She was a widow. Yes she was
She lost her husband about a year ago
Yet she remained a dedicated mother to four sons
But she still had her fears; Ones so strong
And she gave life to them instead.

Her notorious son has been jailed
He’d threatened another with a knife
You cannot bring up these kids
Give them to us, her mother in-law words resounded
“I won’t.” she refused “I’m not losing any of my boys.”

She’d sworn to protect all four of them and bring
them up in a right way,
But now it looked like she failed
Kaanu, her oldest son has been jailed
“I feel disgusted, how could my own son try to kill another?”
“This boy will not kill me” she lamented.

It was a loud ring…
“I heard Kaanu was put in jail for stabbing a person”
He was her brother- her sons’ uncle and he sounded ridiculous.
He often called to ask they were in good health
after she was widowed,
But why has he turned a mocker today? She wondered.

“It was a threat,” she corrected instantly in a
harsh tone
He was her younger brother, she could speak to him in that manner,
“Do you want me to make a good call?” he genuinely asked this time,
“No.” she replied after a moment of deep thought
“Ok,” he agreed and ended the call.
“Oh, what have I done?” She regreted
“My Kaanu won’t be released today because of me”
“I love my boy, but I still want him to learn some lessons”
“Mummy,” her youngest called. “Guess whose back?” He asked grinning cheerfully,
“Kaanu…”The widow replied, feeling unsure if she was happy or sad

She was in a deep thought, maybe a trance caused by fears and worries,
Her oldest, Kaanu, had just returned home from school
He was studying to be a writer, he wasn’t in jail
“Mummy,” I was nominated for a student award-
He was excited to share the news,
All of his dreams and hopes he shared.

She watched silently and then realized that her son was on a path of Greatness,
Nothing short of that she was sure
But she couldn’t see it before now; she was busy with her fears
Feeding and nurturing them, ignoring her sons and their dreams
Forgetting she had a duty to keep them on a better path.

She learnt a lesson that day
Fears and worries were destructive
She had to conquer them
Those strange entities were not invited on this new life which she’d found,
It had to be Greatness; Nothing less.

-:Fears and worries are enemies to Greatness.