Life and Ironies

“Life and ironies;
Hand in hand, they stroll together like
Inseparable twins,
Unleashing pains on both the humane and
The vile.
When soldiers march to war, residents
Tremble with fear, but
When the ironies of life play their drums, all are
Compelled to dance their tunes.

Do you see what I see?
Do your ears hear what I hear?
Can you feel what my heart feels?
Do your lips dare say what mine has already
Declared?
Let us ponder some realities of
Life as mortals that we are;
Some are born in wealth, others in
Debt,
Some are chosen to rule, others act the
Fool
Some live the life, others choose to
Die.
One child beckons on servants at will,
The other serves another beside his will.
A merchant throws a party having made great
Gain,
Another counts his loss, asking how he went
Overdrawn.
I have seen many ironies of life,
And many more await the living and
Hopeful.
What is this life about! I am just thinking
Aloud.
Look around the world and tell me what
You see;
No, there is no need! For all I see are the ironies of
Life.
They are too deep and their wounds are felt by mortals of
All creeds.

Life and ironies;
Such are the lines of its many
Tales
The guilty pay its huge price,
The innocent are not spared its gruesome
Fight.
Such was the tale of many as was
Atiba’s:
He had a dream, yes, he once had a dream;
A dream so beautiful and precious.
He was six years old and had barely
Started to live.
His father was a coal miner and led a normal
Life with his two sisters and mother.
There was so much to hope and live for.
I grew up with Atiba in Abari village, a
Coastal plain in West Africa, until
Life sent us to the path of our separate
Destinies.
How time flies like a smoke blown by the
Wind!
Twenty years on, the sight of Atiba troubled me.
I paused in disbelief, as the reality of his utter
Loss dawned on me.
As we embraced each other, words could hardly
Describe my friend’s pain, but
The tears that followed said it all.
What my eyes saw my lips failed to speak
What happened to his dreams?
Who stole his zeal? That sight makes
My heart frail, and my lips still cannot tell his
Story.

Life and ironies;
Many have fallen victim of its
Charm, others have tasted the sweetness of its
Pleasures
But I have seen a few things to conclude thus –
No mortal has the power to
Cast the lot where he will;
For we are all in God’s hands”

An excerpt from “Even in the Well…”
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