Inspiring Words for Ambitious Hearts

  A collection of inspirational poems

  (The Free Edition for Africans Only)

  By

  Ayo Morakinyo

  Inspiring Words for Ambitious Hearts

  The For-Africans-Only Edition

  To see other versions:

  https://www.forambitioushearts.wordpress.com

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  Cover Photo by Nic Martel

  [email protected]

  © March 2013 Ayo Morakinyo

  This edition of the book is NOT FOR SALE

  and has been published for the benefit of Africans who are unable to own copies of their own.

  If you are an African reader capable of purchasing a copy or simply not of African origin, kindly refer to the link on the previous page. The author would truly appreciate your decision to shun dishonesty and buy your own copy.

  All commercial & reproduction rights fully reserved.

  This edition of Inspiring Words for Ambitious Hearts may not be reproduced by photocopying, recording or otherwise, without the prior permission of the author. However, it may be freely distributed in whole and without any commercial or other similar profiting objective from one reader to another, provided they are both of African origin.

  First Published in January 2013 at Amazon’s CreateSpace

  Second Publication in February 2013 at Kindle

  For my friend Fasdel

  A friend who competed like “a foe”

  A friend who stuck closer than a blood brother

  Contents

  Inborn Royalty 6

  Why We’ve Come 7

  Happy Days, Holidays 9

  Something about Everyone 10

  Christmas Awaits Us at Home 11

  Growing in Wisdom 12

  The Curse of Oversleeping 13

  Just Do It 14

  Never Retire 15

  Ode to Bamidele Fasanmi 16

  Delivered 19

  Friends 20

  Trusting God to Lead 21

  Reason for Being Here 23

  The Race 24

  Keep the Fire Burning 25

  INBORN ROYALTY

  Again, I commence a journey of thoughts

  Reflections of the past diffuse into the clouds in my mind

  Getting here has cost more than a widow’s dime

  Here is the home of wisdom fuzzed with golden rime

  The thirst for knowledge burns upon the floor of my heart

  An urge for change arises with fumes of combustion

  It releases a smoke of revolution into how I think

  Emitting a hidden pressure and forging a behavioural kink

  As if possessed by a bunch of humming vanished monks

  I battle cowardice and struggle to make my focus still

  But suddenly, I fall into a sleep and see mystic daydreams within

  I see glimpses of robed princes wallowing in royal streams

  In the wilderness of my softly hardened heart

  Amidst masquerades of regrets and the tears that follow them

  A bright light comes aglow at my cloudy mind’s rear

  And in the noble garments of a distinguished royalty, I finally appear

  WHY WE’VE COME

  Days of struggle

  Nights of study

  Laughs of a tormentor

  Cries of a survivor

  Life has not been like peaches and cream

  But we have come a long way

  Our eyes are heavy

  Our breaths, unsteady

  Gloomy thoughts loom in quivering minds

  The guts grumble and tired butts diffuse pungent farts

  Life has not been like a ride in a tailored Bentley

  But friends, we have come a long way

  We are visionaries, who once lived among the myopic

  We are intellectuals, who have dined among learned imbeciles

  Once, we grew weak in such atmospheres devoid of vision

  We almost lost our bearing to wanderlust and dire illusions

  Life has not been a Christmas package from FedEx

  But we’ve come a long way

  Thieves have burgled the poor man’s house

  Death has gotten its grip on the lives of kingly heirs

  We hear that no man is safe and no place is a haven

  We see that no one will save, no human salvation is enduring

  Life has not been without angered storms

  Why have we come thus far?

  We have run when the fear within chased us

  We have fallen when others’ doubts swallowed our faith

  The past of our lives are not tales funny enough to tell

  But the omen of the future says better stories will emerge

  Our lives do not comprise sweet lullabies and romantic stories

  Why have we come thus far?

  Sliced lemony citruses bring sourness upon the tongue

  But sweet lemonade shakes are made from the same

  Peeled herbs smell crudely and taste like poisonous potions

  But many bitter herbs have quenched the deadliest of poisons

  By inner strength, we must destroy fear and prevail without

  That’s why we’ve come thus far

  HAPPY DAYS, HOLIDAYS

  Hurray! It’s final Friday again

  Hurry friends! Let’s have a special bargain

  Who will visit who on Christmas day?

  Who will send who gifts on Boxing Day?

  Missing friends is not a friendly feeling

  Who and who will dispel this feeling?

