I SHALL

Picture Courtesy: www. yorku.ca


I shall scale all my hurdles,
With the wind in my sails,
And if a hurdle happens fall,
I shall place that hurdle back up right,
I shall go back from whence I came,
And re-scale that hurdle over and over again,
Till I leave it standing upright,
Bathing behind me in the dust my feet throw up.


I shall not toot my horns,
I’m no good at puffing out my cheeks,
They always hurt each time I try,
Those horns shall toot themselves for me,
Till they begin gasp for air,
Wheezing as though having an asthma attack.


I shall stand atop all mountains in my way,
Looking ahead to others far out in the distance,
Yet sit as though I never heard of a high horse.


When in public,
I shall sit in the back row
As though quarreling with the high table that beckons,
I’ve always found them a tad too high anyway.


I shall sit in plain view
Conspicuous in the market place,
Not underneath an umbrella
But rather the mango tree,
I shall pluck those mangoes,
As though I were three,
Throwing stones at them as though we were at war.


I shall eat waakye neither from take-away packs
Nor plates,
But rather out of the broad
Green leaves shaped like the ears of an
Elephant like I used to when I was eight,
Those leaves sure make waakye taste great.


I shall walk barefoot in the grass,
Run after butterflies as though I were six,
Marvel at caterpillars as though I never met them before,
And wish a million times over and over again
For the ability to change colour like the chameleon,
Please do not ask why,
It is something I’ve wished for quite a while.


On those slow days,
When I’m all by myself,
I shall intentionally tie my shoelaces all wrong,
Taking pictures of them,
Just so I can laugh at them then and tomorrow,
As though I just saw something new.


I shall live like a leaf,
Naked,
Whispering to the birds and the wind,
Without the least hint of worry or care
In this world,
I shall neither be shackled nor cumbered by a load..


I shall be a tree in a forest reserve,
Surrounded by so much green,
I will be evergreen,
Even when I have long said
Goodbye to age sixteen.


I shall do all these and more,
For life neither knows a big man
Nor one who’s small,
The grim reaper does come for us all,
Whether big or small,
So as often as you can,
Make silly faces in the mirror,
And run after one another as though still two,
Just let out the child in you once in a while,
That’s the secret to living free
Even in the most trying of times,
Try it,
It will make you brand new.