Innocence Poem by Hafsah Temitayo Aminu

Even the call of you is pleasant
Evoking a soft and gentle feel
Just like it is when you were within
Giving a feel of serenity
No jewel is as precious as you;
No jewel is as transient as you.

I wee in mama's new wrapper
I give her a bite during my meals
She picks me up for a spank
I take the cue to be a game
Laughing into her resigned face;
All because you are in me.

The world is crying of poverty
The talk of war is looming high
Daddy comes home witha frown
Mother sits by gently by his side
But I race the house with my peers;
All because you dwell in us.

Oh! Innocence. Sweet innocence
Why did you have to go like that?
Taking away so much beauty
Of your cloth of oblivion
Stripping me to the wake of the know
Knowledge of the bad and the ugly.

Oh! You gentle spirit of innocence!
If only I knew when you slipped away
What would I not do to let you stay?
What would I not give to have you back?
But your journey is a no-return
The next neonate is now your plot.

Why didn't you say when you were here
That my growth would chase you away?
Then I'd have supplicated to God
To bless me with a stunted growth
So we could always be together
So it's you I'll know forever.