  Santa Claus has promised to send a wonderful gift

  Yuletide will remind us of heaven’s exceptional gift

  Sure, we’ll miss the sight of a crowded assembly!

  Yes, we’ll miss the Angelus bells that jingle melodiously!

  Though we’ll keep Mrs. Pollifax’ stern look in the crux of our nostalgia

  We’ll doubtless miss the cat that sits on Father Tackle’s saggy hat

  Ice cream melts down their cones as we assemble ahead of holidays

  The time keeper has rung the bell for the gathering before holidays

  We run speedily and excitedly in the spirit of final school days

  Because tomorrow’s daylight will awake us into the best of happy days

  SOMETHING ABOUT EVERYONE

  Everyone smiles at the sight of smiles

  Everyone laughs that unlicensed laugh

  Everyone jokes

  Everyone seems hilariously hilarious

  Everyone frowns with fretful freckles

  Everyone cries like chirping crickets

  Everyone grieves

  Everyone feels emotionally emotive

  Everyone lacks lacklustre lavishness

  Everyone minds wonderful wishes

  Everyone tries

  Everyone has desirable desires

  Everyone shouts aloud at times

  Everyone strays away sometimes

  Everyone slips

  Everyone feels some pressure in a while

  But everyone gets to soar one day in style

  And everyone suddenly falls away with pain in time

  So everyone needs everyone’s assistance

  CHRISTMAS AWAITS US AT HOME

  Can you feel it?

  It’s in the fresh morning air

  Can you see it?

