Do It For US!!!

Only God knows what you were doing when I wrote this
What I’ll be doing when you read this
What day it’ll be, what mood I’ll be in
How you got this in your hands.
                                       -Joshua Owopetu.

I was struck by these words when I read them. I realized that we’re all going through the motions of life struck by different tragedies, surrounded by different circumstances, immersed in different environments, fighting different battles, but one thing remains the same for us all; time. We’re all going through life at the same time. Furthermore, it struck me that in many ways, we bicker and argue over whose situation sucks more or who has it worse in this life, trying to inspire attention from others rather than trying to ease another person’s pain. We can keep doing that or we can stop and recognize those whose hearts are broken amongst us, those whose spirits are crushed, those whose souls are heavy, those whose smiles are a long forgotten memory and we can stretch out the hand of love to them.

He’s just a boy but in many ways forced into manhood of sorts; only worth as much as he can do for everyone else. He’s broken up by the strength he carries everyday, shouldering a load never meant for him to carry. He has been robbed of love, pressured until the cracks begin to show and still the iron hand isn’t lifted, it sinks claws into him, ripping him apart so he is left with nothing but weakness. He wishes death upon those who own the hands that have yielded themselves to his torture, the ones who gave him life and now tear it out of him piece by piece. If he were never to see them again, it would be too soon.

He’s just a child with only one constant in his life, a mother who has given him life in more ways than one. He carries around the pain of abandonment for them both striving to keep in check the bitterness that threatens to destroy him. He sees the resemblance in his eyes and in his heart he curses the reflection. Silence greets him each time he asks the questions that torture him day and night chipping away at the semblance of esteem he scrapes up wherever he can find it. He wishes he could love back he who went away so everything would be okay.

She’s just a girl, a beacon of companionship on the outside, lonely on the inside. At the sound of her name she flashes a smile concealing the fear that shakes her inside. Every move she makes is precise and coordinated, saying the right things at exactly the right time. She manages to keep people close but never lets them in, for they must never know the terrible secret she carries. Her daddy loves her, a little too much and he never misses an opportunity to show it. When her mother is out and no one else is home, he shows her how much he loves her. When he thinks no one is looking, he shows her how much he loves her. He looks at her with a knowing in his eyes because he does know her, like no father should ever know his daughter. With every fiber of her being she wishes she never existed.

She’s just a woman, a woman who has loved him with all she has. A woman who has given everything she has to and for him. A woman who has committed herself to him no matter the cost, vowing to stay through everything. In this case it might cost her life. With every hand he raises to her, every slap that hits her face, every drop of blood, every tear that stains her face, she loves him. She’ll never leave him because to her he’s everything she lives for and if he decides she lives no more then it is as it should be. After all, she’s to be submissive, he’s the head of the home, he’s master of all so all he does is right, or so she has deluded herself into thinking. What she does not know is that she’s the light of her daughter’s world and everyday she stays and suffers in silence, that light grows dimmer.

He’s just a man; he poured his heart and soul into the work of his hands reveling in every accomplishment to his name. His work is his life. It gives him great joy knowing that he can provide for every need in his family. He’s up at the crack of dawn and coming home bone-weary oblivious to the words of welcome always prepared for him. If it has been created by man, his family owns it. From flashy cars to designer clothes, multiple houses to high tech gadgets, shopping sprees to lavish holiday getaways for his wife and kids, they have it all. Too bad his children don’t know their father, too bad his wife has a stranger for a husband. They know of what he does, they see it everyday but they have no idea who the man behind the gadgets is. The voice in his head asks him if it is worth it but he shoves it aside every time. His father gave him nothing, he never wants to become like him but in avoiding that he leaves his own children fatherless but what can he do, there can never be that balance, can there?

I now see things clearly; it’s not just about me but about every other person that goes through time and space just like me. You might see yourself in any one of them, but don’t make the mistakes they’re making, don’t sit and stew in it. Get up and make the right decisions, not just for you but for the rest of us. The stand you take today might be a catalyst to my dream just as your shrinking back might be the death of another’s. In letting life hold you down you concede to the power it does not have over you. For those of us that stand with arms outstretched, our work is not done until you who are lost take our hands and let us love you through whatever. Life will throw you curve balls, but make them count and hit ‘em outta the park. You have the power even if you don’t think you do because greater is he that is in you than he that is in the world; believe it not just for you but for us too!