though I believe we can still preserve the beauty and innocence of our children, we just have to create more time and let them know we care about even the mundane details of their lives. I was a teenager once, so I know the feeling. As a parent, I care about young people and pray that we would do enough to make this world a better place, but I believe it starts from the home front, don’t you think?

Next week, I’ll be promoting some author friends, if anyone is interested in joining in my little adventure please drop a message on my contact page! Have a wonderful weekend everyone!

NP: I have had a very busy but interesting week and must have missed lots of awesome posts! Please bear with me friends, I’ll stop by your blogs as soon as I can!! 😉

Much love, always.

🙂

The Act Of Emptying…

Aug12

At one time or the other in our lives, we had stuffs weighing us down which reminded me of the words of Jon Gordon, he says. ”We fill our minds with thoughts that hold us back, habits that limit us, distractions that derail us, negative people who drain us, fear that paralyses us, time-sappers that sabotage our productivity. We spend so much time and energy on things that don’t matter – we fail to focus on what does matter. We fill up with so many things that generate negative energy, there’s no room for positive energy in our lives.”

And today, this minute, this week and throughout the rest of this year or our days, I want us to learn the act of emptying, removing all those negative energy and renewing our minds. According to my daily devotion, the author state that we need to lose the clutter in our lives and I quote,

” The clutter you need to lose includes: believing that you’re alone ( and you’re not! ) trying to please everybody (I don’t try to), feeling insecure, putting yourself down, needing everybody to like you (it’s not possible, even dead people still have enemies!) jumping to negative conclusions before you know the fact (I’m sometimes guilty of this), thinking you’re always right (bah!) recalling all the times you messed up, wanting to know how it all turns out, needing to have all the answers (that can only happen in another planet I guess 🙂 ), worrying that if you let go of the memorabilia you’ll lose the memories, agonising that you’re not rich enough (everyone can’t be Bill Gate or Oprah Winfrey), good enough or clever enough, surrounding yourself with people who remember the bad times and not the good, (lose them!) making energy sucking comparisons, viewing life like a movie instead of participating, believing that the best days are over, waiting at all times for the right moment, fearing you will look foolish, focusing on negative type-casting…”

Believe me, the list goes on, but how on earth can you empty your heart and fill it with positive energy? Through the spirit, the spirit of God can renew your attitudes. We can do the direct opposites of the lists above, and believe me, that’s the art of emptying your clustered minds and lives. I don’t have all the answers of life but I do enjoy my life and you can too!!

Have a fantastic week, and remember, YOU ARE THE BEST!

Much love, always. 🙂

The Miry Clay!

Aug9

My hands got stuck in the clay

My skin melts into its blackness.

I became one with it!

I slouched through the mush of my decay.

I smelt the perfume of my horrors.

And wept at the snigger of the hollow.

I looked up and saw the light.

I clawed through the darkness.

I miffed through my tears and felt

The sorrow of the miry Clay.

****

My soul sniffed my shame.

My hands shook with defeat.

I struggled to save what was left,

But grasp empty air!

Love looked me in the eyes and screamed.

Faithfulness hissed at my discomfort.

Hope staggered when I called.

Faith strolled past me in disgust.

Mercy held me close…

And I caught a glimpse of heaven.

I am, but a clay…

________________________________

Can love forgive all sins?

******

I wrote this poem when I heard the story of a woman whose husband repeatedly abused her, physically and emotionally. She was still willing to forgive him, she tried to make people see things through the eyes of her abusive husband, calling him the miry clay, insisting that he has issues!!!

Well, this is me writing in the POV (point of view) of this vile man! (By the way, she’s had a miscarriage as a result of the emotional trauma she’d been subjected to)

And believe me, it was difficult trying to know what goes through the mind of such a horrible man! It’s sad that so many women (and sometimes men!) are stranded in abusive relationships, and the heart wrenching part is when the abused tried to explain the irrational behaviours of their partners! I know we cannot be overly protective of our loved ones, but intervening subtly can really prevent tragedies.

One way is by speaking to the abuser, encouraging him/her to seek help for his/her anger, but it’s easier said than done.

The crux of the matter is, how would you know that you’re falling in love with a monster? And, is there hope for the violent?

These are difficult questions to answer and I won’t even try but from my little office in London, I wish you, my friends, a peaceful, love filled weekend!!

Much love, always!

