Tell a child the truth!
Make him know
That there are tons of disciplines
In our Polytechnics
Where anyone can be happy
Studying what is lucrative
For their future and families
When they work hard in it.
Tell him that fine art is not only for leisure
While he prepares to be that rich Medical Director
That poetry is not just a lullaby,
Like sedatives for the night time.
Make him know through poetry Shakespeare told of Romeo and Juliet‘s stride
Through painting Davinci surely had a code to hide
In the language of sculpture
Bruce does tell tales of our cultures’ tide
Via the art of stanzas
Niyi still preaches what “poetry is”
Its role in our society
And all it still can be.
Tell a child the truth!
Let him know,
There is power in the painter’s brush too
As it has been in the lawyers books.
That there are skyscrapers in poetry
Like the architects blueprint
Coming to reality
A wondrous creativity.
Tell them the truth
In their books and schools.
Show them:
A Poet with his pen
A Painter with his brush
A Musician with her instrument
An Economist with his ideas
A Cobbler with his shoes
A Historian with his volumes
Not just Engineers, Lawyers
And Doctors
Who are not alone
In making the world suitable
For many Eagles to soar
Soar in the spaces of the Media
Entertainment, Education, Government, Religion, Family and the Arts.
Tell a child the truth
Make him know
That there are many courses to success and joy
As there are many letters in the English alphabet.
Make her know
That the journey from Nursery
To the university
Will not only end in Law or Medicine
But make them know
That it also leads to Music, History, English, Linguistics, Zoology ,Fishery, Psychology.
And other studies
Too rich to be sent to that place called Coventry
I mean oblivion state and dynasty.
Tell them the truth
Make them know
That a teacher’s duty is as efficient as the Engineer’s
Who alone they think
The teacher is teaching them to become.
Make them know
Not everyone with a lab. coat is a Doctor.
Let them know
That some are Micro Biologists, Chemists, Nurses and Pharmacists.
Let them know
Who make the pills
The panacea for them when ill
Who make the discoveries,
The knowledge to stay safe and healthy
I mean to stay well and physically fit.
Tell them the truth
Let them know
That the songs of the ground and the stories of Everest
Were told by Geologist.
That the reason men now tweet
Like birds early in the morning
Was because of some computer Scientists.
That their school’s foundations
Were laid by a generation
Who saw the need for a Nursery and Primary Education.
Please, tell them the truth.
Make them know
They must enter
A higher institution
With a purpose so true
And their potentials in view
Please tell them this truth.
Tell a child the truth
make him know
That reading can be as sweet as eating
Even breathing,
That beyond an exam’s requirement
It is needed for sane thinking
Make them know
Because you know this
But if you don’t know this
Don’t deprive them from knowing this
I mean the riches in being avid in reading.
Make them know
That there are many walls to break
And many bridges to build.
That they must play their parts
In making these come to pass.
Please tell them this truth.
Tell them the truth
Let them know
If not they will discover
In the long run
They lived your dreams
Not theirs.
Please tell them the truth.
Tell them the truth
When it is dawn
Cause the night will come
When no man can work.
Please, tell them this truth
Now they are young
They will be glad you did when they were young
That you didn’t wait too long
To birth this simple yet transforming truth
Before the rising of their sun.
Please tell them!
By Karo Enajemo
Photo Credit: Revocatus Meney
