₦airaland Forum

Michael's art has matured with time, and there's no doubt it will get even better in the coming years.

Soaked with sadness,
you will ignite and envelop the whole of
your body when a shadow from your wrecked past
stops by for a cup of tea. 
You fear yourself
because one day you will dig your teeth into your skin;
seeking defenseless flesh. seeking death. you exist only to hurt.


http://www.pencillite.com/2017/11/combustion-four-poems-by-michael-akuchie.html?m=0

Dreams are intangible things
till they stare us in the face
an inescapable nightmare.

http://www.pencillite.com/2017/09/pendulum-series-episode-ten-dreams.html?m=0

The hawk has no more claws...

http://www.pencillite.com/2017/09/the-hawk-no-more-has-claws-four-poems.html?m=0

We are good and we are bad, 
     light comes only for darkness.
     The knowledge of good and evil
     is a gift,
     the will to destroy and build up
     is divine.
     We are not mere mortals,
     we kill, we create,
     we wound, we heal.
     We are gods!

http://www.pencillite.com/2017/09/pendulum-series-episode-nine-gods.html?m=0

Walk into any local marketplace in Nigeria, they say, and you just might bump into something that makes your head swell. From the thick skinned magicians selling their “Odeshi” charms, to the snake swallowers, to men with missing joysticks. Or they simply could be those with no business being there at all, except the business of being dead. These are the people I like to call miscellaneous.

http://www.pencillite.com/2017/09/african-tales-for-moonlight-3.html?m=0

The winning entry from #Flash_unearthing_2, written by the super talented Damaris Onoriode.

This Wordrrior took us all by surprise as she rose through the ranks, slaying every single opponent to become the champion of #Flash_unearthing_2.

Be thrilled.

http://www.pencillite.com/2017/09/unearthed-flash-fiction-damaris-onoriode.html?m=0

Thunder claps, lightning bolts, the Pendulum swings nonstop, and the heads begin to roll.

If you've not been following this series, then trust me, you'd want to. This is the eight issue, titled Rolling Heads, enjoy.


http://www.pencillite.com/2017/09/pendulum-series-episode-eight-rolling.html?m=0

Days ago, Mama Tope, the woman with a slightly oversized nose knocked on the door of our one room apartment. She came to inform me that my husband had been seen sleeping comfortably in the toilet of a beer parlour down the street. 

http://www.pencillite.com/2017/08/whiskey-flash-fiction-francis-nnadozie.html?m=0

Stories make their waves through the country, of the beautiful braids of the students of all-girl boarding schools. Many of these braids are said not to originate from human hands, but rather from certain spirits who come skulking, only appearing at night while the girls sleep, in order to braid their hairs. If Sophia was bold enough to consider such words, here is what she would have labeled such stories; “Rubbish”.

http://www.pencillite.com/2017/08/african-tales-for-moonlight-2-hairy_28.html?m=0

Time, the perfect pendulum, swings between Past, Present and Future with the ease of a falling leaf. Yet, Time never stops swinging, and with it nothing stays the same. Today's Present, is tomorrow's Past, just as today's Future, is tomorrow's Present.

Like a sword, time keeps swinging, killing everything it births,whilst birthing new things to kill. Time is the greatest Mother - creator - of things and the ultimate Murderer of them all.

Today on Pendulum Series, we learn a few things about Time, so click on the link below and be thrilled.


http://www.pencillite.com/2017/08/pendulum-series-episode-seven-seventh.html?m=0

Now this is interesting.

#God'sHouse.
#PendulumSeries.
#Pencillite.

http://www.pencillite.com/2017/08/pendulum-series-episode-six-gods-house.html?m=0

Once upon a time, the words were made flesh.

What would happen, if the characters came to life?

What if the monsters you created in your mind, became corporeal and start to hunt you, what would you do as the minutes pass by?

Tick Tock.

http://www.pencillite.com/2017/08/tick-tock-flash-fiction-fortune-aganbi.html?m=0

Sanity and insanity can be likened to two extremes of a simple pendulum displacement, as the mind-pendulum bob-sways precariously between sanity and insanity.

Today on Pendulum Series, our protagonist finds himself in a situation that makes him question his sanity. Indeed he proclaimed, "I am mad".

