Bearing pain
Is like rearing Gain -
You tend it patiently
‘Til it yields fruits abundantly
And then you plant again.

It’s a circle of pain
The farmer breaks the ground to plant the seed
The seed breaks its shell to yield the feed
Our teeth crush the feed to tend our need
Our need disciplines itself not to turn into greed
So that we still retain enough feed
To sow again.

Che Chidi Chukwumerije
Poems from the inner river