COUNSEL
My parents woke me up in the midnight hour
To warn my ear about legs that will cross my path
in a soft tune they said;
Some people are viper wrapped in shinny shell
Some people are antidote swaths in old body
Some people will pace your path with roses
Some people will tramp your alley with thorns
Some people will come on an Angel’s wing
Some people will arrive with the ashes of misery
Remember!
To welcome all of them with an open arm
And be generous and patient with oneself
Don’t forget to be kind to what comes next
For the future bears grudges to no one
To warn my ear about legs that will cross my path
in a soft tune they said;
Some people are viper wrapped in shinny shell
Some people are antidote swaths in old body
Some people will pace your path with roses
Some people will tramp your alley with thorns
Some people will come on an Angel’s wing
Some people will arrive with the ashes of misery
Remember!
To welcome all of them with an open arm
And be generous and patient with oneself
Don’t forget to be kind to what comes next
For the future bears grudges to no one
Analysis/ Review of the poem.
A beautiful poem written by Okoro Amarachi Anastasia to enlighten the youths on the kind of people who met in life. This is a timeless poem written to reminder us the reality of life that await everyone. The tone of the poet is soft and mild as it pass across an instructive message to the youth (who are still at the peak of life and have a long way to go in life). This is a poem of fourteen with one stanze, written in narrative style. There is used of symbols in the poem, such as “Angel’s wing” and “ashes of misery”. There are a lot use of metaphor and other figures of speech as repetition (Some people), alliteration (some people will pace your path with roses) etc.
The poem is simply a vital advice render from parent children on the kind of people that will cross our path (the good, the bad, the ugly, the beautiful, the blessings, the lessons, destiny helper, destiny wrecker, the heartbreaker and the healers). We will meet that will make us simile/ laugh, people that will make us cry, people that will make our crooked path straight, people that will burn the bridges of our pathways, people that will stay till the end and people that will leave. The poet made us to understand that meeting any of these people is not within our control. It just happens. Also the poet made us to understand that we should accept all as these people come into our lives for a reason (whether it's for good or bad). This reality take away our fantasy that life is a bed or roses. It keeps us at the edge of curiosity. It reduces our expectations about people and help us to accept the fact that people are dynamic and you can't control what and why they in your life.
In conclusion, the poet plead with her audience to be embrace all that comes into life and turn everything to good. Welcome everything or everyone with an open arms regardless what comes the outcome, that's how we grow and become better, no one get to decide the kind of people we meet in life but we have the power to decide the impact they will make in our lives. The poets advised her audience to be gentle or kind to themselves and to people. See everything that happens in our lives from optimistic perceptive because no one knows what the future holds, as its unpredictable. This poem passes wisdom to young people on life.