Tag: #WQWWC

Writer's Quote Wednesday

Fare Thee Well – Writers Quote Wednesday Writing Challenge.

jacquelineobyikocha8 Comments

Image result for images of farewell

I don’t like saying goodbye
‘cos it sounds final and makes me sad.
I prefer to say fare thee well,
for it’s a prayer for better tidings,
bestowed to you.
It makes me feel less teary
and turning into a sniffy, watering pot,
knowing that you are safe and snuggly somewhere,
I’ll remember you with fond thoughts.

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When I read Colleen’s post and prompt for  Writers Quote Wednesday Writing Challenge, a little voice in my head shouted NOOOOO. Hold on. I don’t want to let go just yet. I love WQWWC and it’s grown on me.

Isn’t this how we feel about things we’ve grown used to and grown to love? We just don’t want it to end, we just don’t want it to change even when the new thing promises to be good and maybe better even?

Change we must for change is inevitable. To move up to higher grounds, we often have to let go of our inhibitions and climb up the ladder.

So, here’s my farewell to WQWWC and hello to Tuesday Tanka. It’s been a lovely ride. I might still indulge myself with some Wednesday quote now and again. I hate to fly solo, so join me if you wish to dive into quotes.

Thank you, to Colleen and Ronovan for being such gracious hosts.

© Jacqueline Oby-Ikocha

Image credit: Pinterest

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Writer's Quote Wednesday

The Resilience of The Broom – Writers Quote Wednesday Writing Challenge.

jacquelineobyikocha30 Comments

Image result for images of Nigerian broomsticks

The strength of the broom lies not in the power of a single frond but in the resilience of its united fronds. African proverb

Like most families my growing up years consisted of squabbling with my siblings over things that I can’t even recall anymore, but the saying above is one of those proverbs that I’ll never forget because my parents used proverbs like that one to teach us life’s lessons.

‘Igwe bu ike!‘ This is an Ibo word that means ‘there’s strength in numbers.’ My mother will tell us that while demonstrating with a broom.

She would give each of us a broomstick and instruct us to go ahead and break it. With barely much strength applied, the broomstick would snap. Then she would give us the entire broom to break and no matter how much you tried, that broom would never break. It might bend, but not break.

She used this example to emphasize to us that we had to stand together as one family because when we stand together as a unit that’s the only way we would withstand adversity and over the years of my life, we have individually and collectively gone through the storm as a family, but having each other to lean on has made passing through the eye of the storm easier.

Our unity didn’t mean that we lost our individuality, but there’s a code of oneness that understands and tolerates diversity.

This saying is not just for families, but to any group that man forms because we are social beings.

Unity brings strength
and creates harmony.

Unity promotes prosperity
and fosters love.

Unity covers the weakness of one
and infuses him with support.

When we are united
we can withstand.

When our unity is broken down
we will crumble.

© Jacqueline Oby-Ikocha

Unity – #WQWWC

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Uncategorized · Writer's Quote Wednesday · Writing

Just hold on – Writers quote Wednesday challenge.

jacquelineobyikocha17 Comments

Love[1]

I believe and have faith in love
for in it lies immeasurable strength
Even on day’s when my faith in humanity
diminishes to micro pieces
that it won’t even match a mustard seed
On such days, I look up to the heavens
and facing the sky
I let the shadows fall behind.

There are moments when faith
is all that have
to propel me forward and hold me upright
On such days, I clasp my thin flicker of faith
like a loving companion and cloak
and allow its strength to seep into me
till my hope rises again.

There are moments
when the future might look bleak to us
when so much seems to be going wrong
in such moments
we turn to faith in hope
that the future will look brighter
if only we can hold on.

© Jacqueline Oby-Ikocha

Faith includes noticing the mess, the emptiness and discomfort, and letting it be there until some light returns – Anne Lamott

Faith does not make things easy, but makes them possible – Luke 1:37

Writing this week’s prompt ‘Faith’ for WQWWC after days of minds battered with all that’s happening around us is a welcome reprieve even though it’s a hard topic. A hard topic to write on when it’s seems as though the World is momentarily going berserk and my faith in humanity dwindles.

