Dear, Odera...Love Odera.

The first time Odera fell in love was in primary 5.

His name was Soji Benson. He was the class Captain, a southpaw who never missed snagging first position. Since primary 1, they had always been selected to play king and queen for Red House during inter-house sport. Then they grew up and laughed hard at the memories of their infantile love. 

The second time was in 200 level.  It was the perfect relationship. He was kind, caring, attentive. They attended fellowship together, painted the night sky with their dreams, and were rock solid until his final level. When she discovered her roommate Awele had gotten pregnant and the baby was his. 

Today, she was giving love another chance. She stood in front of the mirror, admiring her wedding gown. It was bridal satin with intricate lace detailing. Her husband-to-be was a blind date that had been set up by her aunt after she turned 35. She had recently ended a 4-year relationship with a man who refused to propose. His reason: he didn’t believe in marriage. He had hinted this when they first met but she thought time would work some magic. Alas, it never did and she had become tired of sounding like a broken record. 

She stood in front of Paul, her husband-to-be, as the pastor recited their marriage rites. Frankly, their relationship felt like a business transaction.  But her family was ecstatic she was finally getting married so she didn’t mind or so she thought until the pastor asked if anyone objected to the marriage. 

‘I object’ she blurted out. The gasps in the hall felt like a rush of wind. Odera looked at the surprised faces of everyone and simply said. 

‘Today, I choose love….I choose me.’ She took in a deep breath, gathered her wedding gown, and as walked out, she whispered to herself:

Dear Odera,

Love Odera. 

The end 

Her Father's Daughter

Dr Aisha rearranged the files on her table for the third time as she waited for Mr Akintade to come in. His daughter had been admitted earlier that week after complaining of jabbing pains in her abdomen during one of her lectures in school. It turned out one of her kidneys was failing and she needed a transplant. 

Without missing a beat, her whole family -including uncles and aunties- stepped up to the plate, making themselves available for blood testing to see the possibility of a donor match. Her brother had to put work on pause and fly down from Abuja. 

Mr Akintade finally entered the room, his face riddled with anxiety as he took a seat. ‘I’m happy to tell you that we found a donor match for your daughter, sir’ the doctor began with a slight smile on her face. ‘But we also found something else…’ she continued. 

‘While conducting the cross and tissue matching, we discovered a 99.9 percent DNA match with the donor, as well as your older son. His brows furrowed, unsure what the purpose of the information was, he asked ‘So I would be the one donating a kidney?’ 

Dr Aisha took a deep breath and replied grimly, ‘No sir, your brother would be’ 

The end. 

Mentor Dementor

                                Image by Chad Ward

She had been practically summoned by HR earlier that day for an impromptu appraisal of her performance so far in the 1 year she had been with their PR firm. Her expectations were skyrocket high because her probation had been extended to 1 year due to some ‘restructuring’ happening in her department and her role had diversified from marketing officer to Account manager. Within those additional six months, she had played a major role in bringing in 3 new high-profile accounts. 

In addition, Michael, her line manager who she also considered to be a mentor, won’t stop gushing about her account-sealing skills since she joined their team. He had even privately nicknamed her Maverick because of this.

She entered HR's office and sat down. She was excited and couldn’t help but silently tap her toes rhythmically. HR began the conversation highlighting how long she’d been with them and the switch in her role. Then she said: ‘We would be placing you on a one month probation because of underperformance in certain areas.’ 

She was sure she heard incorrectly. Probation? Underperformance? HR added that this had been brought to her attention a number of times and probation was the next course of action. She didn’t know when she blurted out: ‘Who brought this to your attention, Ma?!’ 

HR replied: ‘Your line manager, Michael’

The end. 

The Uncle

He came over like he always does Saturday mornings
Mummy welcomed him with a warm smile and arms wider than the Pacific
I ran out of my room with joy leading the race and excitement closely tailing me
“Uncle!” I beamed as he swept me off my feet
The enclosed balcony was our playground, where games were played without alerting sounds
Peek-a-boo was his favourite and my girl parts were his play mate
And even though I was a beginner, Uncle promised to teach me till I was a Master

Today marks the 6th year we have been playing Peek-a-boo, I am no longer a beginner
But Master is not my new title, I am to be called Mother

A Ship Called Forever

We boarded this ship with plans to sail forever
We packed light 
We packed heavy
But empty we decided was better 

Our voyage had different tempos 
From waters as quiet as silence 
to boisterous waves aimed to kill
-and kill they did our ship’s temple
We bought this ship and named it forever

 
We fought hard not to sink
We battled through raging seas
But alas...our strength was weak
And jump into the sea we must- it’s over.

On Anger

Fires are easier to douse with gasoline. 

SHE

Eyes like stars that light up gloomy skies, 
She is fire to my skin on an icy cold, winter night.
Lips like a lullaby singing sweet melodies to a child,
She is peace to my soul when I am in the midst of a raging sea.
Skin as soft as petals of a freshly bloomed lily,
She is the final note to my life song's symphony.

Yet She...

She is imperfect in every sense of the word.
Flawed by heartbreaks,
beautifully broken like pieces of a stained glass window.
Damaged goods to others,
yet pure as gold from Bechuanaland to me.
And when she laughs, it gives my heart a rhythm
It makes it dance, skip, and sometimes sprint.
Did I forget to mention she is mine?

She!