The Paradox of Life
What is this tumultuous life?
What does it all mean?
Hardships! Disappointments! Betrayals!
Dreams merely fading with the wind!
One moment having the strength of steel
That breaks the yolks of toughest predicaments.
Next moment as fragile as eels
Gone with the mildest ailment!
How hard we work to visualize our dreams
Only to wail in thwarted expectations.
One moment as rich as Croesus
Next moment can’t afford a carcass-
Wallowing in abject poverty!
“What a wise fellow,” they will say
Yet when they pocket the gain
They will certainly call you insane.
So many sham well wishes,
“You will make it; I can see it in your eyes.”
But in private they pray, night and day
For that fateful day when their efforts will pay
The day they will rumble after your crumble.
In the interviews they ask;
Who do you know? What is your surname?
How deep is your pocket?
How about marital status?
Surrender something, just a little
To appease our eyes; and brains too
That is, before we check your papers.
Eh, still talking about integrity? Maybe you don’t have the quality.
Don’t call us, we shall call you.
Frustrations! Frustrations!
Our greatest anguish, deepest wounds
The kill shots, the wrecking bombs
All spring from our allies, our trusted confidants.
Great help comes from aliens, strangers we barely know
Scarcely from people have we called Brothers! Sisters! Friends!
The irony of life!
No one notices your sad days, the disappointing times
Nor the agony of life; the suffering in making ends meets.
So alone in moments of pain, solitude making its gain
But when things change- when things change,
The crowd will be by your side ready to protect you in a fight
“Our guy,” they will say, just because there is grain
To please their insatiable, grumbling bellies.
Very few people will see you in your sick bed,
The excuse? “Limited” financial resources.
Yet, when the Mugumo tree falls
And you answer the call of the ancestors
How the contributions will flock!
A multitude will see you off
“He was a friend, a brother, a colleague,”
“She was a strong, dedicated woman,”
“His life has always inspired me,”
“He led an exemplary life,”
Indeed it is true: a dead one has no enemies.
Amidst all this topsy-turvydom
Lies a flicker of hope, a ray of strength
That brings confidence in humanity,
That makes life bearable.
It emanates from the kind; the humane
The selfless folks who can’t see one in pain,
The mothers who will sacrifice themselves for their children,
The fathers who will bear it all for the success of the young ones,
The children who toil day and night to see smiles on their parents,
The leaders who believe in integrity,
The lads who hold on, persevere, despite walking on stormy paths,
And eventually conquer the storm; come out victorious.
These are the valiant individuals that make life bearable.
Amidst all these chaos,
There is a flicker of hope, even though it dimly shines.
By Simon Njoroge
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