There Is Suprise In Everything The Unseen Moves

This is one of my favourite poems. A good friend shared this with me back in 2003 when I was in my second year at university. Ever since then I have had a copy of it on my wall. Seven years later, it still helps me make sense of the world.

An African Elegy by Ben Okri, February 1990

We are the miracles that God made

To taste the bitter fruit of Time.

We are precious.

And one day our suffering

Will turn into the wonders of the earth.

There are things that burn me now

Which turn golden when I am happy.

Do you see the mystery of our pain?

That we bear the poverty

And are able to sing and dream sweet things.

And that we never curse the air when it is warm

Or the fruit when it tastes so good

Or the lights that bounce gently on the waters?

We bless the things even in our pain.

We bless them in silence.

That is why our music is so sweet.

It makes the air remember.

There are secret miracles at work

That only Time will bring forth.

I too have heard the dead singing.

And they tell me that This life is good

They tell me to live it gently

With fire, and always with hope.

There is wonder here

And there is surprise

In everything the unseen moves.

The ocean is full of songs.

The sky is not an enemy.

Destiny is our friend.