30 Thursday Apr 2015
Posted in Challenges, Haiku, Poetry
The photo is by kind permission of Gilly. Today is a very special day for me. 🙂 My first boy completed his Senior High education with his last paper at 3.30 pm. 🙂 To God be the Glory. 🙂
Joy
3-5-3-3-7-5
cottony
clouds afloat on blues
fluffy whites
seek my praise
and one with the firmament
I croon out this joy
Copyright © Celestine Nudanu 30/04/15 I appreciate your patience with me as I catch up on your blogs. Thanks a million! Shalom
29 Wednesday Apr 2015
Posted in Challenges, Haiku, Poetry
Done for Haiku Horizons.
Short
climbing up
to catch the rainbow
short of breath
Copyright © Celestine Nudanu 29/04/15 I appreciate your patience with me as I catch up on your blogs. Thanks a million! Shalom23 Thursday Apr 2015
Posted in Events, Non-Fiction, Poetry
Tags
Apartheid, Apathy, blacks, Hatred, racism, South Africa, xenophobia
Madness
madness took over certain streets in South Africa
black-skinned clad blacks got fed up with playing second fiddle
brothers and sisters from the diaspora were now pariah
in a frenzy of hatred, like fiends from Hades
they hacked, butchered, mutilated, maimed and wounded.
their assegais dripped red
the caked earth
a mirror of the economy, grew soggy with red.
but tell me
but how can you play second fiddle
when you are not even a first fiddle
Chaka would have puked in envy.
And the stars blinked in confusion.
mad men urged them on
and they raged on
black-skinned clad black bodies glittering with red sweat
while the whole world cried xenophobia!
we have now got a new word in our lexicon,
with so many
dissections, analysis, explanations, commentary and deciphering.
and on they raged;
Genghis Khan would have clapped at their ferocity.
And with xenophobia on all our lips,
we do nothing!
We are too busy chewing on the word into a smooth paste;
or else it chokes us in the swallowing
and we regurgitate apartheid.
Copyright © Celestine Nudanu 23/04/1520 Monday Apr 2015
Posted in Carpe Diem, Haiku, Poetry
Done for Haiku Horizons. A rather difficult challenge! 🙂
Pass
on evening walk
passing by the hedges
shimmer of colours
Copyright © Celestine Nudanu 20/04/15 I appreciate your patience with me as I catch up on your blogs. Thanks a million! Shalom17 Friday Apr 2015
Posted in Carpe Diem, Challenges, Haiku, Haiku My Heart, Poetry
Tags
darkness, Joan Halifax, light, Nature, observations, Silver, Spider web
Done for Carpe Diem Haiku Shuukan. And also for Recuerda Mi Corazon.
The emphasis is still on GRACE (enlarge your capacity of compassion) as defined by Joan Halifax, a Zen Buddhist, with greater emphasis on “being one with nature.”
Silver Web
looking closely
in the velvety darkness
glint of silver web
16 Thursday Apr 2015
Posted in Challenges, Haiku, Poetry, Romance
Tags
breath, fever, hrizons, Nature, orgasm, romance, sensuality, setting sun, Total Surrender, twilight
The photo is by kind permission of Gilly.
Surrender
(1-2-3-4-1)
when
I close
my fevered eyes
I feel the sun
setting
3-5-3-3-7-5
on the lids
its fading warmth a
mere whisper
of a kiss
a breath really, as it bids
farewell over horizons
(1-2-3-4-1)
I
can only
then open them
and exhale in orgasmic
surrender
Copyright © Celestine Nudanu 16/04/15 I appreciate your patience with me as I catch up on your blogs. Thanks a million! Shalom
13 Monday Apr 2015
Posted in Challenges, Haiku, Poetry
Done for Haiku Horizons.
Needle
steel thorns
amongst the roses
parting gift
2
lips bleed
on the roses
steel thorns
Copyright © Celestine Nudanu 13/04/15 I appreciate your patience with me as I catch up on your blogs. Thanks a million! Shalom
10 Friday Apr 2015
Posted in Carpe Diem, Challenges, Haiku, Haiku My Heart, Poetry
Tags
Done for Carpe Diem Haiku Shuukan. And also for Recuerda Mi Corazon. The emphasis is on GRACE (enlarge your capacity of compassion) as defined by Joan Halifax, a Zen Buddhist.
