A letter to Unborn Son

Tell my son what to expect when born.

Dear Son,

 

Your Uncle, Sam; wrote a letter to his unborn daughter, I believe you need one my son,

You mother is in an interesting condition, a bit early than expected, but indeed a blessing in disguise,

Its few months before your mother will be in labor pain,

When you join our world, respect her as she is hell one of a strong woman,

Respect every creature of her kind; it’s the best gift you can give,

Treat them with kindness, as you give you shall receive.

 

You will be born in the 21^st Century, when feelings are expressed as whatsapp statuses,

When memories are recorded in Instagram, and naked portraits are being collected in Zuckerberg’s album,

All is well, communications have become tweets, and letters have been replaced by emails and texts,

In the world when we seek peace and still produce firearms, when your disease is another man’s business,

In a world when sex has become a commodity, rumor has it, they even pay taxes somewhere in the first world,

You can’t control a kind of a world you are born into, but a world you grow up in, is ultimately your choice.

 

Grow and be curious, Grow and ask questions, for this you shall know the truth,

The truth my son, shall never set you free because you have never been a slave,

Be critical, but stay open minded; don’t be fond of rules, challenge them if you can,

Challenge them that Africa is not a country, Africa is a beautiful continent,

We have known captivity, wars and terror, and so have the Queen’s territory and the Land of the Brave,

You are the son of Africa, whether white, yellow or black; our diversity my son, is our strength.

 

If they brag about the discipline of Charles Dickens or wisdom of David Copperfield,

Or rather creativity of William Shakespeare and the imagination of JK Rowling,

Harper Lee’s curiosity and the intelligence of Jean-Jacques Rousseau, LET THEM,

Tell them the courage of Ousmane Sembène and let them succumb the humor from Ngũgĩ wa Thiong’o,

Let them read the works of Nuruddin Farah and the fragrance of “Purple Hibiscus” from Chimamanda Adichie,

Let them swallow the deep compassion of Yvonne Vera, and amusement of Wole Soyinka.

 

My son, my life has been nothing short but a bunch of mistakes, and lessons,

If I could go back and change things, I still wouldn't; I am what I am because of the past,

Your life my son, is yours; I want it to be meaningful but I cannot dictate how,

For I am still a student as well, and the world is a class to us all, I will learn with you,

There is nothing like destiny my son, every man shapes his own life, with the decisions they make,

When I die my son, reserve your tears for you will need them for another occasion, not my death.

Dear son, worry about knowledge and about doing what’s right,

Be worried about your health, and what you feed your brain,

Do not worry about the past, it has passed and long gone,

Do not worry about growing up, it is one of the necessary steps,

Do not worry about anybody getting ahead of you; you should be ahead of yourself,

For you never win the silver my son, you only loose that gold.

 

I want you to understand, all humans are equal, even and especially, women

You will be borne by a woman, and mostly, raised by a woman

She will be there to instill love and care and affection, a woman

Treat her well, lie back and think of England, and she’ll love you to death,

Love and sex, as Uncle Sam said, are beautiful things, that’ his and my opinions,

Let yourself not be fooled by the popular opinion, like John Speke discovered Lake Victoria.

 

Read about Sonni Alli, Haile Selassie and King Jaja of Opobo

Read about the Queen of Sheba and Yaa Asantewaa,

Read about Nelson Mandela, Julius Nyerere and Kwame Nkrumah

Read about Nzinga Mbande, Nyabingi Muhumusa and the Zulu warriors

Learn from the myths and legends, like the Achilles and Xerxes

Learn to fight and protect, for just and honor, like Spartans and Trojans

 

Sing in Amharic you son of Africa, March Forward, with Dear Mother Ethiopia

Remember Nigeria and Arise O Compatriots; the labor of our heroes past shall never be in vain

Sing my son, in Xhosa; Nkosi sikelel' iAfrika, Dance and shout in Zulu, Yizwa imithandazo yethu

All hail, Liberia, hail!, the glorious land of liberty, Shall long be ours.

God Bless Mother Africa, my son protect her.

Reviews

[Pax]

What it means to be free, to be curious, to care, to love, to cherish, to respect each kind with compassion… and many more, I felt it all in this piece.

Amazing, how your voice of reason and just and love for your unborn son. The teaching, learning and wisdom here have touched the very soul of your readers. I tip my hat on this beautiful piece.

How you value women, I say you have a big compassionate heart.

I would like to quote my favorite lines:

“You can’t control a kind of a world you are born into, but a world you grow up in, is ultimately your choice.”

- Wow, such highly observant view. I guess it really doesn’t matter to where you were born into, what matters is how you have lived it, how you shape yourself by your own choices. Our own choices shapes who we are as a person.

“Grow and be curious, Grow and ask questions, for this you shall know the truth,
The truth my son, shall never set you free because you have never been a slave,
Be critical, but stay open minded; don’t be fond of rules, challenge them if you can”

- Smiles, I have this principle: EEE – “Explore & Experiment with caution, Expound with an open mind.”

“If I could go back and change things, I still wouldn't; I am what I am because of the past,
Your life my son, is yours; I want it to be meaningful but I cannot dictate how”

- truly an insightful gift for your son. You are a good parent, I know because on the way you put your words, it inscribe your sincerity and love. A parent can’t dictate what his son wants, but only there to guide him throughout the challenges and mistakes he had done. A parent knows, what’s too much from less, what’s just enough from what’s best, what’s wrong from right - you are just there to guide him through, not to push what you want but to put balance to his decisions.

“Do not worry about anybody getting ahead of you; you should be ahead of yourself”

- yes, as so the quote says: “I am in competition with no one. I run my own race I have no desire to play the game of being better than anyone, in any way, shape or form. I just aim to improve, to be better than I was before. That’s me and I’m free.” – I found this quote really inspirational to remind ourselves.

“Let yourself not be fooled by the popular opinion”

- true, what matters most is on how you see yourself break free from the chained reality. To follow your own voice of righteousness. To find our way out in the darkest seduction of popularity.

I found this piece really heart-warming and pure of its intension – for love, honour and freedom.

It’s simply an amazing piece and gift for your son someday :)
This goes to my favourites, keep penning!

[Adam]

Dear Pax and Shaquana, thank you for the review. Keep writing and connect.

[Shaquana Adams]

This was nice. People today could use a poem like this. It's everything I expected from the title and more. Thanks so much for sharing!