BY GLORIA O’KOYE

A friend is an overused word

Forced in the wrong places

Way too many times.

Ancestral wisdom taught for generations

How a true friend is more precious than mountains of jewels and resourceful ores.

To have one friend you can hold on to throughout this lifetime

Is like picking the right star throughout entire galaxies.

A true friend in this lifetime

Is a blessing that many will not truly experience.

In a world cursed by loneliness

An existing species

Created to socialize.

Sometimes the wisest

Yet overwhelmed by not sharing joys and riches,

May fall victim to calling countless strangers as friends.

Woes to those who have enemies

Disguised as those who claim to love.

They plot on your downfall

Every time the genuine joy of sharing good news,

They rejoice as shortcomings

Throwing feasts with the same ones

You shared that were frontline enemies

During the Great Wars.

Take heed

To distinguish friend from foe.

It will be the cause of your rise or fall.

Don’t let solitude cause irrational decisions.

You deserve friends that withstand storms like grass

Not acquainted flowers that would turn

At the first sight of snow!

BY GLORIA O’KOYE

Religions warned without faith

In a God, or countless Gods and Goddesses

Would mean an unfulfilling life.

Texts adorned with precious and humble ores

Wrapped in myrrh and olive oil

Filled up the spaces of doubt and restlessness.

Caution a meaningless life

Without something to believe in.

To have a purpose is a lifelong

Prescription to perfumes and cosmetic

Treatments.

Filled with spices like aloe and cassia

Represent resurrection,

Life bringing,

Purposes differ like fingerprints and snowflakes.

Not one is the exact same,

Only advice and blueprints will guide

But there is no such thing as a solid solution.

The meaning of life is unique to each one’s journey.

No need to brag, or put down,

Trading places is more common like

The fields of dandelions

Taking over the vast plains,

A river that breaks into streams

But eventually meet the mighty ocean

Of life

The same way.

BY GLORIA O’KOYE

Passion being fulfilled

Is like cottonwood fluff burning evenly

Across the land.

Not being caught up by any unnecessary

Distractions.

No need to set off forest fires

That don’t need to be provoked,

If there were no blessings

And ceremonies that are ancestral

Wisdom led.

Knowing that achievements stack up

Internal minds

Is refreshing to quench the thirst of

Success, like an oasis within a desert.

It is a breath of fresh air to the spirit

When all was given so the fruits are

Real,

Unlike wishful thinking without

Determination shown in actions

Is like praying while walking through

Scorching sands.

Not distinguishing which water of life

Are mirages

Tempting for a taste,

Deceiving any visions.

Even divine messages are lost

If a heart

Stubborn as boulders

Does not listen to the intuitions

Cautioning with series of

Discernments.

A open minded being

Will have doors open.

A humble being that knows their worth

Will succeed without burning any bridges.