THERE - A POEM

THERE

There, where time and chance meet
In the cold of the day
Or the warm caress of the noon
In the highways of Onitsha
Or the stalls of Aba
There must birth prosperity

There, where toil and sense meet
In the farmlands of Ota
Or the mud paths of Alaba
In the belly of thought
And the anvil of perseverance
Under the canopy of the fiery heath of the sun's blaze
There must birth success

There, where purpose and faith meet
Nay, living faith, for there be faith that lives
And dead faith, blind faith clothed with the fool's mite
These two must meet on the bed of truth
Where the milk of passion is sucked
And the hymen of sin severed
There must purity birth

There, where opportunity and preparation meet
In the corridors of vision
In the valley of wisdom
Where must all men strive for mastery
With an oil extra for to o'erthrow the mischances of the hour
Which take famished men unawares
And clip their wings lest they fly
There must issue a spring of fortune untold

There, where mercy and justice meet
Perchance in the courts of men
Or yonder the jungles but pray ye more
For where justice holds sway thereat
Men call it jungle justice, a brutal lore
Here, mercy may be a rare commodity
But strike justice now with mercy
Only then may an soul be spared
A broken reed restored and a thief tamed
We must all be wary of the linen of injustice
By reason of it do the hearts of men beat in cruel distemper
A strangled death for rightness and fair play
A robbery of senseful truth

And so we pray
That all men strive in truth each day
That every heart drink from the recess of wise living
Out of which must flow an healing
For the num'rous fevers of men's sojourn
Whilst we pilgrim through the earth's suburbs.