  It’s written all over nature

  Yuletide is here again

  Seasonal greetings I hear again

  The chickens cluck a noisy me
lody

  They eat more grains and lay many eggs

  The turkeys too make a sensational tune

  “We want more chops”, I hear them protesting

  And I imagine their laps in risotto and barbecue made surplus

  With the licking of both lips, I give them a resounding applause

  It’s the season of Merry Noel

  It’s time for good tidings to come easily

  God came down and dwelled with us as Christ

  We reached unto him and found truth in His ways

  God sent His word and the word became flesh

  Let’s all rejoice for our salvation is made fresh

  As the last New Year unfolded, we ran away

  In planes and buses and buzzing water boats

  We made our ways beyond the roots of our present lives

  But at another Christmas, we gather again at family reunions

  From wherever we are, we run to the rendezvous called home

  ‘cos no matter where life sends us, Christmas awaits us at home

  GROWING IN WISDOM

  Without warning

  He makes a final choice

  After ignoring many tempting voices

  He sits inside the shadow of a bent tree and stares around

  He sees the aged and olden

  Drinking waters of long pauses

  Ruminating over their logs of losses

  Like cheated hens whose eggs are all found wanting

  They know the untold truths

  They know the secrets of costly possessions

  With unforced calms, they make silent confessions

  And he sees much wistfulness and sobriety in the irises of their eyes

  Times without number

  They discuss their aloneness and he asks them

  If complaining about something will ever get it solved

  If gossiping about others will create a change in the society

  Vanity is a tempting rot, they tell him

  Chase all your dreams while you are yet a youth

  Tomorrow will come with old age and lowered strength

  Follow the path of knowledge, grow in true wisdom and right our wrongs

  THE CURSE OF OVERSLEEPING

  She awoke while the time was away

  She had slept till the time abated

  She grew fearful and full of shame

  For there was much to attain

  The next night she slept again

  On a crooked bed in the cranny of a dark arcade

  She cared for light to awake her into another day

  And made no efforts to make her body wake itself up

  She awoke the next morning

  Yawning with lips agape in broad daylight

  She awoke before the time could run away

  And planned her day under the white sky’s gaze

  Work brought her more gain that day

  Early rising gave her much time to play

  She had no cause to be ashamed or afraid

  For she had conquered the curse of oversleeping

  JUST DO IT

  If it’s locked up in your heart, open it up

  If it’s hooked up in your mind, let it down

  If it’s enslaved in your head, let it loose

  Don’t mistake a raw idea for a ridiculous jargon

  No first idea appears better than a rickety lifeless wagon

  If it’s an intention, pen it down

  Don’t just imprison it in your brain

  Don’t abort your brainchildren with doubts

  They become stillborn when you delay their bringing forth

  And you will not be rewarded for something you never brought forth

  You won’t receive medals for having good intentions

  You won’t be awarded for just thinking good ideas

  No one thanks the turtle for having a defending shell

  No one cares until they see the output of your incubation

  It’s what you show as a product that attracts attention

  So, don’t let your idea die in you

  No, don’t kill it with the doubts within

  Let it grow continually and come forth

  Let your ideas break forth through positive actions

  Refine your ideas and convert them into your daily actions

  NEVER RETIRE

  You are too tired to try again

  Yes, everything you know how to do

  Has been done again and again

  But there are things you haven’t done

  They are the things you do not know

  Friend, this is no place to stop

  This is no point to retreat

  This is where you need to believe

  If no one does, only you can

  Time loves running out

  So get yourself up

  And put your best effort in

  Get ready for the upcoming

  And recharge your mind

  Build a bridge where there’s a river

  Make a ladder where there’s a wall

  Create time where there’s none

  And take a rest for a while

  But never retire a mile!

  ODE TO FASANMI BAMIDELE

  My friend,

  I beseech you with a few words

  Words that make no sense to poor minds

  I remind you of who you are

  A man who is “instrumented” by God

  Instrumented to install rare kings

  I write you lines Bamidele

  Lines that seem ordinary to the carnal mind

  But contain the resonant expressions you understand

  Buddy,

  Be all you can but never forget God

  Trust in the one who remains the source of our breathe

  Go any height you desire but never become proud

  Stand on the springboard called humility

  Achieve anything you can imagine but always remember service

  See service as a means of solving your own problems

  Serve God, serve the nation and serve your neighbours

  Serve God with the hope of heavenly rewards

  Serve the land with the word of truth

  And serve humanity with the purpose of your life

  Chum,

  I am not your mentor,

  I only reiterate the ethics of good living

  I am not your teacher,

  I only hope to edify

  I am not wiser,

  I only repeat the words you’ve heard wise men say

  These are not words you haven’t heard before

  They are not insights you haven’t thought before

  They are not truths you haven’t read before

  They are just all that you have been doing

  Son of man,

  I speak to you as a radio

  I interrupt your thoughts with this announcement

  God is all that matters, everything fades away

  Our achievements, our pleasures and our glories

  No man can repay you for what you do for God

  Only He can truly reward His men

  And if God be for you,

  Who is he that can stand against you?

  Nobody, except yourself

  Carry your dreams carefully

  Share them selectively

  Nurture them properly

  And keep achieving them gradually

  Believe Fasdel, believe!

  We will see at the top!

  Zig Zigglar was not drunk when he said so

  DELIVERED

  He was innocently biased

  And open to just one kind of life

  He was programmed for one environment

  And had never seen the other side of life

  His feelings were never abused

  Until he reached the valley of baptising corruption

  As he trekked onwards

  In the midst of other trekkers

  A new feeling came upon his vulnerable
heart

  And his eyes opened to what he had never seen before

  Opposition rose against him and tension crawled upon him

  But the wind of hope blew a response to his inner requests

  He grew strange to himself

  He lost touch with who he used to be

  And knew strength in the presence of turmoil

  He looked back and considered himself lucky

  For while many had fallen upon the waiting earth

  He had been delivered in the body, within the soul and upon the spirit

  FRIENDS

  Friends…

  Treasures of a heart that’s without the fruit of loneliness

  They give feelings of specialty and importance to their beloved

  They bring you love and the honour of a cherished creature

  And they offer you confidence and sweet encouragement

  Friends...

  Choose them wisely and enjoy the merits

  Pick them blindly and bear bad fruits

  You are who your friends really are

  They reflect your own deepest character

  And influence how you live your life

  Friends…

  They are persons with whom you share many secrets

  And poke indecent fun and sarcasm

  Behind folded window blinds and closed wooden doors

  You share stories and tales away from other ears

  Because they are the ones for whom such were reserved

  Friends...

  They are where you want to go

  They know what you want to do

  You stay where they want to stay

  They are your purest reflection

  Choose your friends with wisdom

  TRUSTING GOD TO LEAD

  There are times when we struggle with ourselves and God

  We quote scriptures in our own words to support what we want

  At such times, it is true that we already have our ways

  We solve the arithmetic and then approach God for a solution

  Pretence; fake faith; we mock no one but ourselves

  Let not such men think they will obtain anything from heaven

  And of course, God who is watching us, awaits our final decision

  The will to choose has He given us, asides the command to follow His way