Poem: The Peace of a Child
By: Bamgbose Gabriel
In perfect peace
She sleeps after being
Coaxed with tender palms
And lulled with soothing rhymes…
…..The peace of a child
She smiles from her dream
Exposing her toothless
Alveolar ridge, turning
Several times to find
A posture of comfort…
…..The peace of a child
Soon the dreams shall be
Frustrated by nightmares
And the peace sundered
Turning the grins to groans
When she will be
Fully initiated into our world
Through the rites of passage
From innocence into adulteration…
…..The peace of a child
O, what a transient peace
That lasts but for a while!
…..The peace of a child
A streaming poem, refreshingly-lulling in its head but scary at the tail.
I do love the ethereal-earthly state of the second verse.
. . . Why the use of ‘she’ to denote the being of the baby? Any bias for the feminine?
As for the last verse, it will fare better without the second line as the first line suffices.
On the whole, it’s a simple and highly picturesque account of the rude transition of a child from peaceful realms to a world of chaos.
Thumbs up Poet!