The Secret Poem by Oke Christopher

One day, during my lonely travel,
I found a periwinkle that stole my marvel
I took it to my ear to learn its secret,
It told me to move on ‘else I miss it
I travelled dolefully in fur and pine,
A store of victuals and too much wine
Then I found it among dry brown luxuriant leaves,
Carefully stacked in painstaking sheaves,
Then I saw it was something I learnt in my time past
A secret that was on every mast
It was my being,
All that I was that I was not seeing.
The voices in the shell promised me power;
The secret of the leaves vowed to make me stronger,
My duty was to think and act and believe
And deny fear my faith to thieve
Mine should be to show God and wealth to mankind,
The power of love, and the stride of those that do not rescind.