“Human history becomes more and more a race between
education and catastrophe.”- H.G Wells.
i
You smile to dreamland assured that
your
clock’s
alarm would wake you at dawn.
You
rush to class everyday to see your world start with Dr. Anne’s
first marker stroke on the board and a homework that kills your sleep.
You say no to all party calls and make the
library
a second home. Those books must bear
your burdens; or vice versa.
Someday, you would write yours and have
people read your thoughts
and save them in their minds and
shelves too…
You detest wine and beers.
Best brains are never preserved in
alcohol, you would argue
and take your leave; tucking in your
shirts and flying your ego.
You lose weight during exams and giggle
at the A’s
that grace your score sheet. You make a
first class!
The world must awake and await your
arrival.
ii
A day after your graduation,
you would stand before a panel whose
countenances
inform you that the world awaits nobody.
The impressive paper that has become
your
dream will lose its glamour and like a
film,
the world would splash before your eyes;
leaving them wet.
A day after your graduation,
you would dress the part to meet a man
in suit that soothes his stress.
He would look at your paper, nodding
steadily like a lizard.
‘You are quite brilliant and
impressive’, he would say while
handing your paper back to you.
Afterwards, excuses would
flow like a river and carry you back
whence you came.
The next day, you would taste a drink or
two,
And
perhaps, light a cigarette too.
The shame must go with its smoke.
A day after your graduation,
you would walk twenty miles in your
shoes
until the soles are gone with the pride in your hands.
A day after your graduation,
you would walk away, backing the world you once knew
and finding your path to your own new
world.
©
Echezonachukwu Nduka 2014
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