ADEREMI'S NOTEBOOK

— Amit Chaudhuri on constantly mishearing ‘rioting’ as ‘writing’ on the BBC. via Modal minority #

— The Poetry of D.H. Rumsfeld. Old stuff, still a classic. #

the man tried (0)

it happened once
then it went away
a prisoner i was
then free i became
free i thought i was
then it never really went away
all along there it was

break free i tried
but addicted i was
now trying again
hoping to escape with words
men will remember
‘but the man tried’

— Very moving image gallery (flash) of poverty by Ekin Caglar. (via nairaland) #

Spirit of London (0)

It is just over a year
Events of today bring fear
Intimidation their weapon
Many stations a destruction
Very purpose grips souls
Constant ringing mobile phones
Fundamentalism against the 8
Breeding the ideal of hate
Lives irrevocably touched
Friends and family dead
Strangers exchange a glance
Itineraries become a farce
Though shaken I’m resolute
I am London, its spirit
My heart flutters not fails
For terrorists many assails

- Obinna Onyekwelu

State of Mind (7)

If you think you are beaten, you are.
If you think that you dare not, you don’t.
If you’d like to win, but think you can’t,
It’s almost certain that you won’t.
If you think that you’ll lose, you’ve lost.
For out in the world you’ll find,
Success begins with a fellows will,
It’s all in the state of mind.
If you think you are outclassed, you are.
You’ve got to think high to rise.
You’ve got to be sure of yourself before
you can ever win a prize.
Life’s battles don’t always go
To the stronger or faster man,
But sooner or later, the man who wins
Is the man who thinks he can.

Jesse Owens
Found via mentalacrobatics

if (2)

If…
(with apologies to Rudyard Kipling)^#

If you can keep your shares when all about you
Are selling theirs, and telling you “Sell too”.
If you can trust your savvy when all doubt you,
But with your postings make them nervous too.

If you can wait, and hold, with real devotion,
And being ridiculed just not respond.
If you feel safe to keep the shares you’ve chosen,
And shrug away all thoughts of being wrong.

If you can find the strength to watch your profit
Erode from all the stocks and shares you’ ve bought.
If you stay calm and keep your fingers off it -
Forget the “rules of trading” you’ve been taught.

If you can see no economic blunders,
If you can turn your back upon the bears,
If you are really sure your shares are wonders,
You simply have to keep, and ramp, those shares.

If you can fill the unforgiving minute
With watching Markets fall and traders run,
You’ll put your earnings and life-savings in it,
And, which is more, you’ll soon be broke, my son.

^#This adapted peom was posted in Shares Forum. The original “If” by Rudyard Kipling can be found here.

Shina and me (6)

Shina¹ and me

I tell the story almost exactly as it happened.
The music was playing, the games in full swing
My brother taking part as he always did
A bang erupted from the kitchen, prematurely ending a game of musical chairs.
People ran for every exit,
“You haven’t seen anything till you’ve seen an overweight African Mama try to get out through a skylight” my brother says
I stared towards the kitchen door
“Curiosity killed the cat” Mum always said

The figure filled the doorway, machete in one hand, pistol in the other
He paused on the threshold for a second then stepped into the room
“Do you know who I am?” He asked me
The feel of steel against my face seemed to have stolen my voice.
A second later, he was gone.
A single siren wail had done it
Even the feared fear something
My Mother held me tightly,
Muttering ‘Oh God, Oh God, Oh God’.
I tell the story almost exactly as it happened
My brother remembers a dark stain slowly spreading across my trousers.

Oluwatosin Ajayi,
2004, ‘IfYouCopyThisThingIWillWoundYou’ Publishers

¹Shina Rambo - Forty-one-year old notorious Nigerian banditry kingpin, Assani Hamani Tidjani, responsible for a number cross-border robberies. (He was extradited to the Nigeria from Benin in the August last year, bringing to an end his escapade)