Style And Rhythm: Differences Together

In the night I sleep.

In the morning I awake.

I get up and do my chores.

I hear a bell ringing,

I go to it.

I hear a mortar and pestle calling,

I run from it.

I will be back to make a difference.

The goat runs from the bell,

He goes to the farm in search of yams.

The tortoise finds a way to listen,

How he did it, I do not know.

When the bell stopped ringing,

I came back to the mortar and pestle.

Yes!, I came back.

I put the mortar and pestle to my right.

And a stove to my left.

These two, I will never forget.

The goat and the tortoise come to me.

They have met each other in the race of life.

I tell them the bell has stopped ringing.

The only option is to learn from me.

At night, I sleep like a baby.

In the morning, I awake to move on with life.

Adaudo Anyiam-Osigwe from her book of poems “Words from Beyond when Crying for Myself: Musings of Childhood”