DIDACTIC: "TOURISTS" BY SULAIMON KHALID

Here, we are travellers. 

We came with our hands empty, 

And borrowed breath— 

The moment it stops, 

We return home.

From the first to the last of us, 

We will be gone, 

And covered with sand, 

Awaiting the day 

We will fly to our home.

The world to us is like market; 

We walk roads, 

Both tough and wide, 

As tourists. 

But one day, the market will scatter, 

And we will all return home.

No matter how long 

You journey this life, 

One day, you will leave your loads, 

Ready for home.

We chase the moon, 

We chase stars— 

Yet we will leave behind both.

All that we gather, 

All we own, 

Will all stay behind 

When we are gone, 

For we are tourists.

We come with nothing, 

We go with nothing. 

This world, a stop; 

We are just dust— 

Travelers walking paths.

© SULAIMON KHALID

- Nigeria

The poet persona says life is a market that humans visit for some time. We are born into the world with nothing and we would die with nothing. The voice says all that we chase is not permanent to us but we can keep becoming successful.