BY: SALIU ABDULMALIK OYAREBU

Grand ma used to tell me that except I do
Harm to others,
Evil will never befall me.
Good things come to those who wait
Providing they are ready to wait with
The legendary patience of the elephant.
Oh God, My Heavenly Father,
Where are the glad tidings promised
To us the sheepishly patient fellows?
When do our feet greet the promised land?
The ecstasy and the much awaited glee.
Too many times have we watched the sun drop
Countless times have we taken a shot and misfired.
Oh what about the long dreadful nights
Where sleep seemed to be strolling the other side?
Climaxing in so many dreams and disapprovals
The mornings coming soon enough
And life staring us in the face with nothing to show.
I look to the skies the stars of luck eluded me.
I took shade under a famous tree
It refused to shield me from the rains
Grand ma, I remember the name you gave me
You told me a hundreth times and more
That it shall be well with me,
The blessings you spat at my face pure and potent.
And how you said good always triumphs over evil
In the long run.
Your wrinkled hand warm and wise with love
And I believed it when you told me
That I shall never embark on my journey
When the roads go hungry.
I had believed in all you told me mother,
Your wisdom, your ways, and your guidance.
And your maternal love solid and true
Oh my Heavenly Father, I believed in you...
I still believe in you.
Forgive me if at times I lost myself in the ways
of the world.
I do not deny those things that time has forged me into
I do not despair over the things that time has deprived me of,
My grief is because of what was left behind
Those things impossible to forget.
By your commandments,
I had plunged the dark waters of life with love
Over and over, have I been greeted with hatred
And betrayals
So much disdain and disaffection.
For the love of You Father I refused to stray
From the path you ordained for me
But they keep scooping the earth beneath my feet.
So many times have I faltered and fallen
And there wasn't any ready hand to pull me up
The friends I beamed my light on while gropping in the dark
Have suddenly been turned into foes
By earthly possessions.
And I have become a sword bereft of its scabbard
I have come to realize that there's no justice,
In the universe save for the one granted by You Father.