Category Archives: joy

Cheerfulness (Amusement, bliss, cheerfulness, gaiety, glee, jolliness, joviality, joy, delight, enjoyment, gladness, happiness, jubilation, elation, satisfaction, ecstasy, euphoria)

Zest (Enthusiasm, zeal, zest, excitement, thrill, exhilaration)

Contentment (Contentment, pleasure)

Pride (Pride, triumph)

Optimism (Eagerness, hope, optimism)

Enthrallment (Enthrallment, rapture)

Relief (Relief)

joy

A baby’s smile #smile #baby #innocence #newLife

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Can you describe a baby’s smile? Let me try:
A breath of fresh air while the sewage tanks are drained;
That momentary silence when gunshots fill the air;
Cool palm oil on your tongue after your first crab curry;
when you shut your eyes to stop incoming traffic glare;
when a persistent cramp finally disappears;
Taking off your blistering work shoes when the day is done.

The pureness of the lines, and the innocence written in an infant’s smile cast all my stress away.
Unrestrained, untainted. The pure expression of appreciation that says: “Yes, you count”, “Thank you!”, “I love you” without uttering a word.
Those 5 seconds where everything means so much more, where nothing else matters than how happy this human being is of the mutual expression of love, as you smile back.

(c)Nyonglema

 

In the comments, tell us what your baby’s smile is like to you….

joy

On your 450th: to the Bard

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To the man who cheered my childhood idleness

When want of money seized the Mario Bros from me.

To the man who planted in me the seed of madness

To string words like multi-coloured beads to see

Some hidden truth, to say some itchy sadness,

To display the velvet waves of a grassy plane in some wilderness.

 

I remember “Et tu Brute” impressed on that page

Of beautiful poetry you wove into a thickening web.

Enthralled by this beauty, the Muse had me in a cage

And soon out of my own tottering pen, I would be a deb.

The Sonnets, Othello, Twelfth Night, Hamlet: my pleasant voyage

Into the Land of Words till sunlight to the horizon would ebb.

 

To the Bard of Stratford-upon-Avon on your birthday

To the speculation on the dictionary whence

You spun your magic and awed many in and beyond your day,

To the father of the deepest yet saddest romance:

The bitter tale of hatred to which Romeo and Juliet fell prey:

We miss your plume pouring life onto our every sense.

 

(c) Nyonglema

joy

New Life

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Hiding in mummy’s tummy, kicking happily away
I’m kissing you warmly, clapping and singing in play
They say in a few weeks
I’ll be able to kiss  your new cheeks
I can’t wait for the morning I’ll lift you in a sway

(c) Nyonglema

joy

The Desert I Sought

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One step on the white blistering sand,
Sandals in hand, turban shrouding my beard
From the gusts of arid wind sucking my sweat
And burning my skin and mucosa.

I looked ahead, raising my hand
To block the sun and see the herd
Of camels ahead, and beyond the dunes,
The promise of death from thirst and hunger.

I saw the cactus hold firm to the sand,
And scavengers in the form of an innocent bird
Swimming overhead as if to admire their work:
Meatless bones basking lifeless in the sun.

Was that my fate? Lifeless in the sand
Going through the process to be bird turd
As they pecked and relished? So it seemed.
I pulled myself on, and my body protested.

Is this why this route was so bland?
That civilisation despite its million nerds
Had not found a way to profane the dunes
And  enforce its will on Nature’s plans?

But I keep on with the target at hand.
Oh…I forgot to give you the Word!
Great promise lies ahead, beyond the pain,
Beyond the thirst, beyond lurking death.

Behind me lies a devastated land,
The old me: wicked an absurd.
Beyond the pain lies Life, and just like a newborn,
I shall bear the suffering that takes me Home.

(c) Nyonglema

joy

The Peak

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Dad said keep rolling you pick up no dust

Mum said you can my son, here are means

Big bro said chase the stars, failure will give you the moon

Big bro said stop lazing and wasting, get strapped for the future

Lil sis said I believe in you  keep pushing

And to God I said thanks for Your grace, I won’t fail you none.

joy

FOOTBALL

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Zillion supporters screaming, a loud buzz,
Yearning to return home cheered by vitory.
Xerox machines preparing the next day’s papers; Max
Wit for the shame or fame of a member of the show.
Violent vitriols from commentators like engine rev
Unites with supporters’ glee at likes of Eto’o or Kanu
To spur skill at each minute to get even one stunning stunt
Spirits soar, sink, so it is, for here serenity bores.
Roulette, lifté, counter-attack by one party raising the roar.
Quick kick! Oh no! Replay?! Why not? That must join the FAQ
Pray the corner slays the opponent; oh that header was sharp!
Oh he missed that goal again! No replay?! Hell no!
No! Now he’s channelled that ball too late for the man,
May the coach coach correctly and call him to quit the team!
Leave the pitch you little loss-bringing imp! LOL!
Khaki-wearing “messer” I can even get your reek!
Just as our jests are about to milk out laughs, I couldn’t find a word to end with “J”.
Instead I had a whole lof of them J-starting words. So I
Hunched to think, but then looked up at the BROOHAH:
GOAL GOAL!! Oops the scorer is the Mr. Bug!
Fooled? No, I’m still for him leaving,( Scoring oaf!)
Even though this elation, release and joy, came from his device!
Defensive tactics, offensive backing up, I can almost get mad
‘Cos the best defence is attack Doc!
Bye losers, we took this easy. Supporters bob
Away, and the whole stadium sleeps in the starlight bathed by mother Luna.

(c) Nyonglema

joy

Fresh Start #happyNewYear #2014

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Adieu 2013, you served me well:

You made me laugh, cry, frown, want to die,

Long to live longer, get bored, hunger for action,

Get into excess euphoria, feel melancholy,

Love, hate, rave about that abominable colleague,

Praise another, glorify the Lord,

Fall prey to the Fallen, rise again to walk,

Despair, and be rejuvenated, Hope for a better future,

Relax, become a workaholic, mess up my tasks,

Get all answers right, Feel stupid, feel like Euclid,

Feel unique, Feel wanted, Feel loved, Feel useless

Feel sore, Wish for the sun, Feel care

Feel bare, Paranoid at each sound, each sight

Then feel strong, ready to take on each fright.

Adieu 2013, you served me well;

I regret not the good, nor the bad nor the ugly

For each second was a building block to who I am,

And who I shall become in 2014.

Adieu 2013, welcome 2014.

(c) Nyonglema

joy

PHOENIX (2009)

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A new day will come, when from ash,

The glory of the golden feathers,

Sprayed in red and brown and ash

Shall rise. And in those weathers,

A flamboyant flame so hopeful bright

Announcing, like the Star of old:

“There shall pass some event of delight!”

Shall spark and spread like a manifold,

Piecing together the splendour to be born:

Bones and blood, cloak and claws;

Picking carefully each colour for scorn

On other creatures (even man) victim to death’s jaws.

Yellow more than yellow, red beyond red!

Gold in every nook, look at how rare

It sparkles in the sunlight royally shed

On the Phoenix, in the splendour of December.

(c) Nyonglema Pisoh

joy

Everyday is an …

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Everyday is an opportunity to make the next day better; seize it.