my butterfly

MY BUTTERFLY

Gently hovering around it

Carefully negotiating the best entry point

The colours are irresistible

You approached

Thrust your proboscis into its juicy pool

Like a dragnet it kept holding you fast

Your wings radiate so brilliantly in the sun

It’s like a nuptial flight of the termites

So passionately involved

So obsessed

My day is gone

As I kept beholding your radiance and delicateness

Above all

Your immeasurable beauty is unequalled

You are my butterfly

i am searching

I AM SEARCHING

I know she is somewhere out there

While I grope for her in the darkness of my heart

Where her first leg took a leap on a prong

Where we have been playing all along

Like twine kernels separated in an uncracked shell

So we have not seen each other

Yet every day I see her there

A tangible mirage in a concrete apparition

In that darkness of the enclave of my mine

Yes every day I touch her

A sky close-by seeming impossible to reach

And we play together in there

Like a drop of oil on a cold stream

She has always been here

Playing in my timid heart

Where I fantasized, since I was young

Where I have locked her all along

To nurse her to a full-fledged woman

My mouth I have zipped to keep her locked

And my anus is blocked to imprison her

Now she is gone out there

Having slipped away from the grip of my fingers

Like water from a rickety basket

Now I have got to keep searching all over

I am searching

The Convention

                                                          CONVENTION THINGS 
Hi pals, I come again to disturb the peace. 
We just came back from the Safeguard Your Heart District Convention of Circuit EE17. I so enjoyed it! The three days felt like thirty years outside this trouble filled world. So let me tell you a little about it. I won’t te

ll you everything that happened there shaa.

On the Thursday night before the convention, Bro Ejike called me on the phone and said the “Ntachi” group will be sleeping over in my house for the night. I said it would be a grand privilege to host them. He laughed and said they were coming to cook in my house that they wanted to carry some food to the assembly ground. I laughed and wondered how their food would taste. They say people that like food a lot don’t know how to cook and I believe that. 

*bend down let me whisper to your ears*

Ejike is the District Overseer of Ntachi Omeprazol congregation. Have you hear about them before? These guys are so funny to be with. They are UNEC students of Campus congregation. They have a sharp network that detects where there is free food; sumptuous ones at that. These guys can eat and eat and eat until you wonder where the foods enter. Notwithstanding, they all maintained athletic figures with flat six stones trunk that I envy so much. I love to have them around.
*don’t tell anybody I said that*

I was driving home from Zik Avenue when I saw Ejike and Awa carrying a cooler and a big nylon back. I called them and they said they were heading for my house and hopped into the car. Their presence in my house made us feel like the convention had already started. We all sat on the floor discussing many things ranging from how the young sisters in UNEC refused to help them do the cooking to how tired they were to cook now. They were so fortunate to have my younger brother Chidi at home. Chidi entered the kitchen and prepared the stew with Wisdom and Ejike rendering some little helps. I chattered with Awa all through the night till I slept off. 
It was Wisdom that woke me up in the morning and we did the morning text while two pots of rice were boiling in the kitchen. 

It was the first time I drove myself to an assembly. We went late though. It’s a pity I had to; I had some of my customers that I was supposed to see in the morning. One of them took the whole time bragging and telling me about all his dreams in life. They say the customer is a king you know. I had to wait for him to finish though I wasn’t listening. After all he was not ready to open an account at the moment. *Mtchewww* I just nodded like a red neck and made some throaty and nasal sounds like “mmhm”, “uhu” to make him feel I was listening. Soon my younger brother called and said time was “Agnes”. Then I had to cut the customer short. “A sogide Eze anya ekpuru nkata n’ihu gwa ya okwu”. I ran downstairs and jumped behind the wheels and called my brother and his friends. We joined the traffic at 9:25pm. Very late. I matched the throttle down and my red L sign dangled like a nursery school bell at the bumper and Venter of the car as we sped through Nike Road. “I send? That L has one year tenor to stay on the car. Whoever doesn’t like it should go and block a moving train. 

We arrived late at the assembly ground. As we stepped in, I heard the rasping voice of brother Nwakire(jnr). I thought it was his father. He and his father sounded alike. We met his wife on the walk way near the urinary where she was standing with a baby. Maybe their kid was disturbing. One attendant was standing at the entrance. He gave us the program and shook me firmly. He was my friend’s younger brother. We sought a seat near the right flank, where we could get fresh air. That was my favourite position – near the work way to the urinary. Then I realized we had missed two talks already. Too bad. 

