As a child, you view the world through the lens of anticipation

And envision the future with hope and excitement

Everything done by the elderly, seem extraordinary

Making you gape and gaze in astonishment

You become wishful and awash with elation, to do similar things

With your cheeks cupped in your hands

Eyes wide open in amusement and with itchy ears

You listen to the narration of how much you can excel

If you abide by certain rules

You are being told how you can defend people, heal people or

Impart knowledge only if you study hard

All these said in a tone, that makes them seem easily achievable.

You look forward to becoming all these and more

While thinking the future is far ahead

Puberty sets in and your dreams are still unshakable.

You visit teendom but when exiting

Startling circumstances make you leave some ambitions behind

You wake up one morning and realise your feet

Have been slipped into the flip-flops of adulthood

Everything around you begin to whirl like a carousel

Leaving you giddy and muddled.

You try to read the lines in your life

But they all seem intertwined and entangled

And you are thrown in a pit of confusion

You think of how the bus you boarded

From the station of childhood, moved as fast as a cheetah

Landing you in your current destination while you dozed off

You might work hard but would be unable to enjoy

The fruit of your labour because of your own mistakes

Someone else’s or a frail system

You soon realize we live in an era of whom you know or who knows you

You’ll have to swallow the bitter truth that

A time will come when your genuine abilities will be barely acknowledged

You will delve back into childhood and probably reminisce about how

Fleeceable you were, especially to think that the future would be all rosy

 

Copyright© Nasreen Zankawah,2020