Why don't you click the link below to find out why.


Pendulum Series - Episode 5: Redemption.

http://www.pencillite.com/2017/08/pendulum-series-episode-five-redemption.html?m=0

When one writes truthfully, it is difficult to write amiss. In his debut entry to Pencillite, Gideon Ogbonna, writes about a city, riddled with crime, and how it affects the people living in it.

Do enjoy.

http://www.pencillite.com/2017/08/not-of-god-flash-fiction-gideon-ogbonna.html?m=0

Poetry to me, involves expressing one's feelings and emotions in just a few words, and hoping someone out there gets the message. It involves the use of rhymes and rhythm, and an artistic command of words.

This collection of poems are pretty powerful in composition, and the images they paint, we can all relate with.

Kudos to Michael Akuchie, a prolific young writer who has bedded words and as a result, is able to coin such beautiful poems.

Kindly read, share, and let the mead of poetry flow.

http://www.pencillite.com/2017/08/swing-and-miss-four-poems-by-michael.html?m=0

Night and day, are two extremes of our daily swing on life's complex pendulum. The day brings light, the night replaces the light with darkness. Together they guide the affairs of men, for if there ceases to be a balance between light and darkness, then existence as we know it would come to an end. Light needs darkness to remain useful, just as much darkness needs light.

Pendulum Series - Episode Four: The Lost.

http://www.pencillite.com/2017/08/pendulum-series-episode-four-lost.html?m=0

Today on Pendulum Series, a new character is introduced. Baldie, who has always been there, but has never been seen, makes an appearance. The bob is swinging towards its phantasmal axis, and all I can say is read on.

Pendulum Series - Episode Three: Baldie.

http://www.pencillite.com/2017/07/pendulum-series-episode-three-baldie.html?m=0

We live in a world replete with mysteries. Certain things are barely understood, or grossly misunderstood, as we are yet to scratch the surface of several truths about our existence on earth. Take death for example, no one really knows if it means the end of a life, or if there's an afterlife, and death is just a doorway, as ancient Egyptian's were wont to believe. There's one consolation though; the mind. The mind is a channel through which we try to understand the mysteries of the world around us. Now when melancholy sets in, a new world is unveiled, and certain mysteries are easily understood. Here are four poems written in that mind state. Do Enjoy.


http://www.pencillite.com/2017/07/melancholia-four-poems-by-ofuomadega.html?m=0

What if I told you that your lungs are pendulums, that inhalation is a half cycle, and exhalation is the other half? Swell right? Well, unlike your lungs, here we have a pendulum that is specifically designed to take your breath away. Hold on to your breath.

Pendulum Series - Episode Two: Smooth stones and hidden head.

http://www.pencillite.com/2017/07/pendulum-series-episode-two-smooth.html?m=0

The simple pendulum experiment was one of the first lab experiments I ever carried out, and sincerely I never had a clear grasp of its importance until recently. It is pertinent to state that life is a complex pendulum and we all are but bobs, swinging helplessly on life's strings as the universe holds on to a countdown timer, watching closely in glee to see when we eventually stop swinging - we die.

Samuel Ogechukwu, a talented stringed bob, oscillating on the orbit known as Nigeria, takes on a journey (series), into the lives of several fictional characters, as they swing helplessly in life's orbit.

Be thrilled!

Pendulum series - Episode One: Blue, White and Everything in Between.

http://www.pencillite.com/2017/07/pendulum-series-episode-one-blue-white.html?m=0

Kano Diaries:

Young, beautiful and talented female photographer, Emmanuella Eduozor, who goes by the moniker, Ellastills takes us on a photographic journey into the heart of Kano, the capital of Kano State, Nigeria. 


http://www.pencillite.com/2017/07/kano-diaries-photography-emmanuella.html?m=0

When one is immersed into the world of fiction, it is quite easy to fall in love with it. A clear example of this is Chussy Onyinye, a beautiful, young lady, who has been a candid observer, and lover of good fiction for some time now and has finally decided to embrace writing. This is one of her first works...

