Okechukwu’s Musings: Poetry, People and Places

Tag: dailyprompt

  • Writing

    What experiences in life helped you grow the most? One thing that has helped me grow is creative and imaginative writing. I always enjoy expressing my thoughts on paper. One thing led to the other and I started this blog to share my poetry with the world. But it metamorphosed into something bigger. I have…

  • Destiny

    Do you believe in fate/destiny? Destiny is like day and nightWe get closer to itBut don’t see what’s nextSometimes there’s heavy mistOther times, there is sunlight

  • Be Yourself

    What advice would you give to your teenage self? Be wild and fearless, but be kind and genuine, be hopeful and honest, and be loving and compassionate. Do things that bring you joy, peace, and laughter. Work hard, also work smart. Make acquaintances, keep friends. Care for your well-being and that of your loved ones.…

  • Kind People

    Who are your favorite people to be around? Kind people are my kind of people.

  • Relationships

    Something on your “to-do list” that never gets done. I learned that there’s no perfect time to start a romantic relationship but I haven’t made effort to begin with. However, it’s a priority to me now.

  • Egusi Soup

    What’s your favorite thing to cook? Spicy, warm soups are delightful for me. Food is culture. Food is life, and I can go on dropping poetic lines about food. As a traditional person, I am a foodie who appreciates good food! I love traditional Igbo dishes like egusi, ede, ogbono, uha, and onugbu. Growing up,…

  • Fun Things

    List five things you do for fun. I like journaling, reading, watching NatGeoWild and Discovery, playing online games like UNO and traveling.

  • My First Name

    Write about your first name: its meaning, significance, etymology, etc. My first name is Okechukwu, which comes from the southern Nigerian Igbo tribe. It means my portion or share from God! Most Igbo names come from situations and experiences people have encountered. I can expand the name to: Okechukwunyerem!—which means the share I received from…

  • Dream Jobs

    What’s your dream job? I would love to be a writer and, indeed, working towards that. My writing started back in high school. Then, I liked playing with words and wrote poems of love. I’m also interested in becoming a travel blogger. It is a dream to travel around the world, particularly in Africa to…

  • A Good Leader

    What makes a good leader? What makes a good leader is their ability to have empathy and humility. By being humble, they put themselves last but not down. By having empathy, they put themselves in the shoes of others!

  • Weapons

    If you could un-invent something, what would it be? You will agree that weapons have caused more havoc on humankind and the environment. Sadly, even modern ones are being developed by man to destroy fellow man and nature.

  • Respect

    Can you share a positive example of where you’ve felt loved? A listening ear is as good as a gift, but better—Oke Iroegbu One thing I have learned about love is that it goes hand in hand with respect and trust. To love means to put the happiness of others above ours, and it goes…

  • Lions

    What is your favorite animal? King of the African jungleWith a golden mane, beautifulGuileful, bones, and sinewsRoar from depths of your soulLet terrifying echoes ring through the hills

  • Social Media

    In what ways do you communicate online? Social media made writing and sharing written work easy As a writer in a social media era, I use many apps. Most times, it’s just posting on one app that is connected to many others. For instance, my Jetpack app is connected to X, LinkedIn, Tumblr, and Facebook,…

  • Coke with Primates

    Think back on your most memorable road trip. This was an excursion I had with classmates in High School. It’s over a decade now, but the memories are alive. This is the report I wrote but with slight editing. I can see how much my writing voice has changed. Our excursion was to the Songhai…

  • Nuts

    What snack would you eat right now? I love nuts. They are crunchy, healthy, and tasty—not all are tasty. Except for kola nuts and bitter cola, which are chewy and bitter, all others are sweet or buttery. I like cashews, groundnuts, macadamia, and almonds!

