My Future My Responsibility Poem by Ama Alma Okigbo

Some become lawyers
Some doctors
Some farmers
Even slaves
I keep thinking about it
I don't know why
For why I keep dreaming about it
Is a question I avoid

Who am I to become?
I wake up from the sunlight shining in my eyes
To look out of the window to my greatest dismay
I see millions being lashed by the sun on their barebacks
Working tirelessly in misery and gloom
The sound of the hoe indenting some space in the soil
Makes me wonder
Were they responsible for their future

I jump as the doorbell rings
She walks in with her draped cloak dragging on the floor
The way her persuasive tongue defends her clients amazes me
From the way she speaks to the way she dramatizes
Her ability to be outspoken astonishes me
The sound of the gavel hitting the sound block
Makes me wonder
Was she responsible for her future?

The weight of my future slows me down
For I know, there are no short cuts in getting anywhere
I can't run away from it all
I must be determined and face it
For I 'Ama Okigbo' is responsible for my future