RIPPLES OF OUR DEEDS

By Sunday Afolayan

They were just shivering

Lonely and hopeless

Crying for help

Longing for succour

Chirping, zithering

Thirsty and hungry

Writhing in pains

Waiting in sorrow

For mother to come

But the motherbird

Was nowhere in sight

Because she's been killed

By a ruthless hunter

In the ruddest of game. 

The ten little chicks

Were battling with cold

Right there in their nest

A snake climbed up the tree

Feasted on five 

Out of the ten

For lack of protection. 

In the dead of the night

A storm then gathered

With whirlwind and lightening

The downpour that followed

Unleashed its terror

And the five remaining chicks

Were killed in the tempest. 

The lesson is this:

It is cruel and evil

To harm or kill 

For every evil deed

A man metes onto others

Will bring ripples aftermath

Not only on the victim

But also those that depend

On the victim of the evil. 

The ruthless hunter 

That killed the motherbird

Is simply the architect 

Of the gruesome death

Of her ten little offsprings. 

The dreams of that fellow

You just nipped in the bud

Can lift scores of others

Out of conundrum tomorrow

The ideas of subordinates

You simply killed for joke

Are enough to lift thousands

Out of the wilderness

If allowed to sprout 

And grow to maturity. 

A fire made at one point

Can travel far and wide

The ripples of our deeds

Can spread and sprawl

Over diverse directions. 

#Sunday Afolayan is the Chairman, Association of Nigerian Authors (ANA), Ondo State. His works are protected by Copyright laws.