  • Leader’s Frontline

    Come up with a crazy business idea. I had an idea some time ago. It wasn’t business anyway, just a random idea. Can we agree to let each warring nation have their presidents fight first before sending in the soldiers? Doing so will save many souls from unnecessary deaths because no leader will want to…

  • My Father’s Book Collections

    Describe an item you were incredibly attached to as a youth. What became of it? I was fond of my father’s book collections. Most of them I have read several times. The books were kept in the countryside, and each time I went home, I had something to read. The collection included Shakespeare and Oscar…

  • Travel the World

    What is your mission? It has been my dream to travel around the world—to see the sunset in different climes and nations, go up the peaks, sniff the pure air, watch the wildlife, swim with mild stream currents, dance with natives, smile at strangers, write stories of good places and people, dream, fall in love…

  • Don’t Worry, Just Live…

    What are your thoughts on the concept of living a very long life? We came orderly and will leave randomly I don’t think much about these life philosophies and concepts. I only want to do what makes me, my loved ones, and the people around me happy. At the end of it all, memories are…

  • Dance

    What could you do differently? I wish I could twirl and swirl precisely and rigorously to the beautiful rhythm in my soul. https://app.impact.com/secure/mediapartner/checklist/checklist-instance.ihtml?id=__9XpvYq1Sf0_skQuDpLLuQnDv3NE4u0lO#=_

  • Live and Let Live

    If you had a freeway billboard, what would it say? If I had a freeway billboard, I have these famous words written boldly on it—live and let live! If humans understand how sacred life is, it would be so hard to take one. Unfortunately, we live in a world that has gone crazy, and people…

  • Live in The Present

    Do you spend more time thinking about the future or the past? Why? I live in the present moment and try to make the most of it. I’m more productive, joyful, and grateful when I don’t worry about the past or the future. So I can say I’m in-between.

  • Unconditional Love

    What is the greatest gift someone could give you? The greatest gift I ever received was that of unconditional love — Oke Iroegbu It takes enormous courage, sacrifice, and strength to give one’s self to serve others.

  • University of California, Berkeley

    What colleges have you attended? Before heading to America for my master’s, I did my diploma and undergraduate education at Abia State Polytechnic and the University of Uyo, both in Nigeria. Currently, I’m completing my graduate education at America’s premier public institution—the University of California Berkeley. Cal, or UC Berkeley as it is called, is…

  • Overthinking

    What are your biggest challenges? Sometimes I just have to go out of my head and listen to my heart. That is my biggest challenge. Happy New Year everyone! Have a good one!

  • Sunset—Nostalgia

    What makes you feel nostalgic? There’s that feeling of nostalgia when the sun drifts away from the hamlets, sinking, sailing through the clouds like a golden phantom, spherical like a child’s playball. Sometimes when it’s hot we wish away the sun and when it’s cold we wish the sun’s heat could warm our land. It’s…

  • Creative Writing

    How are you creative? I started this blog in 2012; I wasn’t sure what to make of it. However, I knew that I wanted to use it as an avenue to express my thoughts and creativity. Writing poetry and narrative essays also exhibited my creative pursuits and has been instrumental to my academic endeavors. Talking…

  • Friendship

    What relationships have a positive impact on you? Friends are family we chose for ourselves Friendship is illustrated in love, sympathy, kindness, loyalty, generosity, forgiveness, altruism, mutual understanding, compassion, trust, and the ability to be oneself and to express one’s feelings. I have friends who have contributed to my success in life. Many have offered…

  • Character

    Are you a good judge of character? Attitude is everything I don’t think anybody can judge a character perfectly. However, I’m convinced that character is a function of people’s relationships with others and their environment. For instance, a well-raised child knows how to respect others and to be kind to people and their environment. Such…

  • Great Mentors

    Describe a man who has positively impacted your life. I could write an epistle for this. I’m lucky to have mentors and professors who impacted me positively. They have been a beacon of hope for my research and academic endeavors. I have learned a lot in a few months through their guidance and supervision. I…

  • Writing

    What skills or lessons have you learned recently? I could summarize this prompt with a short poem: Writing is a useful ancient craftThat aroused my passion and museBy teaching me more about myselfIt had reminded me of my cleverness

  • Hopeful

    Tell us one thing you hope people say about you. How times fly! Flowers still grow on the dirt by the roadside. That reminds me of hope. Tree leaves fall, and new ones replace them. Now, that’s greater hope! So, I would love to smell the flowers by the roadside and experience love again. I…

  • Alone Time

    When are you most happy? Although I enjoy hanging out with people who share similar interests and goals, I crave my alone time. Alone time gives me private time to reflect on my actions and life.

