Category: Poetry

An experiment with life, or possible forms of life

Kindness

It is the first time in years
That we have a place to shelter
Show us some mercy
Do not expose our fears
To those people who despise us
Pray, look upon our faces
And be merciful to us
 
Our journeys have been hard
In the many places we have lived
Give us some respite
For our bodies and our souls
Have taken on a bit of batter
Pray, spare us from rebuke
And let us find favor with you
 
We have long hoped and prayed
Finally, grateful to arrive here
Do let us take solace
From the storms and disasters
Always looming in the distance
Pray, forgive our many failures
And show us a little bit of kindness

Toyin Taiwo, Aug 2020

Endurance

Face down, body still, unsure what is next. Until the kneading slowly begins. And the pains flash in and out. It is bitter-sweet. You know you need it; you are sure you want it. But in the heat of the moment, you are undecided how you feel about it.

Beaten down, to the barest ground. Stood still, like you never thought could be. You could almost deny any of this happened. To give your ego some break from the bashing. But this – it is too real to ignore, too present to deny. You cannot but wonder: how on earth am I here?

But this is your moment, this is your race. This is your hour, time to stake your claim. Head in the game, mind on the road. You are going on the journey, taking it in stride. Your reward is waiting, far down ahead of you. The light beckons you home, beaming with smiles.

People

Funny Face made a silly joke
Brown Tooth laughed hard as
White Shirt became upset with
The sudden loss of decorum
Madam Counsellor spoke up as
He wondered what was funny
Reminding him that life is short

And the days have been tough.
Almost every one of them agreed
The economy would be better off
If Lying Lips had won the elections
Everyone, except Saint Integrity
Who could never share that view
Even if his life were under threat.

Toyin Taiwo, Aug 2020

Photo by Ryoji Iwata on Unsplash

Uninspired

Have you ever waited for inspiration to come? Have you struggled to catch a whiff of fresh air before getting started on a project? Have you ever felt blank in your greatest moments of need, when it seemed everything depended on you getting an ingenious idea? Well, I suppose you have, and that you have sometimes been disappointed, as I have been. I have found out that no great venture is sustained on the ground of inspired ideas. Inspiration may get you started, but diligence and commitment to a cause keeps you in the long haul.

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Peace

“Stormy days and troubled nights are borne
Only by souls secured on an anchor eternal
Unafraid, unshaken, and surely not dismayed
They ride the storms, sleep through the nights

Darkness brings doubt, and shakings cause fear
While some run around, others simply melt away
But he who trusts the Lord is like Zion, unmoving
Supported underneath by the Everlasting Arms”

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The Market

Everything that has a beginning has an end. So, start with the end in mind. Tonight, I do not feel like writing many words. Yet I feel like I have a lot to say. So many unspoken words harboured in my mind, waiting to be given life and a purpose. I used to yearn to speak; now I hesitate to open my mouth. The years have brought caution to my lips, patience to my feet, and abundance of reflection to my days. So let me share these lines I wrote a while ago…

Continue reading “The Market”