To Have And To Hold Poem by Baba Anisa Mwangolela

There was a story we were told when we were young,
It mattered then, for it lingered long,
In our minds, it planted seeds to grow,
Nurturing the ideas we'd come to know.

How we'd eagerly await the day
When we could have, and keep, in every way.
My father would say, 'To have and to hold
Is for the brave, the daring, the bold.'
So the stories were told
Of growth, of gain, and treasures of gold.

They taught us courage, and how to behave,
Reminding us, when the time came, to save
To save time, to save our wealth,
For those who cared for us, and for our health.

Time, they said, is of the essence,
To be present, to embrace each presence.
They taught us to give time to what we hold dear,
To be patient, steady, and sincere.
Patience was sown deep within our minds,
A virtue, passed down, gentle and kind.

We listened, with gleam and glee in our eyes,
With hopeful hearts, under youthful skies.
We dreamed we'd be humble, when our turn came,
To have, to hold—our moment in the flame.
To grasp the rare gift, when life gave us the chance,
To claim our share in fate's fleeting dance.

I remember now, those stories told,
And I promised myself I'd fiercely hold
I would not let go, not in life nor in death,
For I so longed to have, with every breath.