I liked the symposium: Beware of Dangerous Heart Conditions! 
Brother Abel handled “cunning of heart”. After reading Proverb 7:10, 13 and 14, he defined cunning heart as a treacherous one, a tricky one, a deceptive one. When he asked “How can we guard against developing cunning heart? He introduced a “solilokwi”. Maybe it was soliloquy he wanted to say. But what I saw was not even a dramatic monologue they were two people on the demonstration. On the first part the sister was working in an office and her boss asked her out for lunch and she accepted. Maybe the “solilokwi” was when she said no brother has ever called her “angel” nor “sunshine” as her boss did. 
The speaker said that was the wrong thing to do for a true Christian. After all, the boss was not a witness. Now he introduced the right one. The boss came again and asked the girl out for a lunch, calling her different sweet names (u know the kind of names girls like na *winks*). She didn’t even allow the boss to finish before she shouted back; “no stop it!” with her left hand raised bitchily like “talk to the hands” and said “don’t you know I use my lunch hour for bible study”. 
I thought that too harsh and counterproductive for any witness. If I was the boss, I would have given her a query on insubordination and unprofessional behaviour  I thought she would have said “thank you, but I use my lunch time for bible study. Why not join me?” that would have been productive for informal witnessing. 

Bro Silvanus handled “Double heart”. He defined it as a heart that says improper things. When he asked; how can one acquire a double heart? He introduced a demonstration. A man was prepared for field service. While he was about leaving the house, his boss called him on the phone and he abandoned the field service and rushed to the office ignoring the complaints of his wife and children. I felt guilty when the speaker said that was the bad example. Then the right one came. The same man was prepared for field service and his boss called. He picked the phone amid his wife and children’s complaints and laughed into the mouth piece first and then told the boss bluntly “I am not just available now” and added that he wanted to stay with his family. 
I couldn’t help but wondered if the demonstration was ever rehearsed because it was impracticable. If I were the boss, I would sack the man, so that he could have ample time for his family. Why could he have said such a thing? “I am not just available now”; a show of gross insubordination, flippancy and lackadaisical attitude to work. If I don’t sack him, I would give him a strong query on gross insubordination, lackadaisical and negative attitude to work, and abscondment from duty. They needed to get civil servants to do that kind of demonstration and not a brother that has a small shop in Ogboete. It was so impracticable. 

The speaker now urged us to unify our hearts to serve Jehovah. When he quoted Matthew 6:24, I felt guilty again. I had wanted to skip the second day of the convention so as to be able to attend one of my customer’s functions. There and then I made a rethink though the customer threatened to close his account with me if I didn’t attend. 
*he can go to the nearest hell with his account*
Bro Joseph handled “half hearted”. He said almost the same thing that Bro Silvanus said on “double heart”. I couldn’t help but wonder the difference. He now introduced a demonstration of brothers that discussed football in field service. That was the bad example. Then in the next demonstration the partner to the brother that discussed football corrected him and they focused on the field service. I learnt from that too because I love to gist. 
*gossip is my number one hobby*
Brother Chigozie Njoku handled “In Want of Heart”. He likened it to the need for a heart transplant. He referred to ‘in want to heart” as foolishness, inexperienced or lacking of knowledge and cited Proverbs 7:7 and Proverbs 10:21. When he asked “what happens when we do not pay attention to our internal development?” he introduces a demonstration. He called it “solilokwi”. I wondered why they all abused that word. ‘Monologue” would have been a better expression since they are related. Some pronounced “solilikwo” and I wandered if they talked about palm wine because holy water remains ayaya. 
The demonstration was a dramatic monologue. A Christian sister had some chykers sending her some erotic and amorous text massages. In the first part she responded positively to the text. In the second one she detested the text and deleted it. 
When the keynote address started I was fast asleep. Don’t mind me; it was hunger that caused it. 
Immediately after the song for brake time, I saw Ejike calling me to give him the key to my car so that they could have access to the food in the booth. I called Chidi and handed him the key. I went to Sister Ike’s stand at the car park and ate free food. I just finished eating when Joy Atuadi, Kindy and other members of their crew came around. I called Joy “Mummy” in the usual manner drawing the last syllable like the mew of a cat. I shook Mary firmly and accused her of dodging me. She smiled shyly and said it was a lie. I then said I was joking and laughed. I liked to see her smile like that. I also liked her twitting voice. I was holding her hand when kindy came. I always feel tempted to call her “Kindness”. That “keendy” pronunciation never formed well in my lips but I call her that anyway. She handed me her red bag while she ate. I hung the bag on my crooked elbow and kept my arm bitchily like I was posing snake in the monkey shadow and walked round for everybody to see and have a good laugh. Some of them took pictures of me. Oluchi threatened to post the picture on facebook and I said “I no send, I no dey owe anybody” and swaggered to where Ude’s family shared food to more of the members of our congregation. Soon the soft tune melody started. Kindy came and snatched her bag from me and said bye. While walking through the auditorium alleyway, I met Gift. I called her. She was the girl I liked from afar. I had always looked at her from afar and waved. This time I called her. We shook hands and I smiled into her face. She smiled back and said I looked younger. My head got swollen with pride and appreciation. If I was a white man I would have blushed. I couldn't leave her hand though I didn’t like the freckles that were now taking full possession of her chins. I was still looking into her eyes without words when she wriggled out from my grip and said, “See you late”. 

The afternoon session was so interesting too. I will tell you more about it in our next issue. People na-eche m ooooooooo!