NO SHORT CUTS

I know a little about my people and a little about the various categories of mental disorders. That includes their classical signs and symptoms. 

My grandmother use to say sweep the floor before you lay the mat. Often times myself and my fellow young rascals will do the opposite either because we think Grandma is exaggerating about the poisonous ants or because we are obviously too lazy to comply. All of a sudden each of us receive multiple bites that makes our nights quite `eventful`.

My concern is that we just refused to learn from a singular episode. It happens over and over again. Shamelessly we cry in the same manner that we did yesterday. We now begin to analyze the dimensions and components of our pains. We start to wish that there are pharmaceutical remedies to annul or neutralize the effects of the ant poison. This is the part that hurts me most. You never hear us take responsibilities for our actions. We never wish we had done it differently. We never break from our unproductive and injurious routines. We expect others to do so on our behalf. We attack those who are bold enough to draw our attention to these things. Yet we expect a better future.

What could be responsible for this? What are the underlying factors that could have given rise to such scenarios? That is another subject that will require deep analysis. But I do appreciate that these mode of behaviors can be linked to what obtains in cases of mental disorders.

Lack of insight, delusions. hallucinations. aggressive behavior, paranoia, excessive talking etc.

I thank the FG for the price hike in PMS. My only quarrel is that it should have happened much earlier, lets say in December 2015.  It was a difficult decision to make but the best eventually. I feel the pains like every other Nigerian. But I am not one to analyze my pains on the very day I am bitten by the ant. I will not display my passion for talkativeness on the day of the incident because I already knew what will come. 

We are all going on a ride into our future. Nigeria will triumph eventually. But let us not deceive ourselves. Hard times will persist for a while. We must travel this route. No short cut.

By

Kennedy Oriakhi

MAN’S GREATEST GIFT

Man was created with certain gifts. When in the depth of loss, despair and pains, man’s gift cry out to the tacit but listening universal forces to make a way for him. Always relying unknowingly on these gifts, we find ourselves soaring out of the clutches of damnation and undesirable circumstances. Many are led to believe it was their own handiwork they got saved, yet something, anything could have gone amiss to keep man in the same despair state.

Man’s greatest tool is not in his physical or mental strength nor will—indeed to survive, a man must be true to his purpose. Yet purpose trueness fall short of the creative inheritance of man.

Man’s greatest gift Is not in his handsomeness or manliness. Fairness may pave some way but ultimately fail where astute change is required. Today, situations respond more to your mental abilities than even fairness or beauty.

Man’s greatest gift is the small conceited towel in his mouth, capable of causing an unending strife or a forever peace between nations, of breaking or mending mortal souls, of painting a new world and bringing it to being.

Physically, a man can through words spinning from his lips orchestrate new ideas. In fact, not a brick was ever laid on another without it being thought out and communicated through words written or spoken).

Spiritually, man, like God, is endowed with creative ability vested in his words. Your words spin your will and can cause tremendous changes in your life. Anything can be caused to be if you learn how to harness the power in your tongue.

For starters,

• Never use your words idly. This is a clear indication of your emptiness. Constructively engage your words to work for you.
• Learn never to curse but bless. Trust me, the measure of words you use on others, the same will invariably reflect in your own reality.
• Always be positive. Always speak positively.
• Learn about God. He made you just like Him. Ever heard of the Bible?

POLICE CATCH THIEF

A.    AMERICA POLICE STYLE:

Allow the thief to finish stealing, then they use sophisticated gadgets to catch thief.

B.    CHINESE POLICE STYLE:

Chase the thief until he becomes tired then catch him.

C.     ARABIAN POLICE STYLE:

Kidnap the thief's wife and then threaten the thief to surrender.

D.    INDIAN POLICE STYLE:

Sing for the thief until he comes close to the trap, then catch him.

E.    NIGERIAN POLICE STYLE:

Catch any person on the street, beat him until he agrees that he's a thief.....

TRUE or FALSE

BY:
Tracy Chapele

CONFRONTING MY DEATH

Breath and Death getting my attention more and more. How similar they both sound. And how gravely connected they are. One presumably marking the beginning and the other the end.

