Out comes the object of derision,
Conceived after a hasty union along an unlit alley,
By a mother wholly enslaved to syringes
And a father utterly imprisoned by bottles.
The brawls were painfully endless -
Shouting, slapping, kicking, and smashing.
For ages I remained a constant reminder of error - the bridge linking two wrongs.
I grew up, thickly blanketed by rejection and hate, and soon found solace hugging the streets -
Gleefully content as the devil's lieutenant.
Clearly, I was marked; born by bad, born for bad.
I delightedly played the black messenger;
Drinking, lying, stealing, drugging, hurting...
I got dipper into hell's pit -
A soul entirely spun out of order; surely damned.
I continually ate and drank vile - of all sorts.
But the emptiness...oh, the emptiness...it hurt;
Burning, ripping, searing, slicing, tearing...
The ghostly voice just wouldn't let me be!
'Son...you're much more than this...
Let me in...I can help... just let me in.'
For so long I fought it... yes, I violently fought it:
'Leave me alone! Get away from me!'
But it kept on; pushing, pressing, pleading...
I couldn't go on; I was so ablaze within.
Desperate, wretched, broken, and crying - I let it in.
The change was gloriously instant - a transformation
Solidly nailed to peace, purity and hallowed purpose.
At last, I was whole - whole and home.
That night was magic...
the night I was reborn.


(c) Ikenna C. Igwe