I BECAME LIFE

 

I found a beetle while I was doing dishes.

It didn't seem brittle, but breaking it became one of my wishes. 

It was so black, I could have missed it, 

But my eyes weren't slack and so I distinguished it.

I stood for a moment, thinking what to do with it.

My mind hastened to recollect, the one time I was stung in the head by it.

I made my decision; I picked it and put in a bowl.

I didn't need conviction, I was sure I was going to have a ball.

I stood for another moment, and I watched;

I saw it make movements, I watched as it crawled.

The bowl was a hindrance, but it tried,

It crawled to the vertex, and I took the moment to strike.

Like I wanted, it fell back to rock-bottom, 

Like I expected, it landed on its bottom.

A smile spread across my lips, 

But was wiped after it got back on its feet. 

It made another attempt, it crawled again to the vertex;

I took another moment, and became the hindrance. 

Yet again, it fell on its back and my smile was back, 

But was again wiped after it got over the knock. 

The third time was the magic. 

It crawled to the vertex, and I was there to knock it back down. 

This time it struggled to get back up, 

All six legs in the air, it struggled to turn back up. 

I waited for the next turn to send it to the bottom. 

In that moment, I became life;

Waiting to knock people back down, 

Waiting to frustrate their efforts and expect them to rise again, so I could hit again. 

The beetle never righted itself, 

I got bored and threw it out the bowl. 

There was hope in my heart that it would draw strength from the sun, 

And it would right itself and walk away free. 

I waited but it didn't stand.

I left it to be, and by the time I returned,

There was no hope left for it,

As it was already eaten by a lizard that had been waiting on prey. 

Don't be the beetle, don't end in a lizard's belly. 

Life would always wait to knock you down, 

But something else is waiting to make sure you never stand again. 

Take that leap, have faith in yourself and get back up, quick! 

—Onwumah Ozed 

©2020