Shrivel up

Shrivel 

Wither 

Inspired

 

 

Growing up, I lived in a cute house with my parents and siblings
No big compounds, no gardens…
Just enough space on the compound to park the cars
But the love my mum had for nature… Oh my!
She grew flowers in pots and vases…
And they bore flowers… some beautiful, others not to beautiful.
It gave our house some life… I mean, there’s life in nature right?
Being the youngest in the family, I was tasked with watering these every morning before school
And my job was especially important when the rains wouldn’t fall…
So like during harmattan, yeah… I had a lot to do
I can’t say I did this job with a lot of fun or excitement.
I really didn’t see the point.
These plants in my view didn’t do anything for us. They only sat idle in the pot and required me to spend time watering them each day.
But well, I did them anyway… Out of respect and out of a sense of duty.
…

…

Mummy would always ensure I did my job… Always!
Dude, laziness wasn’t tolerated in our home. I mean, we all started working as soon as we could walk!
And the diligence paid off. At least for the plants
They grew, they thrived, they stayed green, even when the weather got bad.
As I kept growing though, I had more and more responsibilities outside home… especially with school
I couldn’t afford to keep doing my watering work as much as I used to.
So days… Sometimes weeks would pass by without watering these plants.
They didn’t fluorish quite well under such circumstances, but they didn’t die either. Because occasionally, I’d pass by and out of pity for them, I would get some water for them to quench their thirst
…
…
Well university came along…
Recently, With school taking me out of home almost permanently, I went home to spend my Sunday afternoon…
It had been like 5 years since I watered any plant in that house!
As I walked toward the entrance, I noticed my plants, my flowers, were all gone.
No spinach, no aloe Vera, the cactus was in a bad state too but it still thrived pretty fine… desert plants remember?
Well, too bad for them… Their faithful buddy wasn’t there to give them water to drink
…
…
When I went inside and got settled though, something struck me.
And the conclusion I drew was that,
“Everything that grows, can shrink… And die”
Everything!
And by everything, I mean everything!
…
…

…
Time and again, I hear the expression “love grows”
And that’s true. Definitely!
Love, in the right circumstances and environment, can grow in the most beautiful and luxurious sense.
Love, with someone to water it and keep it flourishing, keeps getting bigger and stronger.
Call that growth, perfect!
…
But then, I’ve come to notice too that love shrinks… love dies.
Love which goes unappreciated dies
Love which feels one sided dies
Love met with indifference dies
Love taken for granted dies
Love, not given attention dies
…
Just as it happens with all creatures that die of malnourishment, this death isn’t abrupt…
It’s slow… Slow and painful.
Shrinks to the point of death…
I mean this death, comes unnoticed. Creeps in as stealthily as a cat, and gradually sucks away the life from love, or flowers, or anything living
…
…
Then, when dead… It’s gone… Gone for good.
Lifeless…
No amount of regret, care, attention, appreciation can bring it back to life…
No amount of could haves, would haves, should haves is capable of reviving it…
Because it’s dead!
And death is permanent…
It’s cold…
Without a chance of revival!
Stone cold…

 

De-Graft, 2019

Edited by Xorlarlie 😊