It was maybe six in the morning,
And she wasn’t even sixty years old.
This is a story of color bordered by many greys.
My heart broke!
Though she reflected every smile
And had prayers for every soul,
Her tears rolled,
She had very few.
Her head carried scattered hair,
Her countenance, a shadow of its former self.
She looked like one longing for heaven’s promise
But unable to let go of the attachments that earth holds.
A sad mass of tired bones and weary muscles.
And her eyes couldn’t take more blemish.
My heart broke!
Here’s a story of a woman
Who hoped that one day
She would recite stories
To a gathering of her grandchildren.
Here she gazes from above,
Filling their hearts with the stories instead.
But what really is gain if the pain is just the same?
My heart broke!
Here, today teaches me to take care of today
Than I’d hope for tomorrow.
Yet as I dropped the pictures, I’m left wondering
Why life doesn’t give recompense.
Cos this woman looked like a rag well spent.
What else could she have earned,
If not a living?
More from the Writer: HOLE AND CORNER
Written by Goodluck Agu
agugoodluck@yahoo.com