Jaachi Writes

My friend wrote consistently poem for each day until he had 365 for the year 2018, a task he undertook. I looked for a way of celebrating this and penned this few lines for him.  Stefn Sylvester Anyatonwu , this is my laurel wreath for your poetic head, do sir, wear it. Congrats! -  Nnamdi Elekwachi   Annus Mirabilis (For  Stefn ) A twelvemonth unfurled Just as the challenge did unfold Year and task before our eyes fall He took up the gauntlet A poor bard, drawn in an epic for Three-sixty-five-one-quarter days Armed with only muse and pen A prisoner of his mind  That torturer that had him racing On the flabby feathers of hope  A flight and sojourn of the willing  That landed him to "I made it!" Brevity it takes to pledge Greater brevity lies in daring But to do is brevity at best Ages and men passing may forget Might they a feat this noble?  A daily goer of life who led it Like eternal lines printed on  Marbled consciences When modernity exhu...

POEM 365: I MADE IT all I've ever known is this,  this seemingly endless musing. I may make it although there's nothing wrong with wanting it to end. but it was cruel  waking each day to be greeted by the blankness of another page why would the simplest of tasks make me stumble over words? Why do I have to daily defragment my mind though so exhausted? why can't the other day be the end? I wondered, because I never knew never knew what's right from wrong nor the right next rung what to write when there's nothing left, washing my doubts and fears like dried blood on a club singing loud and clear the song I'd planned to sing when today's come I can make it On the seventy seventh, I'd wave my wand and cast the spells all rituals observed and fears expelled one more, yet another, and another, pretend, that all is well so no one can tell I got a share of wordruptcy, and in someway somehow survive the days, the delays, the doubts, I made it though I never thoug...

POEM 257: OHAMADIKE (For Nnamdi Kanu) Cowards kept mum in the face of tyranny You didn't. Indecisive folks played hide and seek, You didn't. Elders 'so called' ate fat and belched loudly, You didn't. The ignorant ones may condemn you and say all manner of ill about you but my pen, like a book of remembrance, shall remember you and write all manner of good about you. You're an embodiment of courage and dogged activism. You dared 'integrity' with harsh truth. You stepped on sacred toes and ruffled hallowed feathers. You revived a dying dream and made us love this sleep. You defied boundaries and commanded an army of united purpose. True, you had your flaws. Isn't it human to be flawed? True, you were radically unbearable. But who heeds to the plea of a roadside beggar? You showed the world, we are not pleading to be respected in a nation that was supposed to be ours. You made it known we are demanding a right wrongly stripped from us. Today, I remember...

The household lamp burnt. Its flames danced. A starless night it was. Gloom robbed the galaxies of stars...and mother's night songs. The rain passed by our huts And we smelt her perfumed tailwind. And ah! How it intoxicated Mama with memories! - Memories we can only imagine vaguely. She held our arms walking through dusty memory lane But we were children Ravished by our dreams Like snakes to a charmer's flute. And her tears will flow Into a boundless song We were too weak-winged to join. She knew we do not understand With her eyes on papa's grave like in it is hid treasure never knew. She'll hear Inspiration Giving her the endless lyric of life To our night songs We failed to find depth in. Until we got into her shoes And our offsprings  slept Halfway through a line of our lullabies.

I grew up thinking that a teacher or a coach was just someone who was there. It wasn't until I was learning from you that I knew that they were meant to be so much more. They were meant to make me enjoy my time with them. The mentors that don't respect you are the ones that make you regret ever learning the things that they are teaching but the ones that really matters are the ones that make you fall in love with it. You made me love what I do again. There are these amazing people who are placed in my life at just the right times. It can be intentionally, or completely by accident. No matter how they entered my life, I know they’ll forever leave a footprint on your life. This is a letter to the person who has impacted my life, and helped me grow into the man, more importantly, the writer I am today. You were all these things. You made me love everything I do now. You were the mentor that showed me that it was okay to be a little personal. You helped me through so much more than...

I Believe in You Lord, I Hope This Day Is Good You're My Best Friend  Some Broken Hearts Never Mend Till the Rivers All Run Dry Back in My Younger Days... on and on the list goes on I sang along and bared my soul to the gentle breeze of your voice Don. But I never got a time to ink a couple lines for you, Gentle Giant. If I could bring you back again, For one more hour or day, I’d express all my unspoken love; for lyrics that made me cry for lyrics that my soul massaged for lyrics that made me smile for lyrics that inspired... If I could bring you back again, For one more hour or day, I’d have countless things to say. Like 'Hi Don,  can we do a song?' Alas! Your time's up If I could bring you back again, I’d say we treasured you, I idolized you I fanned you And that your presence in my life Meant more than I ever knew. Sadly, I just realized... If I could bring you back again, To tell you what I should, You’d know how much I miss you now... If I could bring you back aga...