In my lifetime, I have been loved.

I have been loved by men and women of all shapes and sizes,
Ages and stages, features and statures,
Some of who gave their substance while others gave their time.
They paid attention to my nonsense while listening for virtue.
They saw wisdom in foolishness, and perceived gold in miry clay.
They traded their worth for little and assigned value to little me.

Little me grew in value, acquiring worth from unnamed men and women,
Towns and cities, actions and reasons, banters and chatters,
Journeys through space and time, to the present time, the present form.
Nothing became something as the years rolled into decades,
Swallowing up the stories of those who passed through them,
And making them into their own stories: the histories of the years.

The years stole our stories but not our lives, not our dignity, not our worth.
Our worth came from those who loved us, who sacrificed for us,
Who willingly let go of what was theirs so they might become ours.
They gave up their wisdom and their wealth, their energy and time,
The days of their lives, their passions and pursuits, their dignity and pride.
They did it all for love, because they loved us, because they loved me.

Though I still don’t understand, what it is that they see, that makes them believe.
Maybe they saw nothing, maybe they were just in love.
Because when in love we give, sometimes for no reason at all.
They are our heroes, my heroes, and heroines, who truly believed
In what they acutely perceived, steadfastly refusing to be deceived,
By temporary depressions in the towering mountains of our destiny.
They chose to hope, to believe, to love, and bring to life what they saw.

Tribute to fathers of destiny, to mothers and nurturers of purpose,
Who through the years, toil and sacrifice to raise true men and women.
Tribute to those who saw the future, who willingly became nothing,
In the hope of bringing to life something, even if they were unsure.
Tribute to unsung spouses, uncelebrated friends and unrewarded mentors,
The springboards from which humanity’s greatest assets were launched.

A final tribute to the Greatest Love of All, the Father of lights from whom,
Humanity sprung like a pebble from a stretched catapult,
Reflecting the Glory of the Immortal, the one Eternal God.
Who though undiminished, pours all of Himself into His children,
He is the Ultimate Giver, who made the greatest sacrifice of all,
To redeem his lost possession, the sheep of His pasture,
Who daily reminds us that we always have been loved.

In my lifetime, I have felt pain and sorrow, betrayal and rejection,
I have been turned back and cast down, lied to and stolen from,
But most important of all, I always remember this:
In my lifetime, I have been loved.

Toyin Taiwo © 2016