  • Cities I like to visit

    What cities do you want to visit? I would love to visit many cities around the world. Excluding, African, American, and Canadian cities, I would love to visit Paris, Edinburgh, Cape Town, Dubai, Delhi, Mexico City, St. Petersburg, Shanghai, Perth, Auckland, Hong Kong, Singapore, Brasilia, Riyadh, and Tokyo for a while. These cities have a…

  • Long Distance Traveling

    Tell us about your first day at something — school, work, as a parent, etc. My first time traveling to America was long and tiring. I will repost a slightly edited first post after I arrive from Frankfurt: Forgive me; I arrived at UC Berkeley from Frankfurt yesterday after sitting on a plane for 13…

  • Teaching

    Have you ever performed on stage or given a speech? I haven’t performed on stage or given a speech in a big setting, but I have presented papers in classrooms, conferences, and seminars. Also, I count teaching as an art and form of performance. There’s an audience and then the teacher who performs the art…

  • Push-Ups & Squats

    What are your favorite physical activities or exercises? I do push-ups and squats in the morning. It’s the best exercise to get me out of bed and start the day. I feel energetic afterward. It gets easier with daily practice and is convenient as I don’t have to go to the gym to do both…

  • Generosity

    What is something others do that sparks your admiration? Spare a coat, clothe the nakedSpare a spoon, feed the hungry I wrote those poetic lines some years ago. Each time I see it I realize that it’s not a wholesome definition of generosity—because it focuses on material giving. Generosity goes beyond giving money or gifts.…

  • Worrying

    What could you do less of? When you worry, you make the problem double One thing I have learned in life is to stop worrying about things I can’t control or change. These things tend to rob us of happiness and living in the moment. We can’t change things like rainfall (the weather) or attitudes…

  • Further Education

    What positive events have taken place in your life over the past year? A lot of good has happened in the past year. One of the most significant is starting my graduate degree at the best public university in the world—the University of California Berkeley on full-ride. Here, I have met some of the best…

  • Deer

    Do you ever see wild animals? I remember seeing a lot of deer, squirrels, and wild turkeys in California. I also have seen seals and fish in aquariums. Then the birds, mostly pigeons, seagulls, crows, owls, and hawks. I will visit the nearest zoo in a few days. I haven’t seen any reptile yet. I…

  • Berkeley, California

    Do you have a favorite place you have visited? Where is it? Berkeley, in California, is a beautiful place to live. It’s a hilly town with an abundance of greens and orderly streets. In this city is the pioneer and famous University of California campus. There are wild turkeys, deer, squirrels, and bobcats and lots…

  • Morning

    Are you more of a night or morning person? It’s hard to say. I can do both but mostly mornings are preferable. If I’m awake at night, I might be working on something serious or an urgent task that came up suddenly. But that rarely happens as I plan to fit everything during the day…

  • Letting Go

    What’s the hardest decision you’ve ever had to make? Why? I’m not bitter, but better I have learned to let go of events, situations, people, actions, and things that don’t work for me. Letting go involves forgiving myself and those that hurt me. However, it doesn’t mean that the wrongs are forgotten and that I…

  • Egusi Soup

    Do you or your family make any special dishes for the holidays? Spicy, warm soups are delightful for me. Food is culture. Food is life, and I can go on dropping poetic lines about food. As a traditional person, I am a foodie who appreciates good food! I love traditional Igbo dishes like egusi, ede,…

  • Learning

    If you didn’t need sleep, what would you do with all the extra time? I would study with the extra time. I’ll also spend some time exercising. Learning—reading and writing will improve my mental and academic health while exercising will support my physical and spiritual health. The aim is to have a wholesome experience.

  • Mothers

    Who are your current most favorite people? My mother was my role model before I even knew what that word was—Lisa Leslie For giving life, mothers are angels and first loves to their kids. I grew up amidst lovely women. I am blessed with a loving mother – a teacher and disciplinarian. They say when…

  • Lions

    What are your favorite animals? I’m a fan of big cats—lions, leopards, tigers, and jaguars. But Lions are my favorites, and I always think they are cutest, especially in a rest/sleep mood. 🦁 The lion is known as the King of the jungle in Africa. It is not the strongest in the big cat family…

  • Beach

    Beach or mountains? Which do you prefer? Why? Beach This is a tricky question, but I will give it to the beach. I love both anyway. Yesterday, I was at the beach in Carmel, California, which happens to be a mountainous and rocky area as well. The views were beautiful, and I scribbled a few…