Teach Me Poem by Joseph Oladehinde Ibikunle

Teach me
To speak, to write and to act
Without tenuating the tenets of truth.

Teach me
Oh, to love with the whole heart
Whether - or not - such love be unrequited.

Teach me
To douse my anger
When my heart is bedevilled with fury.

Teach me
That anger is insanity, sadness is folly
And happiness is but sweet ecstasy.

Teach me
To smile and try again
When the sadness of failure betides.

Teach me
My peace to hold, the impulse to control
When happiness holds the rein of my heart.

Teach me
To live each day in furtherance
Of yesterday at my own little pace.

Teach me
To live not by competition
But by the pursuit of internal happiness

Teach me
Yes, teach me of contentment
Even if everything altogether is a pinch of salt.

Teach me
Please, teach me to laugh
For each cackle of laughter, they say, is priceless.

Teach me
On my fellow, mercy to have
For my soul abhors seeing a fellow languishing.

Teach me
To be remorseful and sorry
Whenever I fall fallibly to imperfection.

Teach me
The good and the bad to know
And to discern when any of them comes disguising.