You think you have it rough

Could it be as tough as the dough?

Beaten up and cuts into bits

Tossed into the oven heat

Yet comes out crispy and hot

Ready for the icing on top

With the paste we all have a favourite place

Cakes put a smile on many a bride’s face

Doughnuts and bread for everyone in plates

Path full of thorns but I wipe clean the slates

Like a rough diamond, now I come out trump

Chin up and weather the storm!

 

Yes I am a beautiful flower

But I have also been sour

For it is not always summer

In winter there is no shower

Sucked dry by the weeds

Blown away by the winds

Heads down not much to look at forlorn

It will be summer again and I shall blossom

My blazing colours and aroma will captivate

Butterflies and birds my nectar to salivate

To rise again, I need to be strong

Chin up and weather the storm!

 

Unemployed, accounts in red

Bills to pay, family to be fed

You have it hard but take a look at me

Homeless, refugee, not an account to my name

From faraway I come seeking greener pastures

I could be deported in a minute gesture

I am pregnant, barefoot, hungry children crying

Land ravaged by famine, droughts and slaying

I have no food, bank or fertile land but I walk on

The world plays politics and religion with my situation

I am just a statistic, it looks so bleak but I trudge on

Chin up and weather the storm!

 

I am the proud Rainbow, with awe you stare

Beautiful colours blazing across the clear blue sky

Sky once laden with rain soaked tears

Cloudy, stormy, wintry with no stars

Sunshine will always find a way to break through

The rainbow will blaze again, marvel and stay true

Life dishes out its mixture of pain and pleasure

With pressure we appreciate more our treasures

Stricken down, rise up and look beyond the snares

This too shall pass for nothing stays the same

When it is all falling apart, just stay strong

Chin up and weather the storm!

BY © Yemisi Ilesanmi