Survival Instinct

photocredit - Adrian McDonald

“When I was your age, I used to take first,

I was often the best in my class,

Those that took first do they have two heads? ”

You would stand cold with your second term’s result

Father would spill his fury on you like oil

You knew answering him would be disastrous

For in moments like this,

A cup of thunder is often two words away

And you would drink to your fill

Probably till you want no more

So you would stand like a pillar of salt

But roam around in your mind

And in there you would ask something like this,

“Dangote that’s your age mate

does he have two heads,

Or did you use your own destiny to fry plantain?

But what’s the point of asking

In African homes, we don’t talk back to our parents

Else, Solomon grande would have seemed like Methuselah to us

It’s called Survival Instincts