TOUCHING MY STAR

by OLUWAKEMI CELINA AMUSAN
(ABUJA, NIGERIA)

TOUCHING MY STAR
When I was a child
about the age of six
lying down in the greens with other kids
we would tell stories, laugh, play and sing
Then look up in the sky till we saw
The brightest shining star we could find
And vow that one day we would touch it

Even as a grown up man
Belabored with the cares of this world
The image of the star never left the boy in me

‘See that star’, he would say,
Causing me to look out the window
At the star that shone brightest in the dark nights
'It’s mine, and I would touch it someday'.

His nudges filled my nights with dreams beyond the popular.
Inspiring determined steps from my weary body
The strength in his whispers lifted my spirits
Above the gravitational influence of false emotions
Till I soared so high in my thoughts
And fought with every fiber of my being
The alien forces that got in my way

My imaginations stretched
Amidst the strangely interwoven path of Darkness and light
Where the daunting challenges gave way to better chances of success

Though I never saw the stars in the morning
When I got up from my bed
But the passion it ignited
Gave me power to fight in the day
And I was like dynamite
Putting every obstacle to flames
And lovingly following my bliss

I touched my stars
Yes I did
Like an expedition through space it was
Though a little more tasking if I dare say so
But it brought out all the juice in me
And I became a better man for it

Now the world celebrates me
And the innovations I brought to existence
But I celebrate the world
The desire to brighten it
Ignited my passion every step of the way
Till i touched my star