Tales From The Bard: A Taste of Café Javas

Tales From The Bard: A Taste of Café Javas: It's the crunch It's the munch It's the deliciousness that packs a punch It's the drums It's the dance It's the fabl...

A Taste of Café Javas

It's the crunch

It's the munch

It's the deliciousness that packs a punch

It's the drums

It's the dance

It's the fabled service with a happy stance

It's the sip of milky sweetness tickling the tongue

It's the dip of freshness ringing taste buds' alarm

It's the fizz of coolness washing down humid traffic jam

It's with fashion friends

It's with business trends

It's with a passionate lover

It's a chance to be unbothered

It's the air of peace recovered

It's the joy of enzymes discovered

It's the whiff of cherished moments with sister and brother

It's the sound of glasses clinking between mother and father

It's the total taste of satisfaction at Cafe Javas.

Born To Die

Born to lie

Born to scratch sore eyes

Born to live like mice

Born to pay a price

Born to live undignified

Born to be criticized

Born to be vilified

Born to be nullified

Born to try

Born to fry

Born to cry

Born to say goodbye

Born to eat humble pie

Born to sweat day and night

Born to let sleeping dogs lie

Born to let out a huge sigh

BORN TO DIE

Born to die a mystery;

Born to die for adultery

Born to die for homosexuality

Born to die for blood rivalry

Born to die for rape

Born to die for drunk apes

Born to die for theft

Born to die for hate

Born to die for racism

Born to die for sexism

Born to die for capitalism

Born to die for Marxism

Born to die for the pedophile

Born to die for deserters of the isle

Born to die for murder

Born to die for selfish plunder

Born to die for absent fathers

Born to die for decadent mothers

Born to die for lustful priests

Born to die for ravenous kings

Born to kiss my face

Born to take my place

Born to inherit my stress

Born to wear my shame's dress

Born to be vain

Born to feel pain

Born to live a lie

Born to still try

Born to still die

HAPPY NEW YOU?

I recently listened to a podcast (Deep End With Lecrae) that enlightened me with a new perspective on how to get the most out of a new year. It's the first episode of this year, and he talks about how we can be misguided or mistaken when making New Year resolutions. He stresses the fact that so many of us believe that when the hour hand strikes midnight on the first of January, just like clockwork (excuse the pun), we become totally different versions of ourselves ready to step into great glory and success. While this is great for motivating our inner psyche (especially because some of us end the year splattered and washed out on our floors), it is not necessarily the most practical way to achieve success in the new year. For example, if my goal is to prosper financially in the new year, I must learn what it takes to prosper financially, I must create a practical strategy like having income streams, saving, investing, tithing, etc. I must also be disciplined about following the above strategy. 

A pivotal part of the aforementioned strategy is a shift in thinking (renewal of the mind) and in behavior patterns. We must intentionally work to delete the bad habits of 2023 that sponsored our mistakes or failures, and replace these with new habits that will ensure our success in 2024. This is a process that can take time. It is akin to the process of teething in that it is painful. It is a rocky path that is filled with many potholes. 

So what then can we do? What is the best way of making resolutions? What Lecrae suggests is not the be-all and end-all, but I believe it is a very practical way to attain success in any area of your life this new year. He proposes a notion that rather than writing a list of resolutions, how about writing a list of behaviors or habits that will lead to having a miserable 2024? This list can outline behaviors such as being toxic, being envious, being a gossiper, being disrespectful to your spouse, spending above and beyond your means, etc.  After listing these down, you can then list down the opposite of these behaviors and attach practical ways in which you are going to manifest these good behaviors into being so that you can have a prosperous new year. 

Intentionality and practicality beat daydreaming and wishy-washing. The grace of God, the anointing of the Holy Spirit, and the living, breathing wisdom of the word of God should be the biggest part of your arsenal, as you intentionally work to attain the great destiny that God has prepared for you this year and in years to come. 

