by JB Favour

Knees on the floor and a head bowed in solemn aura,
A voice full of benedictions and soul searing hymns
Alone at night, robbed of all slumber and snore
Lips uttering prophecies and mumbling verses
Her eyes drenched from a marathon of tears
And spasms of agitated supplication
With her palms raised up to the heavens,
She says a prayer and another
She calls her son by his name and her daughter by hers
She tells her God to watch over them
Her shoulders quaking with each mumble
She resembles a drunk, but she has had no wine
Her knees ache but the pain fires her devotion
A myriad of praise and ten more of thanksgiving
She asks for blessings, her sincerity evident in her intensity
With her raised palms, she switches into her native tongue
Her head, she nods vigorously in prayer
Her petition is simple,
Guide my children,
Bless them
Forgive them
Protect them
Heal them
Help them
She goes back and forth in her plea
Incoherent words only the hearer above can understand.
Soon, she breaks into a song
She lifts those bended knees and begins to tap her feet
It is a mother’s psalm, her greatest power
A prayer of Nne
The one that opens heavens
And places her son above his mates
And her daughter above hers
It is a mother’s psalm
The kind that breaks barriers
And causes a downpour of blessings.
It is her prayers that brought us thus far
The greatest thing a mother can give – a mother’s psalm.

* Nne is a Nigerian Igbo word that means Mother. It is an endearing way of referring to one’s mother according to the Igbo tribe of the Nigerian people

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JB Favour is a writer, poet, brand consultant, and creative director. She has helped several authors ghostwrite their memoirs/autobiographies, fiction, and nonfiction books with some of her works being produced into film. Her Anthology – Once Upon A Virus, a survival poetry collection of the Covid pandemic that rocked the world is available on Amazon and other book stores globally. Her other works have appeared in The Newcastle Review UK, Brittle Paper, Lion & Lilac UK, Intellectual Ink Magazine USA, and I Am Magazine Belgium. She is also the Founder and Creative Director of a Digital Content Creation, Branding & Marketing Agency, FAVES_PEN and hosts a book show for authors called BOOKTERVIEWS Show

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