Inkounter

When I sleep, I find my wings. Freedom comes with my dreams. The law of intended consequences says you get what you deserve. The shackles of this tyrannical law bind my every waking moment. But I escape my chains when I close my eyes. In my dreams, I am a warlord in the dusty Sahara. Brandishing my gleaming AK-47, I run bare-chested into the heat of battle. Bulletproof vests? Bah, who needs those. The one bullet that finds its way towards my chest somehow hits my large golden medallion at such an angle that it ricochets and goes back to kill three of my assailants. An unplugged hand grenade once landed near me. I defused it by swallowing it. It did nothing to me because of my pure heart and my unshakeable resolve. In my dreams, I rob banks. The vault doors just happen to be open each night I decide to scale in through the mysteriously unlocked windows. Someone usually leaves a bag behind that I use to stuff in as much cash as I can carry. There are CCTV cameras, but fortuna...

"Grandma, could you please leave the lantern on?" "Ahh, my son, do you want to burn the house down around us?" "No, Grandma. It's just...", I hesitate. It wouldn't do to admit to Grandma, who I adore, that a 13-year old boy fully due for his initiation rites was still afraid of ghosts. But somehow, in that preternatural way grannies all over the world have, she knew. "Chijioke, are you scared of ghosts?" "No ma!" I deny. "It's just that Kachi told me that they creep into your room through the windows and eat your shadow on the bed. She says that was what killed her brother". "Nonsense", Grandma scoffs. "Ghosts would never do that to their family. Let me tell you a story". "When Chukwu Okike Abiama created the world above for humans and the world below for spirits, he knew beforehand that some relationships could outlast the decay of the grave. So, he made it possible for those w...

It is possible to be aware of a problem on a subliminal level, to know yet not know. One day, however, that problem will stand up and punch you in the face. That day arrived for me when I heard the news across social media — the best in community medicine had left the community. All of the sudden, it seemed the floodgates were open and I could see it everywhere. Doctors were migrating in droves to the United States, the United Kingdom, Canada, Australia, even to the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. And these were not just house officers migrating. Medical officers, registrars, consultants, professors were joining the bandwagon at a stupefying rate. The tectonics of the Nigerian health sector were shifting, but the shifts were mostly unannounced, unrecorded, off camera, silent. Oh for shame, you may say, why all the bother? We have so many doctors that this loss is just a spoonful out of the Niger. There is no room for concern. Or is there? It is estimated that Nigeria has somewhere...

Child of two worlds Born of above and below What made you think you could live Below as at above? Tectonics shift Realms diverge Will you choose? Or will you crack? How much time do you have? You need to choose now How much time? How much time? No more time

Father Those dreams of yours Are dreams no more For I, your son, have made them real Look and tell me, are you now Proud of me? Father Those mountains where you failed Your son has dug through Immovable hardness overcome By unstoppable zeal Surely this will make you Proud of me Father Those battles that you lost They became my cause My one thought as I stood upon The mounds of your enemies' bodies Was of how you'd be so Proud of me Father You see how I've become The you you couldn't be But it's never enough So, tell me what to do How could I ever make you Proud of me?

Through the darkness Through the pressure Through the steaming, humid dirt I refuse to give in With faith in my radicles And hope in my plumules I know the day comes The day I'll shrug of the dirt And rise with pride Into the light

We rejoiced That at both ends You burned, and burned bright We should have wept That at both ends You burned, and burned fast