HOPE POEM: "WHERE DOES THE PATH LEAD?" BY SUMAILA UMAISHA

Down the riverside 

where the moon launders

the land with a lamp?

Up the mountain where

it begins and narrows

to a piercing eye?

Where does the path lead?

I meet a child on the way:

down there is where.

I meet a young man:

up there, take a chance.

An old man says

the answer is in the crooks

of the path taken. 

Keep going even as the sun

wipes the earth's garment

with a whip.

That's where the ends meet.

© Sumaila Umaisha

- Nigeria 

The poem "Where does the path lead?" by SUMAILA Umaisha explores life as a journey filled with uncertainty and choices. The speaker meets a child, a young man, and an old man, each giving different views about where the path leads.

In the end, the poem suggests that life’s meaning is found through experience, perseverance, and continuing forward despite hardships.