BEFORE BEFORE

Before forks,
our fingers won wars
before our tongues tasted sweet battles of dining
before compasses
we tasted winds
gazed at stars
and spoke to waters
that showed the way to other lands
before baby carriers,
our babies danced
to their mamas' heartbeats
even as they cruised
in customized vehicles
made from iro and oja
before airplanes
we rolled up distances like carpets
lengthy miles became stunted metres
and days were starved into hours
before Google Maps
shadows cast upon tropical sands
pointed to journeys
devoid of delays
before measuring spoons
our mothers sprinkled salt
absentmindedly into stews
until the simmering pot whispered,
"enough".

WHY DOES JANUARY CRY?

Why does this young month cry so early? Why do her tears soak the earth? Is it to give us a soft landing in May? As they say, “water-soaked ground precedes a pleasant walk”.


Why does January weep with thunderous sobs struggling to escape her throat? Is it because she sees the coming regret born from the womb of bad decisions? Or does she wail at the coming hail of stones that cannot become bread?


Why does January sprinkle her tears over our sleeping faces before the break of dawn? Is she trying to wake us up from our amnesiac slumber? Or does she wants us to keep vigil over dreams and hopes?
January cries. Before it dries. Let’s find out why.

TO KNOW

Baltasar Gracian wrote,
there are four ways to know:
1. Live long enough.
2. Travel through many lands.
3. Read many good books.
4. Converse with wise friends.
1.
Live long enough,
and you’ll see a street bum
offer you his last cigarette
while the tycoon down your street
fills his garbage can with food
that his neighbor can’t afford.
Then you’ll know that
peoples’ names are not what we call them
but are spelled by the things they do.
2.
Travel through many lands
and you’ll be shocked
to realize that your poison
is another’s 3-course meal.
You’ll find peace
living under thatched roofs
and chaos running naked in palaces.
It will amaze you,
that there is a man
that looks like a king
and talks like a sage
but goes to bed hungry.
Don’t be rattled to find women
more beautiful than your queen
even though they wear no makeup.
3.
Read many good books
so you won’t bruise your palms
with effusive applause for your Prof.
because before he knew,
there were those that knew
of the new things
that are new to you.
Within pages, you’ll discover,
that there are worlds.
Worlds gone. Worlds here. Worlds to come.
And as your eyes read words,
they become heavy and weary
with the ages of the authors
4.
Converse with wise friends…
not just the ones dulled by schools,
or those who have their common sense
tied up by the web of the internet,
but those who slip their hands
between the underarms of the earth
to they tell the stories
of how ice can kill
and fire can heal.
This will make you learn
from those who learn not
from leaning on the tongues of men
but gleaning volumes
from what men left unsaid
FINALLY,
In all of your knowing,
know that, the more you know
the more you know you don’t know.