G Gathering attention
R Recalling intention
A Attuning to self other
C Considering
E Engaging
Grace
light rain
the scent of dandelions
budding in the palm
08 Wednesday Apr 2015
Posted in African Women Writers, Fiction, Publication, Romance
Tags
betrayal, dynasty, Finance, Forgiveness, Keeping Secrets, Kiru Taye, love, Nigeria
Title: Keeping Secrets (Essien Trilogy Book 1)
Author: Kiru Taye Genre: Contemporary Romance Edition: Kindle Publisher: Decadent Publishing Company Pages: 294 Publication date: May 2014Blurb
Have you ever loved someone and didn’t even know it? That’s the dilemma facing Felix Essien when he wakes from a coma to find he is married to the most beautiful and sensual woman he’s ever known. He cannot remember her or their wedding; he who had sworn never to get married or to give his heart to another. Yet, he feels an intense bond with her that he intends to explore fully.
Ebony can’t believe her good fortune when her paper husband wakes not remembering the temporary marriage arrangement with no intimacies he’d proposed, and is now the adoring husband she’s always dreamt of. She plans to make the most of the passion blossoming between them. However, would he still feel that way when he regains his memory and realises she’s been keeping secrets and their marriage is not what he thinks it is?
My Thoughts
I must admit that while this is not the first of Kiru’s books I’ve read, Keeping Secrets is the first of her books to hook me from the word go. Well that is not entirely true. Her other books I read hooked me but Keeping Secrets did so in a forceful way. The book actually forced you to take a big note of it.! It is that very well written, with rich and poetic settings in Lagos, Nigeria. Maybe that was one factor that got to me; I mean Ghana and Nigerian are sisters so to speak but hei, we are no where near the grandeur and opulence of the nouveux riche in Nigeria! 🙂 And this was well displayed in Keeping Secrets with the opulence understated!
The Essiens are the kings of African finance. A close-knit family, their father is the patriarch of a finance dynasty that ranges from retail to investment banking spanning the African continent. Yet all is not as it seems.
.
The story of Ebony and Felix, one of the Essien sons, is so gripping and fast paced, unfolding as you read along in flashback, thus the suspense and intrigue very well maintained till the end. As we all know, keeping secrets in any relationship especially marriage might be a big recipe for disaster and both Felix and Ebony have secrets that threaten their new marriage. Felix’ memory loss works to Ebony’s advantage but she is never at ease for fear that her husband would regain his memory. Nevertheless, she takes advantage of his obvious concern and passion for her.
The characters are flawed, but naturally and humanely so and therein lies the beauty of the characterization. I love them for the passion and love they show towards each other. The chemistry between them is so palpable, even with Felix’ memory loss. Perhaps, because of his deep love for her, he is able to see that things just do not seem to add up. Both characters are strong and stubborn; Felix, hot, masterful and always in control; Ebony sexy, elegant and independent. In the end, secrets, betrayals and manipulations gave way to love and forgiveness.
I don’t think I have really done justice to this book, honestly. You need to read it and see what I mean. 🙂 Kiru Taye is an expert storyteller in the romance genre; throwing in Igbo words here and there with doses of of Igbo culture and tradition to give the novel an authentic but contemporary African feel.
Keeping Secrets comes highly recommended to all lovers of romance and even more. I’m actually looking forward to reading the Books 2 and 3 in the series, Making Scandal and Riding Rebel respectively. 🙂
About Kiru
When she’s not writing or reading, she’d hanging out with family and friends or traveling. Born in Nigeria, she currently lives in the UK with husband and children.
You reach her via her blog, Facebook, Twitter, Google+ or Pinterest
Follow her blog for latest news and giveaways: http://kirutayewrites.blogspot.com
Read book excerpts and free short stories on her website: http://www.kirutaye.com
07 Tuesday Apr 2015
Posted in Challenges, Haiku, Poetry, Romance
Done for Haiku Horizons.
night aglow
with dancing words
soul poetry
Copyright © Celestine Nudanu 07/04/15 I appreciate your patience with me as I catch up on your blogs. Thanks a million! Shalom
Reading Pleasure 