The reason you do can be the reason you don’t

You know, I grew up a very disobedient and rude child in more than one way

I hid from school, went river and sea, had fun and frolic all through the day.

Nevertheless, I use to read a lot and listen to what the old and wise had to say

I eventually had to admit, what happen to good happen to bad, it’s come what may.

I had friends who drink alcohol, some did not while some prefer herbs

Like Solomon, I craved wisdom more than gold and I had fun reading proverbs.

Yet the more I read, the more I got confused and even got perturbed

Cause if you follow everything you read, your life might be well disturbed.

Yes, you see, you to look to proverbs for guidance and they are a paradox

Sometimes the very reason you do something is the very reason you should  

 not.

Play with puppy dog, puppy dog licks your mouth as a matter of fact

Yet it is the same puppy dog, who helps you out when you in a spot.

Avoid loud and aggressive persons, they are vexations to the spirit and soul,

Yet listen to others, even the dull and the ignorant have their story to be told.

Show me your company and I tell you who you are, was written big and bold

However, Jesus Christ had ignoble friends, even a prostitute, who was not whole.

Opposite attracts is definitely true, of this I can attest and even tell

But if you are not even yoked and in harmony, you won’t do well.

Remember that to each his or her own, as one man’s heaven is a next man’s hell

Envy not a man’s success, because you never know the things he gave up or even sell.

I have seen the wicked growing old and flourishing like a big green bay tree

While the righteous dying young and perishing and losing their liberty.

Yet I am confident of the victory of good over evil, that the blind will see

Even if life is rough and tough, grim, and slim, it better to run away from iniquity.

At times, we really want to be good, and our aim is to do our best

But the system keeps pushing, and pulling, putting our souls to the test.

You see, we all need guidance and help, and the weary soul do need to get a rest

Yet the same proverbs are saying, when things get rough keep fighting at your hardest.

He that keepeth his mouth keepeth his life yet being silent is supporting strife.

See and blind, hear and deaf, is why the guy still killing people with a gun or knife.

God loves a sinner, but he hates sin as that is what contributes to a detestable life.

Avoid loud and aggressive people for they are a vexation to the soul, both husband and wife.

Speak your truth quietly and clearly; and worry not about the fruit

As life is more than learning, it is about living and that we can’t refute.

Again, I want to share another poem from my archive, written as a youth

It’s all about life, and I assure you, it’s not necessarily every body’s truth.

PROVERBS AND LIFE

An old Jamaican saying goes,

“There are two sides to every story:

One is for, the other against.

Another saying goes, “Try, try

And try, if at the one thousandth time

You still fail, try again.

This is very tiresome and discouraging

But people say, “Good for those who

endure.”

“ A drowning man will catch at a straw.”

What does this proverb really mean?

Desperate people respect no one.

They say that new brooms do sweep

clean,

Yet old brooms know the corners.

If I live by rules, I’ll never know you.

Doesn’t familiarity breeds contempt,

Distance brings and breeds respect??

Proverbs, proverbs, life, life

Proverbs and life

PROVERBS AND LIFE: POEM FROM “VIEW” ,THE NOTCLIF 1983 COLLECTION OF POEMS