Words Of A Mother Poem by Yusuff Uthman Adekola

Oh, son!
Oh, daughter!

Let not your eyes be sodden
For neither a river nor an ocean is it.
Weep not!

Let not your heart hop as a kangaroo
For here I am to allay your parasitic fear.
Fidget not!

Let not your body shudder
For around you I stay like the rigid walls of Camelot.
Shake not!

Let not your body blow hot in summer
For I've been to the cool springs
And got you the coolest water.
Sweat not!

Let not your skin know cold in winter
For I've been into the deep,
Deep into the wild, for the best woods for fire.
Shiver not!

Let not your soul wander as a stray traveller
For I've set a narrow smooth path:
A path free of bandits.
Derail not!

Oh, son!
Oh, daughter!

Look up and see your mother
Covering you as a roof protecting a house's habitants.
Look below and sigh for relief
As there's a wide world for you to explore.

Would you look back and forth?
All is set; so, calm your tremor.
Would you fear for the right and for the left?
All is free of Grendel's blood-dripping claws.

But, son!
But, daughter!

Follow the stamps of my feet
On the paths I have tread
So your case may not be of the little chicks
Whose ears went deaf to their mothers' preachings.

Follow the stamps of my feet
On the paths I have tread
So my wish may come to pass
And you may earn all I've made.

And the world shall yours be!
And the world shall yours be!