Five years ago, I was battling an eye condition whose name I cant even spell( the name scary pass the condition sef). I was afraid to read because of the pains that stabbed at my eyes afterwards. Pains like a thousand tiny pinpricks that paved a route from my eyeballs and curved into an explosion through my skull. Pain that made me quit work and lie on the bed at home , wrestling with the covers, trying hard not to scream because I didnt want Papachi to come to the room and stand helplessly watching me. He was out of work, there was no money for even painkillers. I had to keep my eyes shut for most of the time, seeing was asking for trouble. My pen and half-finished stories lay scattered on the table. My writing dream was dying before it was even fully birthed. For months, it went on. Some days were tolerable, some days I actually looked for a blade to tattoo my wrist with the red colour of defeat. Two years passed. One day, I found myself reading a book. The title was How To Make Your Faith Work. The author was Chris Oyakhilome. Something happened to me as I read the book. Something that made my heart started to swell. To fill and then explode in a rush of something that felt like caged fireflies making their escape from a jar. It took me hours later after I finished the book to realise the sudden bouts of pain hadnt yet made an appearance. I curled on the bed and waited for the pain to come. I waited and waited. Today, I am still waiting. I have been going to pastor Chriss church for five or six years now. I dont approve of some decisions they take. I dont agree with everything they say. BUT I will be a fool to deny he is a Man of God. I have nothing but gratitude for the man through whom my writing career was revived. Since that day, I have written hundreds of poems and stories and manuscripts. I have matured as a writer and a person. I look back and I am just grateful.
Posted on: Tue, 30 Sep 2014 19:29:44 +0000