🙂

What is our Life…

Aug4

”WHAT is our life? A play of passion,

Our mirth the music of division,

Our mothers’ wombs the tiring-houses be,

”Where we are dressed for this short comedy,

Heaven the judicious sharp spectator is,

That sits and marks still who doth act amiss.

Our graves that hide us from the searching sun

Are like drawn curtains when the play is done.

Thus march we, playing, to our latest rest.

Only we die in earnest, that’s no jest.”

SIR WALTER RALEIGH (1554-1618)

I love Sir Walter Raleigh‘s poems, it’s poignant, somewhat melancholic but true. He hits the cord in the right places for me, and in a way, I want to be reminded of my fallibility, hence, my love for this morbid poem (so says my friend) Life is deceitfully short but our footsteps can still lead to great things if we so wish! My only prayer is, may generations yet unborn, write our stories well.

Have a great week ahead!

Much love, always.

🙂

Stranded At Santum Close (5)

Jul31

(Photo credit: Marabelo)

Even such is time, which takes in trust

Our youth, our joy, and all we have,

And pays us but with age and dust;

Who in the dark and silent grave,

When we have wandered all our ways,

Shuts up the story of our days:

Apart from which earth, and grave, and dust,

The Lord shall raise me up, I trust.

Linda repeated Sir Walter Ralegh‘s poem ‘Epitaph’ over and over again as she watched the body of her assailant self-combust. It all started with a strange shadow falling in front of her snarling attacker, who fell down immediately and began to shake uncontrollably, foaming in the mouth. She struggled to release herself but it was futile, she persisted and only succeeded in falling back, hitting her head on the tiled floor. She gritted her teeth in frustration, staring hard at the ceiling and wondered what she would do next and that was when she began to choke.

Linda dragged herself away slowly, so she could see what was happening and her heart stopped in her mouth, her attacker had been reduced to ashes, save for his lower limbs and shoes, he was burnt out. She whimpered as she struggled feverishly, rolling to her side, she managed to stand to her feet but with her hands still tied back, it was very painful. Sweating profusely, Linda refused to look at the ashes on the floor, the only thing on her mind was freedom.

Outside, a little girl skipped along the slippery sidewalk, her long blonde hair dancing with the wind, her short, pleated skirt swirled around her knees. The smell of rain and rotting leaves hung heavily in the air. She stopped suddenly and a chuckle escaped her pink lips when she saw a black BMW parking beside her.

She stared at the shrivelled old man on the back seat.

Bernstein Joel Bonnke tried to smile but it ended in a grimace and he put his bony hands on his parched lips, he knew that he looked awful.

The driver of the BMW got out, a tall, lean, bony man with bushy eyebrows. The man opened the door for Bernstein, who stepped out like royalty, his eyes still firmly trained on the girl, who curiously, was still staring at him. The leafy street was deserted at that time of the day, it was mid afternoon, and Bernstein was glad for the privacy.

He approached the inquisitive little girl, a fixed smile on his gaunt face.

‘How are you my lady?’

‘I am fine, you don’t look well, are you ill?’ she asked, her blue eyes searching Bernstein’s face. And he felt uncomfortable under her piecing gaze, his visit to London was meant to be a quick one, he doesn’t want to leave any trace or clues if he could help it.

‘Yes my dear, old age is my disease,’ he answered smoothly and reached for her head, she allowed him ruffled her hair for a few seconds, then without warning, a chill went through his body, it was akin to an electric current. He removed his hand quickly and scampered away, his body guards glared at the girl but she was unperturbed. She watched as they all entered the last house on the street, she could not move and her eyes never left the end of terrace house.

‘Amber!’

Someone called her, and she turned her attention to the petite woman standing on the front porch of the house across the street, it was her mother. She skipped towards her, there was a wild look on her face.

‘Mama, are you okay?’ Amber asked anxiously.

There was no sound and her mother later screamed in reply. Amber turned to look at what had upset her so. What she saw turned her blood to ice.

*****************************

Gordon held his sons close, the tears refused to fall. He was still in shock. He had just come in from the police station. The police had interviewed him all night, and they had interrogated each of his sons as well, though they stated blandly that they were merely following procedures but Gordon knew better. The bullet that killed his twenty-three year old son was the exact replica of the bullets he used for his semi automatic assault rifle. He was mourning for his son, praying that his wife would return home safely and trying to prove his innocence and that of his sons.

