Poetry

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By

Gbemre Daniel OgheneTega

A Rebellion Against Orthodoxy

Why is it that the world runs from the truth?

Is it because the truth gives us more responsibility than the illusions we and/or others have created and accepted for ourselves

Maybe it’s because the truth is hard to chew and consequently hard to swallow for a world that chooses to be stuck on its baby teeth

Before the truth can be understood

First, what it entails has to be understood

The truth does not guarantee bliss; it more or less guarantees freedom and still that freedom does not guarantee bliss

The world has been stuck and more painfully has become comfortable in a state of conformity that ridicules the true power and possibilities of the human mind

The truth is lodged over layers of itself

Perfectly put to make the search for it a tiring effort

The small speck of dissent in our hearts and minds that we choose to ignore because of the fear that we cannot comprehend its magnitude

Have you ever experienced the pain one feels when in a state of unorthodoxy with the world around them?

When only your eyes seem to be open

When everyone else is comfortable with theirs being closed

The truth cannot and should not be told or forced on anyone

Because if done so, it takes them farther away from it

There should be an un-withering desire and consequently a conscious effort made by all to acquire it

But will that ever happen? If it does, what will make it happen?

Because every fire needs a spark, every revolution an ideal

Will the world ever choose to cleanse its mind from all that it knows?

And choose to start on a clean slate

To preach love like it were a religion

To have an uncompromising view of a fellow man or woman as a brother or sister

Regardless of race, culture and beliefs and every other thing that classifies us?

But can the world truly be at peace where there is classification

Classification which in itself is unavoidable

Because isn’t it human nature to say mine is better or truer than yours

Especially when one’s own beliefs contradict another

But should a belief really matter more than why there is a need for it?

A need for something greater than ourselves

Something that everyone can say he or she feels

One of the pains and ironies of this world is not just that the rich oppress the poor

But depend so strongly on the quietness and indifference of those in middle

Who too, are being oppressed but to a lesser known degree

How do you think the world is going to be when it ends?

Will there be world peace?

Will a man feel nothing but love for his fellow human beings despite their differences?

Or is this all we hope to achieve

The ultimate goal shouldn’t only be to help the poor

But to eradicate poverty as a whole

A world where charity is not needed

The ultimate goal shouldn’t be contentment for others who are different

Because contentment can be molded into anything sinister

It should be an acceptance and love for diversity

But I ask again

Will that ever happen? If it does, what would make it happen?

Because every fire needs a spark, every revolution an ideal

Can the world truly grow if we do not question who we are now and what comes naturally to us?

Why choose to comfort yourself with an illusion in the midst of chaos?

When you can accept its existence and decide to eradicate it.

Gbemre Daniel OgheneTega

Gbemre Daniel Oghenetega was born on the 2nd of November and is a poet and aspiring novelist from delta state and recently completed a degree in business administration, most of his work is centred on social conciousness.