The Mark of Cain
Dare I chide you my child
For playing in the moonlight
With the children of those I know
Despise my kind and kin folks?
Dare chide you my child
For daring to put aside
deep seated wounds I felt
Grievances of generations past and present?
Dare I chide you my child
For mingling without fear
With those who, time after time,
Try to carve the mark of Cain on my face?
Dare I chide you my child
For trusting in the infinite goodness of man,
That sustains us in the most difficult of times,
And gives us hope when all seems lost?
I have taught you
To see goodness in everyone.
So ignore my fears my child,
For even when goodness titters on the edge,
As evil nudges it towards the precipice,
Many hands reach out to sprinkle the wings of justice
And goodness does, once again,
Soar to its rightful place of safety.
And the mark of Cain,
Carved on my face with infinite care,
Fades away with painful memories
Of the legacies of a people's miseries.
And it has,.........on this memorable day
Inspired by Chinua Achebe's "Vultures"
Copyright © Eze Obiora | Year Posted 2010
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