My Little Lilly Poem by Maureen Onyinye Kenneth

As I watched the rain dance
The lightning was busy
taking accurate scores about the sounds
And the moves of thunder
The grounds were fed to their taste
But the earth was still hungry

This is not the world eating too much
This is life taking too much
I am being generous with my time
May be I should stop trading with life
That will be a call
for funeral

Don't give my daughter
Too much sweet potato
Make her know the sweet taste
of bitter leave
So she will make do
with what is given to her
when there is lack

Tell her stories about me in uniform
I am standing on the ground
where bullets and bombs are our guest
If I die to live or I live to die
Place my pictures on the walls of her room
so that she won't forget my face

I will never stop smiling
Even in the war front
I didn't forget to drop a note before
leaving
Teach her how to read and write
So she could read it when she's grown
"To my little Lily,
you remain the Smile on my face "