Still I Arise Poem by Oluwaseun Adeleke

I have come a long way
And yet still at the beginning
Of a road I must ply
Though I know not my journey’s end
Nor the path I must take to reach it
Yet still I must
Proceed and not stop to revel
In the distance I have ventured
Nor over the treachery of the path
I have been led to take
I cannot from weariness look
Back at what may have been if
Nor even consider a retreat
Back to life lived and lost
However notable the events
That shaped them have been

I will not be deterred by fear
To venture into a future
The unpleasantness of past lessons
Has taught me to be uncertain of
Yet still I must arise
Never to give in
Always to reign in against the tide
Even when sometimes I cannot stand
From the squall of life’s battles
I will reach-out and hold on obstinately
To this creed that is sure
And in firm belief declare
I will not be left to roam
Like an orphan in a storm
You will come to me
And so still I arise