I leave you with a poem I wrote on the above subject:

Time,

Like a pride of floating butterflies

Drifting on, gliding onwards

Upwards, downwards

Ready or not here I come

The hour hand strikes again

The minute curves and bends

The second drops all trends

Happy New Year

Happy Liberation

Happy Valentines

Happy Janani Luwum

Happy Easter

Happy 'Eid

Happy Labour Day

Happy Martyrs Day

Happy Heroes Day

Happy Independence Day

Merry Christmas

We start again...

New friends, tightened threads

Fractured mends, raptured veins

No friends, dead ends

We start again...

No job, new hunting

New money, more planning

Old money, more spending

No money, new searching

No match, new flirting

New catch, more partying

New love, more sacrificing

New scars, more hurting

New devotion, more reading

New emotion, more praying

No lotion, more panting

No motion, no more fasting

Happy New Year

Happy Liberation

Happy Valentines

Happy Janani Luwum

Happy Easter

Happy 'Eid

Happy Labour Day

Happy Martyrs Day

Happy Heroes Day

Happy Independence Day

Merry Christmas

We start again...

Above The Shallow

 

Follow, Follow, Follow, Follow

Who do we follow?

Why do we follow?

What do we follow?

Follow the Scientist

Placate the Aethist

Tolerate the Artist

Or smile for the Universe's Dentist?

Follow the Prophet

Or follow the Apostle?

Follow the Crotchet

Or follow the living Epistle?

Follow the Man of God;

Reverend, Apologist, Archbishop

Daddy, Papa, My Lord

Or the King of Kings?

Wash the feet of diamond studded cleats

Or the cracked jigger-filled soles of street kids?

Kiss the hands of the Priest

Keep the dirty laundry of the pulpit neat

Make the dessert of false doctrine a favorite treat

Or feed on a whole platter of the Word's meat?

Ignore your family's troubles

Befriend the crumbs the dog daily swallows

Maintain the posture of a malnourished callow

Or ingest on the digest of wisdom's intimate bellow

Follow the seed

Follow the fleet

Follow the tune of entangled feet

Or the pattern of freedom's beat?

The fastest way to the soul is the bosom

The fruit of labor is Lack's blossom

Stress and depression as bold as Lamar Odom

Or inhale the true breath of Love's freedom?

Follow the ladder

Follow the leader

Follow the bleeder

Or follow the wider road cheaper?

Follow the nourishing river of honor

Forget not your Maker

Forget not MY commands

Follow your heart

Follow your pacesetter from the start

 Follow, Follow, Follow, Follow

Who do we follow?

Why do we follow?

What do we follow?

EDGARD THE BARD: RHEMA

EDGARD THE BARD: RHEMA:  Alone A visitor wherever I go. No one I can call, No one I can open up to No one to run to Alone Seeking refuge; WhatsApp, Instagram, TikTo...

RHEMA

 Alone

A visitor wherever I go.

No one I can call,

No one I can open up to

No one to run to

Alone

Seeking refuge;

WhatsApp, Instagram, TikTok, Facebook

Scattered monotones screech through my phone

Alone

Searching for a home;

Searching for someone I can hold

Alone

Veil untorn,

Always walking blindfolded,

Always in a state of known unknown,

A speck of sand surrounded by a seashore...

...Rhema

Always smiled at me

Hugged me and kissed me.

Always missed me

Teased me, held me lovingly.

Always had an affinity for me

Always been there for me

Rhema

A never-ending mystery...

Always been with me;

In joy and sorrow,

In victory and defeat,

In the basking of a sunny day

In the hypothermia of a frozen night

Rhema

Always confides in me;

Tells me deep-breasted secrets,

Shows me past, present, and future glories 

Rhema

Frequently reminds me;

There is more to life than what I see

There is more in me if I believe

I wear a crown of glory daily

Rhema

I hear her voice clearly

A gentle whisper carried by a cool breeze;

Over hills, over valleys,

In the mistiness of a raging storm

In the pin-drop silence of a sleepless night,

In the gurgle and crackle of dancing shadows

Rhema

I feel her in every heave of my chest

I feel her in every tingle under my skin

I feel her cut through every bone and sinew

I feel her gush out from the depths of my soul

I feel her hold me, never letting go