A Folktale Ii (Congo) Poem by Joshua Adeyemi

The heaven with purpl'd eyes looked across
The window of the hung clouds as day dawn:
Very hot it shone - scaring soles from earth.
The monkey, whipped mercilessly by dearth,
Knuckled under attaining desire:
To eat the banana 'yond the river.
The dillema that tucked him under wish,
Was but his inability to swim.
Summoned he then passion, wisdom and wits
On a contention: how to cross the stream.
Meeting done, he tamed all the crocodiles:
To count their numbers he lied: made them line.
And counted as he stepped on them till end:
Thus did monkey by wits crossed, while crocs wept.
19: 08: 29: 11: 28

Note: The moral lesson that sustains this Folktale is that you don't have to be big and strong to succeed in life. Intuition is enough in whatever you do. Be a monkey sometimes. 🙃