Peace, Be Still! Poem by Changu Chilwesa

PEACE, BE STILL!
People will let you down, one time too many. Will you ever learn? Is the question you concurrently
Ask yourself. Some have left you on the cold and lonely street; they have left you to die. Food and clothes
They give you not, but when they see your naked body as though the shame you are covered in is not
Enough, they laugh and jeer at you. The comfort of a warm loving home, you have never known. For you
Were thrown out of safe haven, tears you have turned into your daily bread and your name you remember
Not. When the wind blows, you wish it were a tornado and hope that you would get lost in it. The rivers
Rush and for a moment, you stop to think...if only that were a tsunami and you would together with those
That have hurt you drown in it.
You are a lost soul, in harm’s way you constantly find yourself. Flaked skin, broken nails, sore feet and
A hungry stomach, you have had to live with. Life’s hurricane, many times you have begged to kill you
But it won’t, instead it humiliates and torments you some more. Suicide you have contemplated on many
Times, tried it a hundred times but death too denies you, like the comfort you once knew. The scotching
Sun has darkened your skin, a little hotter and maybe you would melt. The hurdles you face, have become
Your everyday song. Numb to the pain inside, even just for a day would be a prayer half answered. A little
Break is all you ask, for in hell many times have you vacationed.
Somebody up there must have it in for you, something you could have done maybe in your past life.
Some kind of vengeance, this must be for you.Isnt there a blood thirsty shark to swallow you, the waves
And the storms of life you can’t face no more. On your knees you must get, some battles are best fought in
Through prayer. When the waves of life’s trials get to you, the storms hold you down and like a fantasy your
Heart can’t take no more, the ship on which you are on though wretched refuses to capsize, a voice you will
Hear say be still! For it is rumoured to be darkest before dawn. Your time to shine and have on you
Heaven’s best is now. Come on, smile now for your weeping season is over, behold! The heaven’s open
And voice once again, loud and clear I hear say Peace, be still.
Keepin it Jesus, Changu