Introduction
I clearly remember the night I wrote this piece. I was restless, I couldn’t sleep, the picture of this brave and fearless lover was strongly on my mind. I decided to capture my thoughts in writing, and the words started flowing.
This story tells me of Journey, of transition. I see the sacrifices involved in taking a leap of obedience and the battles that assail a soul on a journey with God.
I hope you find strength, comfort and courage in the pictures painted by this story. I pray you see that Love is worth fighting for, I pray you see and hear the call to ascension, to a place far above the limitations and weights that seek to keep you down.
Much Love
Omo Oba.
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1:55am June 21, 2016. Abuja, Dutse-Alhaji.
THE LOVER’S CALL
There she is, dancing
Swirling to the provocative beats of lovers’ calls
She sways and swerves with ecstasy
Lost in the euphoria of the moment
Yes!!! She is a good dancer
Full of life
Her eyes shine with passion and power
Full of depths waiting to be explored
She is adventurous
Daring
Fearless
Bold
Confident
She knows what she wants
And she settles for nothing less
Lovers!!!
Many many lovers!!!
Tossed, turned and caressed in the arms of too many to name
Never in need or lack for affection and attention
For she basks in the ever waiting arms of many lovers
This is her crib
This is her nest
Her place of refuge
She calls it her lovers’ den
A place where all is laid at her feet, at her beck and call
Life is perfect!
There couldn’t be anything more than this
Or could there be?
Life is perfect!
Or so she thought……
Until it happened
It happened….
She heard a faint cry
She heard a call
She heard a touch
Yes, a touch called her
A gaze spoke to her, and it unsettled her
What could this be? She wondered.
She looked everywhere, seeking to put a face to the call, but none she finds
She discards the call and decides to keep her perfect life
Or perfect lie……??
‘What is this tug that has refused to leave my heart’? She wonders
Why am I plagued by this cry?
Yet, I can’t see the voice that calls
Nooo!!! I must be hallucinating
Then she throws herself into her dance with greater vigor
She swirls violently
With strength
She laughs louder
Shouts and screams in excitement
Holding every lover nearer and sinking her thoughts into them deeper
She has one intent this time
To drown the faint cry that is fast becoming a plague
She doesn’t want to look
No
Why peer into an abyss seeking for what could never be?
Why seek for a flicker of hope amidst thick darkness?
No, I would rather hold tightly to that which I can see
Rather than set my heart on a fruitless chase for an unseen reality, this is not real
I have long been in this den
Chained and imprisoned to my own lusts and passions
A prisoner of my desires, though I ride on them like a queen
A captive of the lies I have woven to be my life
I know this terrain, I know this life
Do I ?
Thoughts……
Questions…..
Doubts……
Fears….
Finally, she decides to brace up an seek the place where this cry is coming from
From whence cometh the sounds which has become my undoing?
Cleaving subtly to the terrace of my heart
From whence cometh this monster set to devour me from within?
The search begins.
Everywhere , here and there.
Every nook and cranny, yet the cry grows louder and stronger
Where could this cry be coming from?
And she heard a voice
‘LOOK INSIDE’
Inside? where? My den of comfort?
It can’t be there, I have checked everywhere!
Where are you monstrous intruder that seeks to destroy the only life I have ever known?!
The voice again; ‘LOOK INSIDE YOURSELF’
Then it dawned on her
The cry had always been from her!
From the deepest recess of her soul
She had been crying all along and she never knew!
She saw it
The tug, the pull, the touch, the silent plea….
They were all calling her
Telling her to COME
But come where?
Can I enter myself?
Why am I crying?
What is this deep desire for ‘something’ I don’t even know?
She became sad, troubled and confused
She began to mourn for that which she didn’t know
She mourned for that which she longed to touch and hold
Yet, not knowing what she longed for
Oh that this void would be filled!
That this cry would be stopped!
Then she heard the voice from within, biding her to come out of her lovers’ den
Telling her to turn her back on the only life she has ever known
‘But where would I go’? She wondered
‘THERE’
There? Where is there?
And the answer came to her
A high mountain
She sees it clearly
It was there, right on the inside of her
‘I will follow this voice’, she says to herself, I will see where it would lead me to
She finally steps out of her world, slamming the door shut behind her
She cries. She wails. She weeps.
For behind her is the only life she has ever known
She decides to go back ‘home’, for one final look , before she embarks on this unknown journey
Alas! The door is shut!
What is happening? Can’t I enter my own house again?!
Who locked me out?!
Hey you! She calls, open this door! This is my home, my life!
But something strange happened.
Her lovers looked at her with contempt, they told her she is not welcome
She is not one of them anymore
She is a defiled one, no longer fit to be a part of them
She is carrying the accursed sign!
Sign? What sign? She asks
But she gets no answer, Her lovers have deserted her
Now she is more confused and frustrated
First, it was a cry from within
Of which and for what she knows nothing about
Now she has been marked with an UNKNOWN SIGN
This makes her an enemy to the only family she has ever known
There are no tears left, no strength to shout , only the pang of sorrow she cannot describe
The known is shut to me, the unknown beckons to me
She must see the end of this
She journeys into the land of the unknown
Not knowing what lies ahead, but she is determined,
This cry must stop.
This void must be filled and this sign must be removed!!!
To be continued…..