WHEN THINGS DON'T GO YOUR WAY

When things don't go your way,
Will you have the courage to stay
And with gusto finish the last round
And not once surrender your ground?

Can you promise to be strong -
If all your plans go wrong,
Will you stubbornly hold on
Until all your strength is gone?

While everyone fails around you
And has their mood sober and blue,
Will you manage a hopeful smile
And tenaciously go an extra mile?

Do you swear to be true to the hustle
Even if fear paralyzes nerve and muscle,
Or the body screams for nothing but rest?
Will you still get up and give it your best?

When things don't go your way, ever,
will you believe it's God's way, his plan,
and decide to quit complaints and palaver,
so he can bless you in all the ways he can?

WRONG PERSON, RIGHT LESSONS

Sometimes we slide on bad luck
and fall in love with the wrong person.
This may seem like a tragedy,
but it really is not.
The wise understand that
hearts are made stronger
by being broken,
because we find our own strength
when we are weak,
and the limits of our perseverance
become clear when we're hurting.
Heartaches are lessons
just like relationships
are experiences.
The lessons learnt
while with the wrong person
serve to make the relationship
with the right person better.

THE WORLD NEVER STOPPED

I once thought myself stable

Upon world’s back sat comfortable

But the illusion never lasted long

Before I was subtly proved wrong.

The world does not ride steady

nor mind if the rider is ready

it sticks to its tenacious gallop

and for no one does it ever stop.

During a moment of weak grip

from our hands does it slip;

riding on to the dreams ahead

which else we might’ve had.

If the world did stop for a week

I’d have buried my dead

and moved on with you.

But it never did stop for a week.

If the world did stop for a day

I’d have explained everything

then ask you to wait, a while,

But it never did stop for a day

If the world did stop for an hour

I’d have told you of all my pain

hope pity would make you stay

But it never did stop for an hour

If the world did stop for a minute.

Oh dear, a last kiss? A final hug?

As alone I go to face a bitter world

But it never did stop for a minute

If the world did stop for a second

I already had enough memories of you

to last me this miserable lifetime 

But it never did stop for a second

Fate sent us on different ways,

and condemned me to lonely days.

I WILL CHANGE

After I end my cry
and my eyes again dry,

no longer blinded by pain
nor burdened with regret;
I will move on
to a new life:
a life without you
or any memory of you.
But I'll keep this promise
which I made to myself,
that before I forget you
I will change,
make myself better
than you ever wanted me.

I remember your words,
some true, others false,
but all hateful, hurtful.
Saying the same thing,
I never was your friend,
even though you were mine.
I erred like any man
but thought little of it
since friends easily forgive.
But not you, you don't,
even then you didn't.
I'll call you friend no more -
my love was washed away
by the very same tears
you made me shed.

I wish you'd been gentler,
like a true friend ought to be-
speaking to correct, not hurt,
aiming to change, not revenge.
I promise I will change,
all the bad things
you pointed out in me,
but once I am better,
once I am perfect for you;
I won't seek your company 

'cos I am no masochist,
and I cherish not
being hurt by friends.

HAVE YOU LIVED?

You've not lived
until you've met life
and seen all its beauty;
known its joys and pains.
Have you been
to the highest point,
had the world's
splendor beneath you?
Have you been
to the ocean's depth,
felt the weight
of all problems on you?
Has your brain
ever been frozen cold,
or your heart
melted to jelly

by desire and liking?
Ever ran until you
could stand no more?
Or slept until there
was no more to dream?
Have you been honest
with yourself,
known all your
dreams and desires;
only to meet,
at yet another turn,
a stranger
who is still you?
If out of all above
you've done none,
woe unto you,
unless you are a child,
for you've not yet
even started living.

HIGHWAY TO MY HEART

Look behind the walls guarding my heart,

see the vastness of the love therein.

Look behind the timidity of my trust,

and study the scars from my past.

Look deeper at the lonely soul within. 

Did you see all that, was that the clue?

Or how did you know I thirsted for you?

How'd you find the highway to my heart? 

How'd you know what I needed to hear

to down my guards and let you get near?

Thanks for whispering your gentle persuasion,

convincing me to again push myself out to sea,

to continue my sail but with a new start.

In your arms I was made a man again,

given the strength to let go of past pain.

 Your commitment I'll never fully understand

but in the light of your love let me ever stand.

Girl you saw and sated the needs within me

and this, this verse, is part of my appreciation.

PERFECT, WE STILL ARE

Look ye at God's creation,
notice all the imperfection.
Behold the struggle under the sun,
contrast it to the abundance in Eden
which was to be the eternal fate of man,
had the very first not fallen
by the allure of the original sin,
and the subtle evil therein.
But the Supreme Being above,
whose essence is pure love,
knows no measure of evil,
for it all belongs to the devil
in that punitive, fiery pit,
which will be Satan's final defeat.
Why this sermon on a weekday?
Because it's a heavy price we pay
chasing after the mirage of perfection,
unaware we hold an ill-conceived notion,
'cause in the finitude of our wisdom
we can't entirely fathom his kingdom
nor the vicissitudes of his constant nature.
Hence, I only aver what's in Scripture:
In his own image, he made them;
male and female, he created them;
and all was perfect in his sight.
If you believe the Good Book is right,
you and I are perfect in every respect
because we descend from a place sans defect
and, knowing that light cannot birth darkness,
we surely never lost the original perfectness.
.
.
.
Footnote:
[The fall of man was not in eating the fruit, it was in being tricked into deciding to eat it. How does one trick a perfect human being? Either they weren't as perfect as the bible says or our conception of "perfect" is heavily flawed. I stand by the latter.]

FALLING FOR HER

In the land I first saw her
the wind blew softly
caressing the beauty of the leafy trees
gently rocking the flowers in bloom
wafting the fresh air from forests around
it was a serene land I met her
because nature was at peace with itself.
The trees swayed with the wind,
mimicking a slow, romantic ballroom dance
as the birds whispered their loyalty and love.
That breeze was the satisfied sigh
of nature from the perfect fondling of its maker;
it was the muffled, orgasmic moan
of a tamed and civilized landscape,
which dared not squeal with delight and pleasure,
but the delight and pleasure were there
within the cheer and playful laughter
of trees tickled by moths and butterflies.
Such was the land in which I knew her,
a land as beautiful and perfect as she,
it was a perfect place to fall in love.