AS IF IT MATTERED
- Ayodele Ayobolu
- Jun 9, 2017
- 2 min read
The cockroach died yesterday
Crushed, attacked fatally
By missiles and missives of death
With armory and armaments
The ant lost a limb
It worked so hard at the factory
It was sweating and it slipped
The limb went with the works
The fowl lost its neck
Some felons had it for dinner
Now I’m writing obsequies
For the cockroach, the ant and the fowl
As if it mattered
What if the cockroach died
Ant the ant lost its limbs
And the chicken was de-necked
What if…
I wore a used shirt from the “bend-down” boutique
Will I ever know
Who owned it first, second and …
Was the owner sane or not
Light brown or white
Did he believe in anything or everything?
What if
I lodged in a hotel room
And I wondered who had been between the laundered sheets?
Who’s wife?
Who’s husband?
Who’s sister?
Who’s brother?
What if
As I dinned at the restaurant
And the cutlery was dicing
the culinary offerings before me
And I wondered
Who has used the spoons before me
Who’s friend?
Who’s enemy?
Who’s neighbor?
Who’s stranger?
As if it mattered
In the rush of a thousand footsteps
On the streets of life
Many have gone before
Many will come behind
So what matters
Take up your cross and carry it with pride
Its tailor made for you
Take up the weights and summount them with joy
It will give strength for the gaps in-between
Wear your experience as a badge of pride
Go where no one has gone
Do what you have come this far to do
Because when the cockroach is dead
Ant the ant’s limb is gone
And the headless chicken is forgotten
They all become fossils to fuel the earth
The energy will matter
The strength in your smile
When everything is falling apart
The grace in your gait
When you feel like bulking
The fire in your eyes
When you cried yourself to sleep
The urge to try again
When the relics of yesterday’s attempts
still litter the ocean beds of time
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