A man once walked this planet
He had neither home nor love
No family no friends
No legacy to survive him when he's gone
The dunghill had been his hiding
From the coldness of the moon
And the grievances of the sun

He rummaged the dirt of the hill for food
He drank from the slush in the gutters
Everyone avoided him
And he too avoided death
He didn't care for their comfort or company
He knew how to survive alone

He laughed at everyone and everything
He did not know what it feels like
To be broken on the inside
His own world was not marred with tragedies
And the sad waves sweeping across the world
Could not trouble him
The worries of life were alien to him

Everyone thought him mad
And he laughed at their foolishness too
Wondering where the true madness lied
Was it in him who was unbothered by the anxieties of life
Or they hopeless in their pursuit of an unstopping world
Who let the shadows of its passing cloud their minds
And blind their sense of judgements
And at the end they trade their souls
For momentary comfort
With the grave waiting to remind them of the meaninglessness of life

A man once walked this planet
He had neither home nor love
When he died he was thrown back to the dunghill
Where he lived all his life
Without any grave or burial
Unknown, unheard, and forgotten
Only to be redeemed by the pen of a poet

© Olatuja Oloyede