It is going to be a long year

If the first month is anything to go by

This promises to be a year when a month happens in a day

Joy, happiness, triumph, victory, glory, celebration

Grief, pain, devastation, loss, heartbreak, betrayal

All things bright and beautiful

All things horrible, terrible, ghastly, shocking, 

They all happen to us

And to others

Especially all things horrible, terrible, ghastly, shocking

You don’t want to experience any of these?

Hide under your bed covers and refuse to see the light

Each day forces its news upon us

Of life gone wrong

Of love turned to hate

Of the consequences of poor choices – or the implications of no choice at all

Of passion soured

Of promises broken

Of shattered bodies

Of injured souls

Of fractured minds

Of the wailing of a mother who loses her child

The lifeless eyes of the man staring at the remains of his wife

The bewildered cries of young children rendered motherless or fatherless

The cries of a lover from the pain of heartbreak

The silence of a wife who takes a permanent break from her pain and humiliation

the smell of burnt flesh the last thing she remembers

The everlasting devastation of the one who survived but with her eyes plucked out by her devil of a husband

All things horrible, terrible, ghastly, shocking

They all happen

Maybe not to all of us

Certainly, all to others

There are always things bright and beautiful

The warm embrace of a soulmate

The joy of successful children

The blessings of the work of our hands

Inhaling fresh air in the fields after the rain

The grace of seeing a new day in sound health

When we have all things bright and beautiful

The days go quicker

We cannot wait to see what new victories await us the next day

Then we are reminded

Of all things horrible terrible, ghastly, shocking

Then the days crawl ever so slowly

Drawing out our pain and agony

This is going to be a long year

There will be many things bright and beautiful

There will be the horrible, terrible, ghastly and shocking

If we want to survive

Let us be vigilant

Be prayerful

Be each other’s keeper

Mind our own business

Bring out our wrappers

Be kind

Understand empathy

Let us discipline our eyes, ears and mouths

Listen and not judge

When we do judge, we should be fair and just

This is going to be a long year

No matter how long it is, we will survive

There will always be the horrible, terrible, ghastly and shocking 

And there will always be all things bright and beautiful.

Bisi Adeleye-Fayemi is a Feminist Activist, Gender Specialist, Leadership Coach, Policy Advocate and Writer. She is the Founder of Abovewhispers.com, an online community for women. She can be reached at BAF@abovewhispers.com