The Second Voyage
On the cardboard laid on stink
A clear call, I can’t but concur
In the comfort of all luxuries
My tainted body lie with no lack of wealth
On a public bad
Attended to by professionals
Life support failed to keep the night watch
On whichever river I am made to swim
The rogue is gone
The safe is empty
All past and present no longer significant
All qualification, the job does not require
Whether good or bad, history is made
The voyage to the unending began on shores
If I had known, the milk is spilt
Corrections of records, impossible to attain
Lowered into the safe of eternity
Dissolved only to add nutritional value to the dust
On the other side of the shores
In a city laid with gold
May I appear before the Pilot
Whether I be a goat or a sheep
A second voyage I begin to embark
Now not alone, but with a host of attendants
Whether or not celebrated in this phase or next
I am he who I make myself to be.
©Lawal Olajide
ANALYSIS:
This is a metaphorical poem which compares the transition in life to various areas of life.
The poem started with the different types of people, ranging from the poor, the rogues and the elites who has the best of medical attention at their disposal. It states clearly that no matter which group one belong, no one is not immune to death.
It compares death to a rogue who comes to steal that valuable treasure which is life, leaving the safe empty. The empty safe connote a lifeless body.
It moves forward to state that once death is recorded, all work is ended, all pursuit of various certification is a futile exercise and the life of such person now becomes a concluded history.
This exit opens up the new journey. This journey marks the belief of life after death where one can no longer undo what has already been done.
The human body becomes useless to man but only useful in the sense that it becomes manure to the soil.
The religious belief of paradise is acknowledged here where the city is laid with gold. At this point, everyone appears before God who is addressed as the Pilot.
The poet used allusion in highlighting the separation that takes place in Matthew 25:31-46, where the goat is separated from the sheep. The goat represent to bad or sinners while the sheep represent the righteous.
This marks the beginning of the second journey which is welcomed by a host of angels who resides on the other plane.
He ends the poem by saying what you become or on which side of life you find yourself is a product of your own actions or inactions.
FIGURES OF SPEECH:
Dominant figure of Speech is metaphor
The rogue is gone
The safe is empty
the milk is spilt
ALLUSION
Whether I be a goat or a sheep
ALLITERATION:
A clear call, I can’t but concur
Now not alone
EUPHEMISM
My tainted body lie with no lack of wealth
Unprecedented 