The Simplicity of Joy

By Muslimah Olayinka, D Purple Pearls Hall, Lagos, Nigeria

Age: 16

I hear my name passed through a multitude of mouths,

A figment of my imagination or just plain doubt? 

I could never explain it, so I flinch and hide.

Or perhaps it serves me better to pretend? 

But oh, when shall it end?

The feelings of shame burned deep into my soul

Doing away with the thoughts that make me whole

Is there a purpose I serve

Or maybe I’m given things I simply do not deserve

I hate the person I was, ever so shackled by the sharpest of claws

She was a coward, beaten and bruised

The worst kind that could repeatedly stand to be used

But not anymore, the sounds become quieter

My heart feels lighter

The fiends and monsters are done away with

Whatever pain I felt, now nothing but a myth

How could this be?

The thoughts and anxiety

The endless pain with nothing to gain

All gone in the blink of an eye

Fat drops of tears roll down my face

Is this happiness perhaps?

The thought makes my heart race.

But where oh where is the source of my joy

The answer evades me like the truth from a deceitful ploy

And one day, like water so clear

The answer appears

It was no saviour, not a prince charming of sorts

But a serenity unlike any other

It had taken my heart as its place of shelter

Now I can breathe and feel,

The wonder of it all makes me keel.

But I’m happy either way,

For the chance to be myself and feel the joy of another day