UDEME RALPH

Some months ago, I came up with this queer piece about a misogynist who learned his lessons in life the hard way. I'll  post the entire story here, bit by bit. Enjoy! If you have the time, please leave a comment behind.                                                                                                                 CHAPTER 1     It was strange. It was annoying: it was impossible to believe.   It must have been a dream. At least, that was how Peter felt, as if he was dreaming, as if this was all in his mind. He had never seen this, never thought that his pastor, with all his education and anointing, would leave his pulpit in the hands of a woman. To what end? What did Nkec...

By the grave of Dan, Duke and Don We stand and stare and mourn And recall the tale of the loss Of our dear illustrious sons Who died in the hands Of three hideous devils,   With faces like that of angels. The first wicked beast, Bore the name Sex, And went to Dan as a sweet Gentle evening breeze, He left him with a gift: A harmless longing for skirts, That landed dear Dan in the hands Of dirty, despicable lasses, Until he got sick and thin And drew his last breathe. The Second monster Whose name was Money Visited Don in his needy moments, And turned him into a monument A hunter of silver and diamond. Whose only goal was gold In whose eyes, God, and laws Had neither weight nor form He gambled away his soul Betted away his dear life. Worked himself to stupor Ventured into every venture, Started as a coin-hungry hustler And ended as a roadside robber. The last devil, Was no devil at all In Duke’s youthful ...

I saw light and darkness Strolling side by side on a dimly lit narrow path Holding hands, Laughing and crying together I looked and looked again Then I got mad, Peeved and perplexed at such an unholy blend of night and day Then came an old man, A wrinkled wise chap, "What ails you?" he asked, And I told him my tale, and showed him the twain. But he chuckled and laughed And said all was well, But, I argued, it isn't so, That this is not taught In the big sacred scrolls of Good and evil, and of right and wrong.  He laughed still, And bid me to hold my peace For in books and in schools And from the eyes of blinds gurus Day and night are miles apart Good and evil stand afar But in reality, the tale is different For the two are never at war And the two are but one, Only differently dressed Only differently named. (c) Udeme Ralph, 2018

      No matter how much we think we know about light, there is always something more to learn, something confounding, something mysterious lurking somewhere.  But the fact that something as common as light can be deemed a mystery is itself something mysterious and baffling.  How can light, which makes things lucid and makes mysteries known, be elusive and mysterious? In all my studies, it appears that light has shed light on all things except itself.  Apparently, science has come up with tentative answers regarding the nature of light, the speed of light, and so forth, but those answers are not enough. We’ve made extensive progress in understanding light, but, it appears our progress is not progressive enough. We’ve harnessed the power of light to explore and solve many problems in our world, but we’ve not yet begun to explore the world of light itself.

We’ve been invaded, Harassed and battered Broken and torn apart By a strange, nameless menace. It started as nothing, And grew into a wild beast, It began like a cool breeze And morphed into a storm The noise keeps rising: The shouts, the loud halleluiahs, The buildings keep doubling, Here and there a new structure Now and then a new signboard Each new day, a new nomenclature, Each season, a new, troubling doctrine. The number keeps swelling, The offerings keep getting fatter, The sermons keep changing To meet the longings of the age. Retreats are on the increase, Concerts at every corner Now and then the globe is toured This moment or the next a soul is won But all things are as were Before the dawn of the hoy ones The world is still the world And men are still men Flesh still feels like flesh And blood still flows like blood. The saved and the unsaved Still tread the path of all flesh.