I Want Life!

Life now seems to be so dull,

And full of anguish and pity.

It is now monotonous, leading to an expected end

While the soul cries out to just be shaken

And bows its head to acknowledge it will never happen.

I want life,

All that is in it – the good, the bad, the logical, the unanswered,

the sorrow, the sadness, the pity, the joy, the happiness and the jubilation.

I want all of life.

I want to know all the knowledge Man has sought to acquire,

And all the things he made up to enjoy his life spent on this earth.

But things are expected.

Life turns out afterwards to be filled with rules, directions,

specific times and events – all expected.

Life becomes the opposite of life.

Adaudo Anyiam-Osigwe from her book of poems A Little Understanding:  Poems from the End of Childhood to the Beginning of Adulthood