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Ode To Childhood Mistakes I

I remember when I was seventeen years
        earth to me
was nothing more than 
a highlands and lowlands
inhabited and uninhabited by men
and women 
love to me then was a down to earth
gift to rest my mind
I came and saw and
conquered
nothing I would hear exist
I couldn't accept
be it a tale , a show, a trick
or a sort of abstraction to say
nothing that was stated
amidst that couldn't 
find a space in my mind
however, quack or mockery
a smoke was
there was a time
when Titi was 
fourteen or fifteen years old
had I merely talked to her
may be nothing would have
stopped it
may be nobody would have
discovered such a story
or fiction
may be I would have
catched fire and exploded
may be I would have
earned from her 
a strange and bad thing
to beat and smother my defence
may be I would  have 
faded and weared
there was a time
when my feelings and love
       power
was a lot higher than my
       head
,had some people suggested to
        me then
I may have succumbed to them 
I may have reliqushed to their whims
I may have accepted their words
I may have felt like them
I may have dreamt to them 
I may have turned out to wear
I may have lost my way
lost myself and become someone
beaten and smashed to crush
there was a time
when my life was
turning to a notice
and what I could muster then
still was a little if not
nothing homely
had some people invited me
to their smoke and fire
may be I would have
yielded and crowned around
that smoke and fire
may be I would have
considered  and remained
again and again
loyal and obedient to it 
May be I would have
taught and invited
many concerning that smoke
and fire,
oh a story anytime
I remember I jolt
how childhood should be guided
       through
to be colourful tomorrow.

Copyright © Bamanga Bashir | Year Posted 2021

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