If i were ten

if I were ten
I’d still have the map of Kakuri in my head
know every line of the market by heart
never forget the lines of the Angelus
recite the Lord’s Prayer like a poem
chew the ten commandments like a gum
break a fast and promise my sister food
if her mouth doesn’t tell what her eyes saw
I’d surely learn how to swim
go to a boarding house from J.S.S 1
reply to everyone who asks if I don’t eat healthily
If I’m ever ten years old again
I’d spare myself my mother’s cane
learn to stare into my father’s eyes
do nothing different from when I was at first, ten

Tomide Abdul