Narrative of a bread casted upon a water that didn’t return
I. Pre exam
this poem starts with a boy who knows :
“he who fails to prepare, prepares to fail”
he musters the courage to avoid social activities
summons his books out of the bag to the table
& kept them open, sailing
he wants to live the words of Shakespeare,
“the height by which great men reached wasn’t
sudden flight, while their companions slept,
they toil at night”
so when night brings heavy eyes, he baptize his legs
in cold water
still traveling through the pages of book
before he calls it a day, he tries to provide
answers for possible questions
& ends the night with a smiley face
while burying himself under the bed sheet
II. Exam & Aftermath
He travelled fast like light to school
beating rest off his body
he reads his instructor lips,
if you won’t comply, you will complain
but he managed to sit a test
that made his brain look like an empty sheet of paper
he left the hall in tears
hope was like a broken anchor – nothing to hold onto
this boy is eager to know how to pass
a test produced from lessons you haven’t learn before –
without paying for grade
heartbroken he walks home counting steps
the feedback of the exam was plastered on his contenance.
Emmanuel G G Yamba is an undergraduate science student at the University of Liberia. His works has been featured and forthcoming in Salamander Ink Magazine, WSA, Eboquill, Spillword, Nantygreen and elsewhere
