Linings of the palms
Telltale years of many balms
To the siege of the thumbprint
Therein lies your genetic lint
Crying to express the unique you
Head bent on going with the trend
Makes it an arduous task navigating intractable bend
So you opted to shut your creativity gate
And continue to ride on fate
Too blinded not to vision the rare gem you are
Though the iris of your eyes cries out
But your mindset is a crafty art
Looking for whom next to copy again
In there you think lays your gain
Unknowingly killing the light of the original you
If all spanners were to be hammers
How then are we to unlock the nuts of our tyres?
If Michael Jackson had decided to be a Pele
The moonwalk dance won't have come about
Wonder whose songs would have then healed our world
If Wole Soyinka and Chinua Achebe had clichéd James Hadley chase
Who would have led the vanguard of African literatures?
So break down the barrier and dig to discover the real you
Let go the battle to live another's life
As no photocopy can be the original
No amount of water can turn the sun to a moon
A Lion's gentle stride cannot make it a dog
Be proudly you
As you chase to carve your unique path
And let the universe revel at your deeds
So history will remember how irreplaceable you were
Long after you settle the battles of life.
This poem has not been translated into any other language yet.
I would like to translate this poem