My guest for today is Sandra Oyeku. Sandra resides in Australia, where she is a teacher. She is highly skilled in working with children, something she has been doing for almost a decade.
Sandra is fascinated by the saintliness of a child’s mind yet acknowledges that this innocence doesn’t remain for long, as life quickly starts to teach, to write….and the reality is very different.
I find this piece to be a mixture of the child’s fantasies and the rude reality, which many of us can identify with.
Enjoy.
The Outsider Inside
“Tabula rasa!”
Many would utter
At birth – the way the mind is –
A clean slate with no shades
But these blue skies with no greys
Looking down on pastures –
Dying wilting pastures
Ration what I have to feed on
They gently sap the life in me
Because I – I am right in their midst.
I’m no coward, yet I cower
How long will this servitude be?
Still, I, full of the sun, give smiles
Bountiful, blessed and bright
Need to keep shining my light
That is my demeanour, banner and pledge
So whatever is, whatever comes
I remain grateful
For my purpose I’ll still be thankful
Until all will be again evergreen
As much as hope shall within me glean
I look outside of me
To find me everywhere
And yet still here
Zika's Musings 
I can just feel that innocence we were all born with in this smashing tink-tank of a clever reflexive musing! Dunno how our nascent purity as tots, become tainted, diminished and just plain disappear and we become less of ourselves, with strangers; outsiders lurking in that space whence angels once dwelled!
When I go through one of those ‘hair-raising’ days, with my lil Princess getting all entangled in my hair…’a bad hair day’, and I yell and scold her; she sulks for a bit and before you know it; she’s back on my ‘case’, hugging and telling me how much she adores me, amidst the ‘falling out’ we’d just been through! I marvel and wonder where we adults missed it…..that child-like naivete, unadulterated and unconditional love plus enthusiasm that makes us ‘believe we’re mighty capable of doing and accomplishing just ’bout everything’; in the words of Paulo Coelho! We should seek more to discover the child within us and our world will be the better for it and our hopes willexperience rejuvenation!
You did perfect Sandy, I wish you God’s best as you work and mould our future leaders into upstanding individuals we can all but be proud of! God bless and strengthen you, Shalom! 😇😄
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Hi Yemie. Totally agree with you. There remains a child within each one of us.Discovering that will indeed improve the quality of our lives. It is beautiful to imagine the bittersweet moments you and your little one experience. Thanks for the lovely comments.
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Heeeey! Sandy in the house! Yay! Welcome Sandy. Thanks for taking the time to come here and chill out with me and by blogging friends. Gracias!
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This is a complex and somewhat paradoxical poem. It speaks of beauty, praise and admiration yet one can’t but hear the voice of despair that creeps in. There is a search for better, for expansion, for growth yet certain holds still ground the persona. Deep. Thoughtful.
Sandra, this is a deceptively simple poem with reaches beyond thoughts. Maybe the Almighty, Aondo, will decipher more to you the poet amd us, the readers.
Nice to meet you. It will be nice to get to hear what working with children is more, from you. The good and bad sides, perhaps.
Well done on this piece. Thanks for sharing.
From:”Zika’s Musings” Date:Fri, 25 Sep, 2015 at 10:00 Subject:[New post] The Outsider Inside
zikaolofin posted: “My guest for today is Sandra Oyeku. Sandra resides in Australia, where she is a teacher. She is highly skilled in working with children, something she has been doing for almost a decade. Sandra is fascinated by the saintliness of a child’s mind yet ackno”
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Aw, thanks Sueddie. Indeed this poem says more than it seems to be telling us. That is the beauty of poetry. ☺ I like the sharp transition between the 1st verse and the rest of the poem. It’s like saying ”wake up child, this is not a sugared life.”😂
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Truly, and isn’t it only nice that we should hear these things more often? Life comes at us in many ways, it dances as it sways and how else do we hear what it says? May the times save us jare!
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Nice to meet you too sueddie and thanks for your thoughts on the poem. I can’t ask for any better explanation.With regards to working with children, I find it a deeply satisfying but sometimes challenging profession.Nevertheless,children are always growing and developing new skills,sometimes doing so in a way that eludes us. I’m very glad to be part of that developmental process.
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Well done Sandra. We appreciate you. Keep on doing what you know to do best – loving and helping and working with those children. As you said, though the challenges are huge, the satisfaction you get in the end is rewarding.
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Yaaaaaay! I get to be answered by Sandra! 🙂
Hi… I can imagine the joy. I’ve had some experience with children… Maybe I should get some more. I think I will 🙂
How are you? Are we going to read more poems from you? It will be fun to do so in the open public space. Thanks for your time and for answering me. More, thanks for this poem. Cheers!
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Reminds me of Emily Bronte’s No Coward Soul is mine
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Oh really.I’m glad the poem made you feel this way.
Regards
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