Then again, if we completely lose our faith, then all hope is truly lost and we’ll find ourselves living in a World that’s not only pessimistic and negative, but will become a highly toxic World.

So, I’ll hold onto my flicker of faith that love will always win and my faith comes from above.

P.S: You can join our online party this weekend. It’s always a good time:-)

Below is my first just published Poetry Book “Out of the silent breath” which is available on Amazon and Smashwords.

When you buy my book, you support me in an invaluable manner.

Stars, Five Stars, Logo, Icon, Symbol, Five, Rating

“Beautiful Poetry of Life and Love.” Amanda

Out of the silent breath

If you enjoy my works and would like to do so, you can fuel my creativity with a slice of cake or coffee😉

Writer's Quote Wednesday

See!… Writers Quote Wednesday Writing Challenge

jacquelineobyikocha12 Comments

Card_with_love[1]

Happiness is not something ready made. It comes from your own actions. Dalai Lama

Cover your eyes and touch me
with the sight of your heart,

cover your eyes and caress me
with the fingers of your soul,

cover your eyes and hear me
through the pulse of your being,

for when you look with eyes jaundiced and jaded
with cynicism and age worn perceptions,

you can only see what your physical eyes permit
and miss seeing the finer qualities of me,

for when you look
through the sight of your heart,

and when you hear
through the ears of your soul,

you are happier
and you are free,

for you’ll find that I am you
and you are me,

and together
we are nature.

This week’s prompt for WQWWC ‘happiness‘ is a thought that has occupied my mind in a large way and I wrote an earlier post today focusing on happiness.

I’m also working on my inspirational book that centre’s on ‘happiness and you,’ which is a strong feature in our lives.

Our state of happiness comes from within. Material things may ease our daily living but it’s no guarantee of happiness or a good life.

When we are not at peace with ourselves, when we lack the love and care for others we can never truly be happy because our minds are burdened with negativity, with bias and limitations.

‘The depth of your happiness is the consequence of your own personal effort and it’s worth the relentless pursuit.’ Jacqueline

Below is my first just published Poetry Book “Out of the silent breath” which is available on Amazon and Smashwords.

When you buy my book, you support me in an invaluable manner.

Stars, Five Stars, Logo, Icon, Symbol, Five, Rating

“Beautiful Poetry of Life and Love.” Amanda

Out of the silent breath

Creative Writing · Fiction · Short Stories · Writer's Quote Wednesday

To become a fledgling…Writers quote Wednesday writing challenge.

jacquelineobyikocha6 Comments

“The phoenix must burn to emerge.” Janet Fitch

Masters body sat in the big black armchair frozen in time, but his thoughts were still razor sharp. He sat in his comatose state, waiting for the rebirth from his ancient self into a fledgling of a boy.

The pains that he had cruelly inflicted on others ripped through his veins with piercing intensity, that each drop of rebirth serum snarled at him, yelling in anger as it slowly trickled through veins that were on fire.

He was combusting from the heat that engulfed his being, but the voice of ‘She’ ignored his mindful pleas to be set free unchanged.

Her ethereal blue eyes held him calmly in place even as her thoughts loudly reverberated in his mind.

“You must be patient she said. For you can’t achieve that which you seek until you shed your ancient skin of cynicism and look with eyes reborn through the depths of your soul.”

The story above is in response to this week’s WQWWC’s prompt ‘rebirth.’ A word that I find interesting and personally inspiring.

It’s a word that tells me different things. It tells me that I have to let go of some old vision and allow my inner eye’s to be renewed with new sight.

It tells me that sometimes out of my own ashes, I can rise to find myself over and over again as long as I believe, for as long as I am breathing.

© Jacqueline Oby-Ikocha

Below is my first just published Poetry Book “Out of the silent breath” which is available on Amazon and Smashwords.

When you buy my book, you support me in an invaluable manner.

From the very first poem, “Dreams,” this book captivates with passionate and perceptive words. Jacqueline Oby-Ikocha captures a broad expanse of the human experience in this book of richly layered poems.

Out of the silent breath