I like nonsense…Writers Quote Wednesday Challenge

May 4, 2016May 4, 2016 jacquelineobyikocha9 Comments

“I like nonsense, it wakes up the brain cells. Fantasy is a necessary ingredient in living.” Dr. Seuss

If I could build a fantasy world

It would unfurl

out of the pages of my dream world

of fairies and Peter Pan

of gold dust and timeless plan

where Dragons can become house pets

with beautiful things all without debts

human existence not riddled with regrets

as we make merry and dance to melodious duets

a life of living without threats

would be a fantasy, I bet.

Fantasy, Writer’s quote Wednesday challenge prompt

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Out of the silent breath

Jacqueline Oby-Ikocha’s poems portray images that stare us right in the face. Images of love, joy, death, pain, challenges, violation, and freedom. She writes in a language that’s rich in imagery, earthy, honest, vulnerable, yet full of the promise of hope, of loving and of Grace. A collection of light and dark soulful prose.

Challenges · Haiku · Humor - Bellyful of laughter

Enter The Dragon….Ronovan writes weekly haiku challenge

May 3, 2016February 12, 2017 jacquelineobyikocha13 Comments

Courtesy of Wild Daffodil’s 8-year-old granddaughter Miss E, who sent in a poem to Ron’s haiku, we get some interesting set of word prompts this week ‘dragon and invite.’ Well, let’s see who’s breathing fire 😉

With the haiku prompt of dragon invite

my mind takes me back

to Bruce Lee’s movie, enter the Dragon.

****

Please don’t invite her for the party

She’s such a feisty dragon

Her flaming tongue will incinerate my guests.

Haiku · Rononvan's Weekly Haiku Challenge

Flawless…

April 26, 2016 jacquelineobyikocha14 Comments

I certainly like the glitter Ronovan scattered on our path this week. Life’s too short not to have some bling in it 😉

She’s a diamond of the first water.

Even the older ladies admired

her flawless, pearl smooth and glowing skin

—-

Clear cut carats of real diamonds sparkled

on her gold based crown

mixed with countless mother of pearl seeds.

—-

Family · Musings · Stream of Consciousness Saturday.

The many sides of Ta,Ta…Streams of consciousness Saturday.

April 23, 2016 jacquelineobyikocha28 Comments

Today’s prompt for streams of consciousness Saturday is ‘ta’ a British slang for thank you which we could use it this way, or find any other word that starts with those two letters.

When we were much younger we used to say ‘ta da’ cheerily as a slang for expressing surprise, see you, there you are and it’s amusing to hear my children using this same slang for the very same expression and I honestly can’t recall teaching them that.

So it does appear that the English slang has passed from one generation to the other.

However, at this point in time as the word ‘ta’ comes to my mind, I am hardly thinking British at that moment. I am thinking in my native Igbo language.

In my language, the word ‘ta‘ is an abbreviated way of saying today, and its long form is ‘ubochi ta‘

Back home it’s used in a lot of proverbs especially by adults who use it to buttress a point.

Ta also refers to a fond way of addressing a little baby by stressing the word ‘ta-ah-ta’ being a shortened form for ‘nwa nta kiri’ meaning small child.

So with that said, I will ask you a question in my language and bid you a good day.

Kedu ka ubochi ta melu? How is your day today?

Ta bu gbo. Which means that the day is still young and you can achieve what you want. There is still time as long as there’s life.

Ka eme sia. See you later.

Family · Lifestyle · Personal · The Great Book Of Lists

Oh My! What A Long List..

April 21, 2016 jacquelineobyikocha23 Comments

Please don’t peek too closely at my long list of groceries but I have a household to nourish you know 😉

For this week’s The great book of lists, our grocery shopping list is the prompting word.

I have a love and hate relationship with shopping, but it’s unavoidable and since I cook virtually every day except on evenings that we eat out thus, my grocery/shopping list is a quite lengthy.

I actually have a typed list on my computer which I print off and take along with me, even though taking the list has never stopped me from buying something that’s not on it, especially if it looks like a good bargain 😉

I have two phases of shopping. Regular shopping marts for everything and a visit to the African store for condiments to make our native soups and delicacies 😉

I always like a full larder and I do bulk shopping twice a month and then pick up fresh goods like vegetables, bread, milk etc as the need arises.

My children accompany me and sometimes Dear Himself can be talked into tagging along when he’s not at work.

My kiddos are learning to sniff out good bargains too which is a mix of joy at their company and exasperation 😉

The list runs from food items in one trolley and other needed household items in another basket.

Meat: We are Carnivores. Sometimes I think I am breeding little Tigers.

Fish: To balance out the meat.

