Letter To My Father
*LETTER TO MY FATHER*
Dearest Father
With heart ripped into rags and shreds I write ? to you tonight
Trembling hands and ink made of tears and blood
Teary ?? eyes and bloody heels like a defeated soldier
Lost it all in battle field but just his life
Father, I've failed not to fail again ??
Forgive me of my shameful life
With the roman shield ?? and swords forged from carbon steel
Emperor's orders barked at trainings at dusk
Yet I was smacked into ruins by copper axe ?? at dawn
Father, I failed you and your legacy
The ship ?? went sailing at sunrise
But wrecked just after the berth
I failed once again as a captain
Trained by a champ yet failed like a dud
Stripped and whipped like notorious market robber
Shame is all left hanging on me like an outcast
Father forgive me for I've failed thee once more
Birthed to be the destrier ??
Yet I wallow and galloped like a wounded horse ?? tied to a cart
Maybe more of a sick horse that won't be chosen by the supreme knights
Failed in the trials and heats
Raised by the mighty horticulturist
Yet can't make a rose stead
How much of a shame have I been to you dear father
The local hen hatched all her laid eggs ??
Yet I lost my single hatch to a strange hawk
What a shame of a fatherhood
I've laid no egg again nor hatch another
I brought no grain to the year's harvests
Not even a ward to help mend the barns
The hope of Trenches to glory blown away like dust
Shame have I brought upon you from my long sojourn, father
Stripped of my knighthood
Lost the honours bestowed on me by the gods
Not sold for a pot of porridge
But what's left of a king whose city is raided and walls fallen like Jericho's
Lost my voice and left my army with no commander
The shepherd is smitten and the herd is scattered
The wolves are having a field day
The sheep's blood smear the pastures and my staff is missing
Father, I've brought shame upon your house
Meant to be the Alpha fox
But lost its track in the mountain snow
The avalanche is coming
The park would be buried
Would they survive another cold winter
Will the park not choose a new leader
For the survivors from the cold and fierce wolves raid
My competence is long hacked and butchered
The cornerstone is fractured and useless
Kabiyesi, I failed your majesty
Four decades and one around yet a miserable lone ranger in the jungle
I bear not the staff of my father
Stripped of the heritage of my ancestors
Restrained from the throne
The respectable stool of my great forefathers
Forgive me Father if I am a shame to you
I shall seek refuge in a foreign land
Where no one knows my history
I'll dump the armour of my knighthood at the city gate
And take up a life of senior slave
A tool for the slave master
A life of no honour but gold coins
Earned from barked orders and whips
I shall drop your name to bring no more shame, Father
One plea I pray of you Kabiyesi ??
Calm Olori and appease her
Her tears won't rival the ocean
Let her not drown herself in the salty pool of it
Should I be smitten on the battle field
Should never return to the city gate a hero on horse's back
Tell Adeyemi to win the crown ?? and be the King ??
Should I return to shore with no catch
I will never head home ?? again
And should my boat never berth at the shore again
Should I sink in the regatta race
Lucky you father, your shame will wash away with the waters
And never to stand at the ancient city gate
The shameless son is forever lost
Failed swimmer ????? and sailor
Broken captain of the Caribbeans
Depleted Alpha fox of the poles
The rejected of the ancestors
Call me what you can father
I know I failed you
Unlike the prodigal son
I'm too ashamed to find a path home again
Should the horse ?? die in the field
Hide him up in the earth on the field at sunset
It deserves no glorious praise of the sunrise
Forgive me Father
Let my shame be mine and not of the throne
For at the seventh market day
I'll be long gone and forgotten
FM CONCEPTUAL ?
Copyright © Olufemi Oloye | Year Posted 2022
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