Nnenne:

http://www.pencillite.com/2017/07/nnenne-flash-fiction-chussy-onyinye.html?m=0

Kano Diaries:

Young, beautiful and talented female photographer, Emmanuella Eduozor, who goes by the moniker, Ellastills takes us on a photographic journey into the heart of Kano, the capital of Kano State, Nigeria. 


http://www.pencillite.com/2017/07/kano-diaries-photography-emmanuella.html?m=0

When one is immersed into the world of fiction, it is quite easy to fall in love with it. A clear example of this is Chussy Onyinye, a beautiful, young and talented lady, who has been a candid observer, and lover of good fiction for some time now and has finally decided to embrace writing. This is one of her first works...

Nnenne:

http://www.pencillite.com/2017/07/nnenne-flash-fiction-chussy-onyinye.html?m=0

I’ve watched and played a lot of football matches, but none leaves me burdened with emotions like a match I watched when I was 7 years old at the Urukwe Township Stadium. My local team, Urukwe Dragons, were playing a Coca-Cola FA Cup quarter-final match against Nasarawa United – a team that had some of the best players in the Nigerian league at the time.

Click on the link below to enjoy the complete article.

http://www.pencillite.com/2017/06/number-seven-flash-fiction-dhee.html?m=0

From the Anthology, African Monsters, comes this mind blowing, piece of fiction titled: That Little self-servicer.


If anybody ever told Akpomudje that he’d ever be held hostage, his proud oversensitive demeanor probably wouldn’t have found that funny. However, if he was ever morose before, he was even more so now that his very mind itself stood tormented by a spoilt little self-servicer. For god’s sake, it was just a little mat.

http://www.pencillite.com/2017/06/african-tales-for-moonlight-1-that.html?m=0

From the Anthology, African Monsters, comes this mind blowing, piece of fiction titled: That Little self-servicer.


If anybody ever told Akpomudje that he’d ever be held hostage, his proud oversensitive demeanor probably wouldn’t have found that funny. However, if he was ever morose before, he was even more so now that his very mind itself stood tormented by a spoilt little self-servicer. For god’s sake, it was just a little mat.

http://www.pencillite.com/2017/06/african-tales-for-moonlight-1-that.html?m=0

Diary of a Nigerian Teacher:

This afternoon during my extra Physics class for SSS 1, I got my students to do group presentations on assigned topics pertaining to what we have learned thus far in class. This was their second presentation for the term in Physics.

Click on the link below to enjoy the complete article.

http://www.pencillite.com/2017/06/diary-of-nigerian-teacher-episode-nine.html?m=0

GENESIS

we rose from different
portions of the ground seeking
togetherness and so we
moulded our hopes into a
giant umbrella that would erode
the raging whisper of conflict
when it would come seeking hearts
to flood with pain. 

we built a city made
out of blood, sweat and all
other ghosts haunting our dreams.

Click on the link below to enjoy the complete article.

http://www.pencillite.com/2017/06/in-beginning-three-poems-by-michael.html?m=0

The Starz original TV series holds a lot of promise for its fans. The first episode, drenched heavily in Nordic myths tickles the fancy of those who enjoy Norse tales. 

Second scene, shows the first landing of Viking warriors in America. Where the land itself spurned them, and they couldn’t go back because the wind had fled. So they made sacrifices to the All-father to bring back the wind, but the sacrifice of their eyes and burning one of theirs at the stake didn’t cut it, so they did what Vikings do best - they slaughtered one another. Then, the winds returned and they journeyed back home.

Kindly tap on the link below, to read the complete essay.

http://www.pencillite.com/2017/05/a-review-on-starz-originals-tv-series.html?m=0

This is a pretty muddied pool I’m about to drag you into, but bear with me, we might enjoy sullying our coats a bit. 

A lot has been said about domestic violence in the past, and though there are certain laws that are meant to protect victims from such brutal acts, only few people actually speak out when affected.

We Africans are perfectly domesticated bureaucrats, taught to never question our superiors - or those we consider superior. We are also quite gullible, that we tend to believe almost everything we are told by those we consider to be experts - religious leaders most especially - in certain fields.

Kindly click on the link below, to read the complete essay.

http://www.pencillite.com/2017/05/on-domestic-violence-monstrous-sea-of.html?m=0