Chicken:

Ham, sausages etc:

Eggs: We ate lots of eggs. Scrambled, poached, boiled, omelette…

Cheese: Yess!!! I love cheese

Beverages. My children like Nesquick or Nestle Milo.

Milk. Everyone takes full cream except me *not that it’s helped much

Yoghurt

Waffle mix

Pasta

Rice

Beans

Fresh vegetables

Fresh fruits: Lots and lots of mix of oranges, grapefruit, pomegranates,

watermelon, bananas, dates, clementines, avocado ….

This list could go on for ages so I will let your imagination do the rest.

Somehow, a bar or several of chocolate have a way of sneaking into my trolley 🙂

Hey! Don’t judge! What’s a girl to do anyway? Chocolate always goes well with a good book 😉

Writer's Quote Wednesday · Writing

That Mysterious Spirit Of Deja Vu…Writers Quote Wednesday

April 20, 2016April 20, 2016 jacquelineobyikocha14 Comments

Have you ever met someone for the first time, but in your heart you feel as if you’ve met them before? JoAnne Kenrick, When A Mullo Loves A Woman

The prompt for this week’s writers quote is ‘mystery.’ We can write a piece of fiction, poetry etc, incorporating the word mystery.

I chose to write on incident’s that I have experienced severally in my life, especially because I had one just over the weekend and I daresay that you’ve probably had several yourself. I’ve had instances where I run into total strangers and I am totally convinced that our paths have crossed at some point in time. I have this certain feeling of knowing and familiarity which I found to be a bit eerie especially when I was much younger.

This also includes overhead conversations, that would have me questioning myself, trying to recollect where I had that conversation.

For days, I would mull over such episodes, but over time, I no longer bother with it. Now when I run into a seemingly familiar person, if I am close enough, I engage them in a conversation, laugh over the matter and move on.

I wrote the poem below in respect of that.

Our paths crossed each others
and a frisson of familiarity
raced through me.
The drone of your voice
curled inside my eardrums
pulling at memories
that are stored within.

Yet we’ve never met…

A pull to draw closer and eavesdrop
made me pause and stand in clear sight
perplexed thought crossing my mind
as I shamelessly eavesdropped on your conversation
I was sure that sometime, somewhere,
we had the same conversation, you and I.

Yet we’ve never met…

I tried to unravel the mystery in my mind
woolly cobwebs of memories buried
couldn’t cough up the answers that I sought
I dug deeper into dark recesses
seeking the unknown.
Who knew where what time and in what life
our paths had crossed

Yet we’ve never met…

I cease my attempt to decipher
I seek no longer to solve
mysteries of déjà vu
that my mind wouldn’t unravel
But, I’ve come to understand in acceptance
that somewhere, somehow and in some life
You and I are kindred spirits.

Creative Writing · Haiku · Rononvan's Weekly Haiku Challenge

Tales By Moonlight…

April 19, 2016February 1, 2017 jacquelineobyikocha20 Comments

I like this week’s Haiku prompt ‘ Sun & Moon,’ from Ronovan. What do you think?

Hair like silk spun gold

She had him enthralled with her looks

Singing under the glowing moonlight.

*****

Limpid pools of her eyes

Beckoned to him like the mysterious moon

Twinkling like glints of sun rays.

*****

He bought her precious jewels

That shone bright like the golden Sun

And proposed beneath the moonbeams.

*****

Image credit: Pixabay

Personal · Stream of Consciousness Saturday. · This Is My Life

How many times have I failed? Maybe 5,000 or more. I won’t give up!

April 16, 2016 jacquelineobyikocha16 Comments

No. (Number) That’s what Linda gave us for today’s Saturday stream of consciousness and I had to remind myself over a no. of times to get up and do it.

Today, I have refused to do a good number of things except lie around and whine in my head. Taking a deep breath after the days almost gone, I haul my butt out to get it done.

It’s not a deliberate attitude not to do anything, except binge on food, but some deep lethargy that seems to have pervaded my mind for the past couple of weeks and this has made everything a drudgery.

I know the symptoms for I have experienced it over thousands of times and so many times when I allow the dragon out of its lair by letting the lethargy fester it never bodes well.

Over the thousand no. of times that I have allowed it take over, it dragged me down into its lair and turns me into a dragon myself. Everything that I am doing would give way for this sniveling, annoying, depressing monster who rears its ugly head when it wills.

It’s a good thing that I always have several bowls of prepared food in the fridge and freezer, so that way, my family don’t suffer on the days that lethargy seizes my bones.

Now that I’ve written, I feel better and can’t help wonder how many times I allowed it to beat me. Can I put a figure to the no. of times it got the better of me? I doubt if I can. However today, it’s not going to get my number anymore. Enough!