When breath is born, death disappears. But How come we barely or never discuss them in the same forum? Even though we have agreed that death is inevitable still we carry on as if we are immortals. 
When breath is gone death appears. This makes me want to ask which really comes first.
What if death is the beginning and not the end?
Though guided and empowered by our various beliefs and our knowledge of death, the mention of it still fills us with a cold chill.
What is your fear?
Is it the unknown?
I am not afraid, I can tell you that.
I only worry for those who will genuinely miss me when am gone.
I don't want to go anytime soon because I want to watch and help my Stars grow into big and brighter Stars.
A real Source of inspiration they truly are.
I want to keep sharing my breath with my siblings and entire family because I truly love them.
I have got great friends too - on here and outside. I also have to share it with them.
But we must remember to always talk about death as being with us and as a very important part of our existence rather than wait for breath to first disappear before we remember death. 

By: Mr. E. E. Oriakhi.

HISTORY MUST BE BORING

They used to use urine to tan animal skins, so families used to all pee in a pot & then once a day it was taken and sold to the tannery.  If you had to do this to survive you were "Piss Poor." But worse than that were the really poor folk who couldn't even afford to buy a pot. They "didn't have a pot to piss in" and were the lowest of the low. The next time you are washing your hands and complain because the water temperature isn't just how you like it, think about how things used to be. Here are some facts about the 1500s:

Most people got married in June because they took their yearly bath in May, and they still smelled pretty good by June. However, since they were starting to smell, brides carried a bouquet of flowers to hide the body odor. Hence the custom today of carrying a bouquet when getting married.

Baths consisted of a big tub filled with hot water. The man of the house had the privilege of the nice clean water, then all the other sons and men, then the women and finally the children. Last of all, the babies. By then the water was so dirty you could actually lose someone in it. Hence the saying, "Don't throw the baby out with the Bath water!"

Houses had thatched roofs-thick straw-piled high, with no wood underneath. It was the only place for animals to get warm, so all the cats and other small animals (mice, bugs) lived in the roof. When it rained it became slippery and sometimes the animals would slip and fall off the roof... Hence the saying "It's raining cats and dogs."

There was nothing to stop things from falling into the house. This posed a real problem in the bedroom where bugs and other droppings could mess up your nice clean bed. Hence, a bed with big posts and a sheet hung over the top afforded some protection. That's how canopy beds came into existence.

The floor was dirt. Only the wealthy had something other than dirt. Hence the saying, "dirt poor." The wealthy had slate floors that would get slippery in the winter when wet, so they spread thresh (straw) on floor to help keep their footing. As the winter wore on, they added more thresh until, when you opened the door, it would all start slipping outside. A piece of wood was placed in the entrance-way. Hence a thresh hold.

In those old days, they cooked in the kitchen with a big kettle that always hung over the fire. Every day they lit the fire and added things to the pot. They ate mostly vegetables and did not get much meat. They would eat the stew for dinner, leaving leftovers in the pot to get cold overnight and then start over the next day. Sometimes stew had food in it that had been there for quite a while. Hence the rhyme: Peas porridge hot, peas porridge cold, peas porridge in the pot nine days old.

Sometimes they could obtain pork, which made them feel quite special. When visitors came over, they would hang up their bacon to show off. It was a sign of wealth that a man could, "bring home the bacon." They would cut off a little to share with guests and would all sit around and chew the fat.

 Those with money had plates made of pewter. Food with high acid content caused some of the lead to leach onto the food, causing lead poisoning death. This happened most often with tomatoes, so for the next 400 years or so, tomatoes were considered poisonous.

Bread was divided according to status. Workers got the burnt bottom of the loaf, the family got the middle, and guests got the top, or the upper crust. Lead cups were used to drink ale or whisky. The combination would sometimes knock the imbibers out for a couple of days. Someone walking along the road would take them for dead and prepare them for burial. They were laid out on the kitchen table for a couple of days and the family would gather around and eat and drink and wait and see if they would wake up. Hence the custom of holding a wake.

England is old and small and the local folks started running out of places to bury people. So they would dig up coffins and would take the bones to a bone-house, and reuse the grave. When reopening these coffins, 1 out of 25 coffins were found to have scratch marks on the inside and they realized they had been burying people alive. So they would tie a string on the wrist of the corpse, lead it through the coffin and up through the ground and tie it to a bell. Someone would have to sit out in the graveyard all night (the graveyard shift) to listen for the bell; thus, someone could be saved by the bell or was considered a dead ringer.

And that's the truth. Now, whoever said History was boring.

the Poetry Republic Competition.