By Victor Emmanuel Uwah
At birth I was the joy and pride
Of those who for a child had cried –
They saw in me a little dear,
And soon the news spread far and near.
I lay enfolded on the bed
While mother still had tears to shed –
Tears of pain, but more of pleasure,
At the gift she now could treasure.
To father I was dream come true:
His spirit up to heaven flew.
He beamed with smile and gave his word
To always be my shield and sword.
As a child I lay admired,
Those who hadn’t theirs desired:
I knew not yet distress or grief
Nor that my welcome will be brief.
I grew up wanting to be free
Just as the birds up in the tree.
I wanted for myself to think
And create with no one any link.
My path in life I must decide,
But not on others’ plans abide:
I must experience life and see,
For no one else can live for me.
I started out so full of vim
And let no one my hopes to dim,
But knew not that my stance in life
Could cause in others so much strife.
I met with failures and success
And thus did I knowledge possess;
I felt night complements the day,
Though others did not think this way.
And so for me trouble did come
(Though not from everyone but some);
To them there was no reason why
I should not pass with every try.
The pleasure that I brought at first
Later became reserved at best;
The man from whom the promise came
Became embittered, full of shame.
But here I am undaunted still,
No matter whose hopes I might kill:
I surely have my life to live –
Some persons, though, might choose to grieve.
The way I’ve gone there’s no regret,
And should another chance I get
I’ll do the thinking still myself –
A sacred task I’ll never shelve.
In life I have but one request
And wish to make it my bequest –
That I should have the strength and might
To stand with faith and serve the Light.
In all my thinking, speech and deed,
I bear in mind they are like seed;
The three should swing in one accord
Up to the Light, so help me Lord.
Victor Emmanuel Uwah, Poems From Without, 1997
