Godwin Inyang's Blog

J olly well learn to rest and work at same time; U nclutter (or declutter) your life’s page and nicely punctuate it. N ever lose sight of your goal as anything else is a crime; E ndeavour, notwithstanding the hiccups, a great end to hit.

Choose to be shiny as a star And not grimy than the tar; Choose to stay sweeter than sugar And not bitter than vinegar. Choose NOT to tie your neck with the noose As your life you would stupidly lose.

Writing is like the sneeze; The condition is hard to freeze; You can only find release After episodes of the long hiss.

With the rains setting in, long-distance farming became a gamble. Eka Atim had a not-too-cheering outcome today. The sun dimmed, trees reeled and the wind whooshed through leaves. Across the sky, sturdier birds glided leisurely. The women called one another, carried their loads and hurried along the tracks to the village. Sad though Eka Atim was, a thrill ran through her body as she met a Jeep parked at the front of their mud-walled, iron-roofed house. She thought it could be Godsend. Ete Atim, her husband, was hesitant about educating their teenage daughter. He'd said educating girls was a sheer waste as they would end up as other men's possession or come home with unwanted pregnancies. He reserved his finances for his four sons. Though Eka Atim had great dreams for her only daughter, poverty worked against her. But she'd kept praying for that benevolent woman, who had been coming to pick children to train in the city, to find her way to her doorstep soon.

Tailor had owed until he was no longer creditworthy. Mama Pam’s conviviality had faded to a grimace and brief greeting – the only polite way she could hint payment for things bought on credit for weeks was long overdue. He understood, then curtailed his visits to the kiosk. Tailor suppressed the urge for a cigarette since morning but gradually the feeling was intensifying. He had jobs that were waiting to be collected, some of which had stayed with him for a year. If such money was forthcoming, then he could cross his name out of Mama Pam’s blacklist. Tailor wished too he had succeeded in keeping the resolution he’d made earlier in the year. But he felt restless not smoking for two weeks. Then he’d strolled to the kiosk, lit a cigarette, drew on it; and the madness had vanished. Tailor realized breaking a habit is like swimming upstream; not long you’d get tired and be swept away by the current. It’s better; he thought ruefully, you don’t get hooked to anything in the first plac

M ay we rest a bit and pray for decent rain A ll the seeds we’d sown to water and make them grow Y ielding in due time dividends to our greatest gain.