These Dreams Should Not Fade Poem by omoloja yusuf

Let me tell you a story:
A story of one who stopped dreaming:
She told her sleep that her dreams failed:

I don't really know how to start this story
But I will start the way I can

Once there was a muslimah, born with hopes
Mama had hopes, Baba nutured hopes as she grows

She would dream of a university, a good job after that
A nice guy who would be her world
Kids running after her; male and female
A nanny taking care of the home; cleaning the toilet
And looking after the children when the couple goes partying
A nice car to cruise around the streets
A good house; painted purple with sofas to recline
A master's degree when the time opens
A PhD, though not strong on her mind

Baba planted hope in Medicine;
His daughter would be a Gynecologist
Helping women scale through hardships of labor and STD`s

Mama sowed hope in the Abaya`s and jewelries her daughter
Would bring home from fat salaries

On getting to the university, she met the brothers and sisters
And those dreams changed, like the leaf tired in the afternoon
She would be married before leaving school
The description of the nice guy has changed
He would now wear the beards and laugh less
The big posh house would now be a one room flat
She would have to cover her body with jilbab, a fabric upon fabric
When these thing entered her so seriously, she`ll have to cover
Her face
The nanny would not come again cos that`s an extra load
A nice car to cruise is not really thought of for now
A master`s degree is a waste of time
A phD is for the men
She has fallen in love with Allah

Poor baba, the planted hopes is germinating nightmares
Poor mama, her sowed hopes is now growing into bitter leaf
She did not sow that, what a pity.
Somebody said baba and mama, why the trouble
But I said, that is harsh, cos these people once dreamed

So in my quiet moment when I thought about this case
I thought she should not stop dreaming, she should take
Her dreams by the rein to the stream,
A master`s degree is never a waste of time, it is the other
Path of knowledge
A PhD is for both men and women
Papa and mama`s hope should not fall
She should establish something great for the cause of Islam
Even if she will sow Muslims cloths and make their hairs
Even if she`ll teach their children, or cure their sick
Even if she`ll be a writer, writing for people to learn
She should not leave without leaving a mark, because we can always See the path of the slow gentle snail.

Yusuff `sola Omoloja.