Response to Fiyinfoluwa Oladipo’s “Dusk”

Make a choice

will you return to this place?
to this cliff housing an ocean
where your lifeless gazes roam
to find answers beneath a puzzle
like the sun that rises from the east
to spy on the earth at noon
only to return at night as the moon
and scatter her rays as the stars
or what do we call a mother
who leaves to make ends meet
where snow is spilt into her end by meat
for her child to feed, for her child to live?
will you be patient enough
not to judge a caterpillar by its pace?
will you be reasonable enough
not to judge a man by his face?
will you be careful enough
not to judge a thorn by the present state?
being humane or not doesn’t cost a dime
make a choice where everything is free.

Tomide Abdul