Ballad Of A Retired Pessimist Poem by Olatunde Olooro

To bravery...
Chivalry
And sheer grit shall we lift up glasses of old wine.

To victory over self....
To battles won over ego.
Shall we raise banquet cups

We shall merry in the eve
We shall love all day long
Charlatans shall joke to our delights
Our bellies shall ache of crackles

To cowardice...
Preponderance and shaky trepidation
We shall cower in our shells
We shall falter all day long

To honour...
Heritage and transgenerational inheritance
We shall never look back when it matters
Posterity shall compel our inactions today
We shall be bastions for vitality.
We shall see this through to the end.