THE ARCHIVE OF MEMORY

Am laying in my bed. Shoving up old memories. A smile escapes my lips. I  dig deeper into the memories. Sweet, sweet memories. Sometimes your real life experiences might seem like a dream. Out of this world. This one was. A dream. It had never happened before. Not in my life.

I continue to open the archive of memory, so that a picture appears. A picture of a woman. Ripe, fine and delicate in her early twenties. She's so delicate such that when she walks, all the creatures stop and stare. So fine, such that the birds sing for her. When she walks on a sunny day, the sun respects her, so that it becomes gentle on her skin. so that its rays are but a gentle massage, the kind that heals. Surely, she's a woman created with purpose; with a blueprint, with the delicate of materials. She's not the haphazardly baked pot. No! She's the kind that takes a fine potter's time. The kind that attracts meditation, before she can be molded. A fine woman indeed.

I open another file, so that I see myself taking a stroll down the street. Then I meet her again. She's finer. I cannot stop to think that fate has got something upon its sleeve, for every time I take a stroll, we meet with this fine creature. Then we lock eyes. You can say that it is a wonderful experience. The kind that makes you curve your lips, producing that suggestive smile, then walk away knowing that you've stirred up something in another soul, or rather, you hope that you've stirred up something.

All I can do is to open up files, discarding the unimportant ones.As I flip the pages of the files, time flies. Yet the delicate woman does not speak a word. There are times I see myself approaching her, but then  I dread the move. I want to buy time, to create a good impression, without realizing it is folly.

Finally, am done with the files. I  close the archive and dive back into reality. At first, everything is blurred, but with time, every object has well marked outlines. I bet that memories can have a certain effect on someone such that even when he is wide a wake, He still thinks he is dreaming. As am writing this story, the ripe, fine and delicate woman is by my side. My right hand you can say, but I have to confess something. I have realised that I was stupid. To compare her with the gods. Am ashamed of myself, for having worshiped her, for having knelt down before her, for all I can see her now is just a human being. JUST human. She might still baffle me from time to time. She might awaken those intimate feelings within me, but she is still human.  That is what she is. Human.

I had spend a considerable amount of my time thinking about love and happiness. I have always found myself dreaming about women, making them the centre of my world, so that when they are removed from my life, everything else falls apart. But I have realized that love is always sweet and great when you fantasize, when you sleep and dream of it. I have come to realize that a woman is only beautiful if she's at a distance. She's beautiful when she is silent. She is sweet when she avoids you. She's beautiful when she rejects you. How I wish I never talked to her, that I had kept my distance. She would still be ripe, fine and delicate if I had done so. 

By Mutie Oscar Ghitto

WITHOUT YOU BY Mutie Oscar Ghitto

The night sky looks gloom without stars
 Food pleases not the tongue without salt
Tea short of sugar is pleasing not
Blind men are lacking without walking sticks
So is me without you

If the sun shines for the day
Likewise, you brighten my day 
If the moon shines for the night
Likewise, you enlighten mine nights 
You surely shine for me

Men short of limbs, crippled
Men short of sight, blind
Men short of ears, deaf
Men short of words, dumb
I short of you, doomed

Without blood, mosquito, dead
Without grass, gazelles, deceased
without cows, ticks, demised
without you, me, dead
That is what I am without you
                                           

The Changing Face of Relationships

Previously, being in a relationship was thought to be a desirable situation. That was when our mothers were girls and our dads’ cattle herders. Every girl and boy desired to get married or to marry someday. They would actually look forward to it. Oh! The joy they saw in being marriage.

They had faith in the institutions and they would withstand any challenge that came along for example, abuse, poverty, diseases, miscarriages, stigma, among other ills. Forgiveness and perseverance was the order of the day. This they did with the focus on raising their children. And to that they were successful.

Fast forward to today and you immediately lose faith in the institution. Chaos characterizes marriage. Competition among the spouses is what is keeping the partners busy. Everyone wants to outdo the other to appear better. Unfaithfulness among partners is rising. The killer disease HIV/AIDS is plaguing couples as acid does to metal.

