The Preacher's Analogy Poem by Tunji Ibrahim

We say his death is something of a mystery, a premonition, a prognostication, a presage, a bad omen, yet the undertakers have conveyed his coffin past the door of his own house, mistakenly taking his cadaver to yet another man's abode. We all seem to understand the import of this proverb. It may be improper to let the chips fall where they may when the future lives in the shadow of a cassandra. When eyes are too big, they begin to have abnormal vision. And when the head is too big, its owner is in the soup. People think me big, whereas I'm smaller than the heavy load they have readily put upon my head... I know how little I am. Lord, may You condone all the utterances that magnify my prominence, beyond the flesh of my bones, beyond the soul of my body, in the eyes of the people as I seek Your compassion and forgiveness. While they possess and profess the knowledge of my good side, they have displayed a woeful ignorance of the fact that I'm not whole, that I have my own Achilles' heel. Sure, I am a sinner, and to reduce my ability to commit more sins, I cannot but choose to walk in the paths of good people. When a sinner befriends a sinner, his mind invariably becomes exacerbated and more contaminated, and deeply rooted in evil. Promise is a journey of loads, and certainty is void of completeness. When in the middle of it, there is a huge hungry lion, out of volition it slips into a fiasco lickety-split, almost dwindling away to nothing. Fear grips my being, hence my quick resolve to discontinue the shambolic journey to further burst with love. Sometimes the promise failed is love fulfilled. Verily, words subsist to be spoken, and not everywhere nor every time. And not all we hear must pass our lips. Words must be accompanied by action, otherwise we end up pouring water into a basket. The wisest course of action is to decide not to equate our utterances with our knowledge. We are created with two ears, and with only one mouth. We shouldn't utter more words than the ears are made to contain. Listen more than less, and say less than more.