Forty Lashes Poem by Edward Kofi Louis

Are they readers?
So i am;
Are they writers?
So i am;
Are they teachers?
So i am;
Are they learners?
So i am;
Are they thinkers?
So i am;
Are they the seed of Abraham?
So i am;
And with forty lashes minus one to learn from my mistakes,
But the dangers of the rivers are still around us.

In weariness and in toil i try to focus on my muse,
And like the dangers at sea!
In cold and in nakedness i try to reach out to my dreams,
And like the dangers of the people around me;
In hunger and in thirst i try to do my best,
And like the dangers of the rivers around me;
Often with sleepless nights and without hope at times,
But i do have my dream at hand.

I was let down in the basket to gain my freedom,
And Hagar is to Mount Sinai as Noah's Ark is to Mount Ararat!
But more are the children of the desolate than,
The children of she who has a husband! !