Hard Work, Success and Failure
When we look at the mouth of a warrior
We think he never sucked his mother’s breast
The birds that rest on the Iroko
Does not know how the Iroko grew
The heart that persevered in pain
Is the heart that will rejoice with gain
Like the Hibernating hedge hog
Metamorphosing to life after winter
Whales and sharks are not found in shallow waters
The man who swims against the turbulent tides
Of deep shark and whale infested murky waters
Will get the whale oil, make a shark’s fin soup
Or wear a shark’s leather jacket
The resilient hand that never says die
Sculpts stumbling blocks into stepping stones
And squeezes water out of rock
Like a gold stone that passed through a furnace
And became the priceless gold ornament
Separating the men from the boys
The pot that wants cooked food
Must be scorched by the furious and ferocious fire
It is when the palms have been soiled by sand
That the mouth will be soiled by oil
The hand that is not soiled by sand
Makes the mouth to be soiled by sand
People like the mouth soiled by oil
Because it can also soil their mouth with oil
The mouth soiled by oil
Has many names, relatives and friends
But the mouth soiled by sand
Has few name, few relatives and few friends.
Copyright © Chukwuma Obiora | Year Posted 2009
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