Know that I have died thousand
Times before the baking of today.
If my words sustain tomorrow's hunger
Know you that they are not mere words
But they are land that connect borders.
I have been brave before today's eyes,
I have been battered in the hand of sickness.
If I live beyond tomorrow, the gods kept me,
The gods that sprinkled their spit on me are alive.
Through the testimonies of their weakness I am
Made to be strong and brave in the race of life.
If my poems stand a chance of appreciation in the heart of tomorrow's hazard, know that I have not slept for a thousand nights and thousand days.
Perfection is not in the work of my art, NO!
If they won't live beyond tomorrow, the gods are to be blamed; for their eyes I see the beauty of the world.
If my name will live beyond tomorrow,
Search in my secret places and see what I have done.
I do not just sit down and wait for tomorrow to come
But I work and walk like the Elephant of the forest.
Don't look for me among the Rich but find me among the Thorns in my Backyard; they made me who I am.
If my man will live beyond tomorrow,
Acknowledge poetry because he made me who I am.
In the tattered part of my heart he dwells before I was birth into this world by that immovable and immortal tree in Nkporoland, she is the sun of the blessed day.
(C) John Chizoba Vincent
All Right Reserved '16
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