Myriad questions have crossed my mind. Is marriage desirable anymore? Should we yearn for the problems experienced in marriage when we can comfortably stay single and enjoy the pleasures of independence? Should we even think about it? Is it not logical to stay single to reduce the statistics of broken marriages?

May The Road Rise

Now it,s time to say Goodbye,
to go on out fron here,
to live the visions and trhe dreams
 to scatter hate and fear.
so may the peace be with you now,
a peace that's filled with grace.
May it surround all your struggles
 and everything you face.
And may you find your own way
 to sing out love's own song
with courage, tears and laughter,
and then to pass it on.
Yes, the time has come to say goodbye...
May peace be with you now.

May the road rise to greet you. May the wind be
 always at your back. May the sun shine warm upon your
 face. May the rain fall, softly on your fields.
Until we meet again may God hold you in the palm of his hand.

We have Nothing

Poem by Ch’oe Nam-son

We have nothing

Neither sword nor pistol,

But we do not fear.

Even with an iron rod

They cannot prevail.

We shoulder righteousness

And walk the path without fear.

We have nothing to call our own.

Neither dagger nor [gun] powder

But we do not fear.

Even with the power of the crown

They cannot prevail.

Righteousness is the spade.

With which we maintain the path.

We have nothing to hold in our hands,

Neither stone nor club,

But we do not fear,

Even with the all the wealth of the world,

They cannot prevail.

Righteousness is the sword

With which we watch over the path.

Dealing with guilt

Previously, I have talked about the cause of guilt and argued that it is not necessarily a bad thing. I did say that having guilt is a sign that your self-conscience is working fine. A friend suggested that I write about how to remove guilt: how to make it go away. The guy is a writing guru and my writing mentor and therefore, I can’t just ignore his request.

I would think that the treatment of guilt is the obvious one of treating cause rather than the symptoms. I would view that the strategy is that of doing the right thing. And right acts are done for they in themselves ought to be done. On that note what are the symptoms? Some include, stress, lack of concentration, withdrawal from others, deafening silence which is a rather strange from an otherwise known noisy person, among others.

If guilt is slowly drowning you follow these simple steps: They might help.

§  Make a decision to stop the guilt.

§  Determine the cause (most of the time one knows it).

§  Come up with strategies to make peace with yourself.

Ø  Seek forgiveness from your victim.

Ø  Correct the mistakes by doing the right things in case where the victim is the same person as the culprit. (such as the guilt of wasting time)

§  Execute the strategies.

§  Avoid making the same mistakes.

§  Follow-up on your progress (Self review)

The above simple procedure will at least help you get back on track but this is not sustainable. Method of resolving vary from one person to another. I would suggest dealing with guilt should be done immediately after you make a mistake. At that point you will be able to move on without wasting too much time. All the best and may peace prevail always.

The Power of Conscience

There is nothing far much disturbing than guilt. Be it from something you did which you should have done or something that cause pain to a another being. Recently, I have been a slave to guilt. Always asking myself why I never acted differently. Almost everybody has had such a feeling. Actually, its everyone who is human. Why am I so sure everyone has had such an encounter?

Guilt has its source much like a cause-effect relationship. As we are socialized to become social beings, the society, gives us those values that are necessary for our survival. Values such as those required for peaceful co-existence with one another: Association values.

Families as the first socializing agent make sure that we have those skills. These values are stored in the subconscious mind. We use them on a daily basis without knowing. Through punishment and reward our parents ensured that we have the best driver to steer ourselves and survive through this universe.

I view conscience to be the source of guilt. The relationship may appear blurred but from having effective conscience we are able to evaluate ourselves and act accordingly. For instance, we are able to ask for forgiveness to the victims of our undoing, we are able to adjust our behavior so as to fit. I think without effective conscience friendships would be disintegrating as soon they are formed from the reality of conflict in human relationships.

Some Christians view self conscience as the Holy Spirit or the God in a person. Call it whatever you like I think it a necessary thing for the humans and one would benefit more if it is working properly. So it is in anyone’s interest that they have an efficient one. Make your self-conscience good by cultivating good values.