Michael

I can't explain how I feel anymore than these three tweets:

I just watched the promo video for the episode and 'Wanna Be Startin' Something' sounds toooo good. This year is the Michael Jackson year for sure.

EVOKED

EVOKED is simply about dreams and the art of dreaming. A dream is anything you desire or wish to have. The poem describes the soft transition into the dream world where all the real human aspirations (dreams) can exist. Things such as doubt and bad experiences often reduce hope in dreams coming true but when asleep, anything is possible.

If I let my soul wander
with the tides
as I chill
by the ocean
then I could kick my stress into its waters
and make the sand age
instantaneously,
as I give it wrinkles
with my feet

then the palm trees will guard
my thoughts,
beneath the shadows of their
uncertainty of the sun
while I let my mind soar
beyond her call for
the moon's light,
right after she's tucked me in
in time
for a bedtime story
amongst twinkling stars

and then the waves will deposit
the beauty they had stuffed their faces with
at dinner time;
seashells
to be traded irrevocably for
memories
in different shapes of
gray and blue,
so that sand dollars are worth something brighter
and laughter becomes a little more
Meaningful.

Afterwards,
my soul will be
filled with
make-believe clouds of truth,
the kind that make it possible
to fly right through
reappearing rainbows
and
seahorses
that have been bred for war,
drawing chariots of
Faith.

And if I let my heart dream,
Ignoring the audience of sea creatures
attempting to thwart the
construction of my sandcastle,
my ears will be awake to the sound of seagulls,
speaking in the language of humans
and I will finally understand that I don't have to wait upon a shooting star
because under these circumstances
I can watch my wishes come
Alive.

- Mercedes Onyemenam

Femme Fatale: EVOKED

Poetry

I find that when people read my poems, or any other poem on Femme Fatale they suspect I wrote, they ask what they are specifically about or what inspired them. So, I have decided that I'd generally explain each piece I write for Femme Fatale on this blog. Hopefully, it will allow a better understanding of why each poem is personal to me.

PIANO AND DRUMS

When at break of day at a riverside 

I hear jungle drums telegraphing 

the mystic rhythm, urgent, raw 

like bleeding flesh, speaking of 

primal youth and the beginning,
I see the panther ready to pounce,
the leopard snarling about to leap
and the hunters crouch with spears poised;

And my blood ripples, turns torrent, 

topples the years and at once I’m
in my mother’s lap a suckling;
at once I’m walking simple
paths with no innovations,
rugged, fashioned with the naked
warmth of hurrying feet and groping hearts 

in green leaves and wild flowers pulsing.

Then I hear a wailing piano
solo speaking of complex ways
in tear-furrowed concerto;
of far-away lands
and new horizons with
coaxing diminuendo, counterpoint, 

crescendo. But lost in the labyrinth
of its complexities, it ends in the middle 

of a phrase at a daggerpoint. 

And I lost in the morning mist
of an age at a riverside keep 

wandering in the mystic rhythm 

of jungle drums and the concerto.

- Gabriel Okara

I am in love with how vivid the imagery is in this poem!!

Romans 4:5

But to the one who does not work, but believes in Him who
justifies the ungodly, his faith is credited as righteousness.
- New American Standard Bible

Femme Fatale: Death Letter

The pieces to this puzzling memory have long been worn out by
my over-telling of this sad tale
but I can remember faintly
the circumstances under which this story played:

The lights were dim
so that you could make out shapes in motion
but you could not make out faces
because your blood was intoxicated
but you weren't even bleeding though you'd lost count of the shots.

And the soft music played in the background
so that shadows danced around in circles
like they were performing a ritual and
although you could smell the mix of potions
you remained unaware that you were the lamb to be sacrificed.

They said that Christmas was in fortnight,
minus three days that day.

Notice how this conversational monologue is
being recited in second person
because I did not arrive there that day knowing that I would be the last person she would open her heart to
or that I would ever wish to die so that I will not longer regret the words I spoke that night.

You see
she loved me
like I was happiness itself.
It was evident from the way her face burst
into colorful hues of red
like an artist was painting a rose
and forgot his paintbrush on her cheeks.

She loved me
like her soul was lost somewhere
in my eyes
because when she looked at me,
it was like without me
she would never find herself beyond the depths of her imagination where nothing is real.

and when they told me of their failed attempt
at excavating the cocktail of painkillers
from her stomach,
I knew that these archaeologists
must have discovered a thousand butterflies
that had already died of old-age.

Its sad
because I could have told her that
her "I love you's" hadn't fallen upon deaf ears.

That her kind words were like earthquakes to my beating heart
and that the mere thought of her
sent signals from my brain
to parts of my body I'd lost control of.

Instead, when we finally got to talking that night
I told her how she hadn't fought enough for us.
I pointed my fingers at her
and I shot her with painful words.
She bled this time.

I could have told her that she smelt like heaven
that she made my mind push clouds
and my hands mimic the shape of doves
because I wanted God to get my message.

But it was already too late the minute I let her walk away from me
because I did not leave that day knowing
that it would be the last night she'd ever let her heart beat.

- Merceds Onyemenam

Femme Fatale: Death Letter

Kid Luu

There's this crazy and hilarious human on my twitter timeline called Laolu (Kid Luu). He's a comedian so obviously he does really funny videos but he has never made me laugh as much as he did with this video:

LMAAAAOOO! God bless his soul.

The ZOO

Last summer, my younger cousins came to visit in Vienna and so as I had to make sure they had fun. What do kids love more than animals?  I didn't wanna bore anyone with photos of the zoo initially but when I was going through my camera I thought these were really cool animal shots. Shoot me if I'm wrong.

Photo taken and edited by me.

Photo taken and edited by me using a Nikon D500

Photo taken by me with a Nikon D500 and edited using Picnik

Photo taken and edited by me using a Nikon D5000

SWAG walk with my brother.

I was bored and I had a camera so I took a walk with my brother and took these photos:

My brother.

My favorite necklace now. Its my Jesus cross so I wear it all the time.

POW.
I've always wanted to do one of these, don't hate.

Bye.

On New Years Eve ..

I went to church on the 31st cause that's what I do. The crossover service was amazing and when we finally did the countdown everyone went crazy. They kept singing Nigerian choruses so my sister and I were dancing like madmen cause we were very excited.

However, I still miss crossover in Nigeria. It was very different and it was so much fun. The best part of it is that my extended family was usually in church too. I miss them :(

After the service, my sister and I went to the city but it was so rowdy and disgusting because everyone was wasted so we went back home at 2. All in all, it was okay.

HAPPY NEW YEAR TO EVERYONE!!