A Song To My Childhood Friends Poem by Babatunde Aremu

Twenty kids cannot seat together
Listening to the same folktales
Continously for twenty years
We diversely came to the world
But are entwined by providence
We were of the same age grade
So we jolly together
Hoping that our company remains

II

We were trees of the same species
We hope to become a thick rich forest
That will have deep tap roots at village square
We flocked together like birds of the same feather
We ate from the same plates
Our escapades at riverside were daring
We traversed the farmlands barefooted
Our thirst were quenched by Erefon streams
Our beach was the famous Ogudo pond
Life was beautiful and natural

III

Day after day gone bye
Reality stared us glaringly
Our destinies are different
We dispersed like seeds
Some to grew luxuriantly in new lands
Few were staunted by in their new worlds
Few were blown away like a chaffs
Never to be seen by others again
Never to return to the land of our nymphs


IV

Now that I am of age
I miss my old closed pals
Few of them I now see
Many are far away abroad
Seeking for golden fleece
Hoping to return home someday
I searched for, fewer I saw
The more I tried, the fewer I see
But I'll keep searching for my childhood friends
For us to relish the good memory of old
Oh! friends shall we meet again?
When will the twenty kids
Gather together again
To share real life stories?