The Book of Pain

A poetry collection on love, loss and grief. Do you love Poetry told in simple language? This book is for you. Very relatable.

Not convinced?

Read the review on Bella Naija

https://www.bellanaija.com/2019/02/literallywhatshot-love-as-a-weapon-a-weakness-bittersweet-joy-in-the-book-of-pain-by-ogundare-tope/

It’s available on Okadabooks for N500
Also on Amazon.

Do you love reading poetry?
Are you looking for a new Poetry book to read?
Check out the review of this new Poetry collection on Bella Naija
Thank me later!

https://www.bellanaija.com/2019/02/literallywhatshot-love-as-a-weapon-a-weakness-bittersweet-joy-in-the-book-of-pain-by-ogundare-tope/

For lovers of poetry, check out this review for a Poetry collection “The Book of Pain”. The review is lit!

https://www.bellanaija.com/2019/02/literallywhatshot-love-as-a-weapon-a-weakness-bittersweet-joy-in-the-book-of-pain-by-ogundare-tope/

Read the review for a poetry collection “the book of pain” on Bella Naija.

https://www.bellanaija.com/2019/02/literallywhatshot-love-as-a-weapon-a-weakness-bittersweet-joy-in-the-book-of-pain-by-ogundare-tope/

On virginity and choices.

http://zaphnathpaaaneah.com/2014/11/28/virginity/
Excerpt

Ah! Such heavy words from such a small boy abi? Have you not wondered how our grandfathers defined their maleness and manhood? By the number of wives and children they had! Imagine! They are strong and virile because they could hump numerous women and their sperms could penetrate and crush any female factor infertility, and produce offspring. Throw in another specifier, ability to produce plenty male children. If he has a barn full of female children then he is weak!

Thus, a female is defined by her sexual inexperience and ‘purity’. In some parts of Africa, virgin females are in high demand because they are a cure for HIV/AIDS!

Yet, there are many women who strut about brandishing their virginity like titles and so many more whose shoulders droop and who cannot lift up their heads because they are not virgins. Unconsciously, these women still succumb to a chauvinistic society and further inflame the massive ego of low self-esteemed males.

Oh, but it is biblical to keep virginity, I hear someone say. Thank you for raising that point! I am glad you did. Well, you should know that the bible did not drop from heaven and it was God that inspired men to write it. The bible contains both accounts of events that happened and the direct commandments of God to his people- Israel. I will have you know that Israel was a highly chauvinistic society. So it is no surprise that women too were subjugated. Is that what God wants? For women to be foot mats of men? To be treated anyhow and subject to the whims and caprices of men? Hell no!

If you want to follow the bible, then, all women worship singers, all women pastors and women evangelists and whatever title they are, should get the hell out of the pulpit and go sit down!. Haven’t they read it in the bible that the women should not talk at all in church? Even if they have questions, they should save it till when they are home and ask their husbands. And if they have an opinion…did I hear you say “opinion’? Whoever gives women the audacity to have opinions?! They should rather be submissive and just emulate the virtuous woman. The virtuous woman was well domesticated and industrious. That’s all the females are for biblically. The only woman who had an opinion and who talked about it was…you guessed it, Jezebel! Do you want to be ‘Jezebels’ women? Of course not.

But God who is wise and the Almighty decided to show that he does support equality and especially emancipation of women has at several times called women to lead his people. They have served as beacon of hope when there was darkness, they have been symbols of strength when there was despair and the hearts of men melted like wax inside them. They have been chosen to wax brazen and to go the extra mile for God and His kingdom. I talk about Deborah, about Katherine Kulman, Mary Semple and a host of others. They were leaders over men, and God called them!

Read more at
http://zaphnathpaaaneah.com/2014/11/28/virginity/

Rainess:
That first poem was very chilling. I wonder what kind of state you must have been in to write something so haunting

A very dark place....lol
Thanks

Trance

I remember a time when my house was your haven

The colors soothed your mood;

There the harsh glare of the sun was shut out

And the cloak of your machismo was shed;

There, you could be vulnerable

And comfortable.

I watched the soft rise and fall

Of your bosom many a time

And read your dreams –

Dreams of bliss riding on contented sighs;

You knew that I knew –

I was the man of your dreams

Watching you whilst you dreamt of me.

I remember a time when I was your safety net

The one you trusted

Trust – hard worn

Proven over time

Kilned in the oven.

I remember –

In the middle of the most mundane task –

How happy I was.

****
If you enjoyed it, read more at www.zaphnathpaaaneah.com

Here are some poems that have been posted on my blog www zaphnathpaaaneah.com. If you love it, go to my blog for more.

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Welcome to Hell

This is hell –

A place of blackness and melancholia,

Anguish and pain,

Tightened chest and tear bogged heart;

Longing and sorrow

And perpetual despondency;

A state of internal turmoil

Wondering how Eden turned to Sheol

How the sweet nectar of love morphed

Into Vinegar and Myrrh;

A palace filled with mirthless laughter

And bland delicacies,

Where feasts are filled with sniffles

And the skies are always gray;

It is a heart mourning for its beloved –

At once angry and sad,

Feeling warmth at fond memories

And cold at the loneliness it brings;

It is clarity at what really matters

And regret at the deeds left undone –

Words swallowed, decisions undertaken;

It is helplessness at the finality of a situation

That cannot be fixed –

And the messy trails at any attempt to;

It is the inevitability of a future of gloom.

This is the place where broken hearts live

And true love is interred,

Welcome to Hell.