It was a horrible way to live.

Luke, Gabriel, and Peter moved away from their father’s embrace, the tragedy of Eliza’s death was still fresh and with the police breathing down their necks, they were practically living in hell. The police seemed to be hounding them than pitying them.

Luke stood up and went to his room, he’d hardly spoken a word since he heard the news. Gabriel stood up and sauntered to the window, then turned back abruptly and said with clenched teeth,

‘You caused these entire problems dad! If mom hadn’t disappeared, Eliza would still be alive now!’

Gordon thought about Gabriel’s accusations and replied calmly,

‘Eliza’s death had nothing to do with your mother’s disappearance. I believe he was killed because of the contents of your mother’s diary.’

‘How do you mean?’ asked Gabriel shrewdly, his dowdy appearance further heightened by the stubble on his jaw. At twenty, his life peaked too soon. He bagged a first class honours degree in Engineering from the University of York but sadly, was not keen to do anything else but smoke cannabis all day, a habit that had put him at loggerheads with his mother. Gordon also suspected that Gabriel was jealous of Eliza’s success.

Eliza was running his property business, and doing a good job of it. After college, he had refused to go to the University; rather, he had leached on to him, following him to auctions. Within months, Eliza had bought three properties, renovated the houses, and made a profit of more than three hundred thousand pounds.

Gordon was a proud father.

‘There were some things in your mother’s diary that Eliza saw, I was certain he was shocked when he did. He gave the diary to me and shortly after that, he was killed.’

‘Where’s the diary?’ Gabriel asked quietly.

‘I have given it to the police,’ Gordon said carefully, looking at his son, ‘they believe the contents of the diary was behind the death of Eliza and could be behind your mother’s disappearance, hopefully, the diary would clear our names.’

Gabriel locked eyes with his father, and Gordon shuddered with fear. It was the cold, ruthless eyes of a killer.

Who in heaven’s name is Gabriel Leonhard! Gordon thought with a deep sigh, he wondered when the nightmare would end.

********************

My publisher, Arrow Gate, has indicated their interest in this story, so I am afraid, this would be the last post on this story! But if anyone is interested to know more about the mystery and intrigue surrounding the Leonhard’s family and the grotesque Bernstein Joel Bonnke, you can subscribe to my newsletter and when the novel is released next summer, you’ll be the first to get a copy.

NP: July has been a special month for me, I signed up for WordPress on 17th of July, 2012 and my first post was on the 31st of July 2012. So it’s exactly a year ago that I started this blog, although I didn’t start serious blogging until mid October, it’s been a great journey so far. I have made great friends and didn’t regret starting this blog.

I also celebrated 13 years of wedded bliss to my sweet husband Kay! It’s been a great month!! (He refused to have his picture taken, he’s so shy! 🙂 ) I hope you all had something to celebrate… the gift of life!!!

I love and respect you all, you’re all awesome!

Much love, always!

🙂

Secrets And Skeletons

Jul29

(Photo credit: Ugadew)

Secrets and skeletons skipping in my room.

I dodged their fiery gaze and pretended not to see.

‘Can’t be kept in forever!’ They hollered.

Still, I pretended not to hear.

‘When the time is right, I’ll let you out!’

I surmised.

This is a funny poetic thought for me, sometimes we deliberately keep secrets, sometimes we don’t, but just find out that some things are best kept in the dark for a while. Do you have secrets? (in retrospect I don’t think I do) And what is your worse kept secret? If you have one do let me know. Enjoy today, and the rest of your week!

Much love, always.

🙂

To hold….

Jul26

To hold against all odds.

To love against all odds.

‘Let’s make love, not war,’

‘If only these were the wishes of the majority,’

said the wrinkled old lady.

‘Well,’ quipped the husband,

‘The earth will explode with love then,’

And he smiled.

Well this weekend, I hope we’ll all make love (erm… in whatever form, it doesn’t have to be the real thing … 😉 you know what I mean! 😉 ), and not war, I hope we’ll all smile and not frown, I sincerely wish we’ll all be happy and not sad, because according to C.S Lewis, ‘Affection is responsible for nine-tenths of whatever solid and durable happiness is there in our lives!’ I guess, I shouldn’t say more.

Have a love filled weekend my dear friends!

Much love, always!

🙂 🙂