"live for the moment,
the future will take care of itself."
We didn't live by that, we dreamt,
of a great future together as friends,
But,
We were gullible, to think that everything
we planned out won't be over
once we stepped out of the walls we were confined in.
Naive we were!
We read too much fairy tales
and thought they could apply to us too.
We were yet used to travails
that could wreck a ship and scatter it's crew?
What happened to us?
Time happened to us,
Life played it's game and won,
lots of promises we made then,
we're still yet to fulfill one
Perhaps some are still trying hard to keep it strong
regardless of the heights they've climbed
but some no longer belong,
It's hard to believe how ego gained ground.
Can you really be close to someone for ever?
Everybody's now chasing some bag.
'Friends' now compete in a bid to be greater
than the others; the need to brag.
Those we know are now those we knew.
Life continues to win.
©Akinwole John Akintayo
#AnsaPoetOfTheWeekContest
A CRITIQUE ON LIFE CONTINUES TO WIN
The poem ' Life continues to win' was written in November, 2019 by a renowned, vibrant, young poet Akinwole John Akintayo.
The poet successfully painted a picture of an unavoidable and painful separation of friends. His choice of words is very detailed and commendable.
He blamed this broken relationship to 'life happenings'. But relationships are built on commitment amidst other principles and is not dependent on life happenings or events alone.
Secondly, the last line in staza three wasn't constructed properly as a question. Therefore I think it should read "were we yet used to travails that could wreck a ship and scatter it's crew? And not "we were yet used to travails that could wreck the ship and scatter it's crew?".
Also, the poet claimed in the fourth stanza that 'time happened' to the relationship, but I strongly think that time only revealed the worth of the friendship.
John also didn't exploit the use of rhyme and good stanza arrangement in drawing out the beauty of his poem.
Furthermore, John gave a negative answer to his last question " can you really be close to someone forever?" Which I beg to disagree since many families remain close forever when love and commitment is factored into building the relationship. I therefore believe that the same principles can be successfully applied in friendships.
Finally, ' life continues to win' is a poem born out of the multiple abrupt termination of beautiful friendships due to individuals differences or "life happenings" as the Poet would like to put it.
BY CHIBUNDU JOYCE