'If you had just a day to live' by Ahmad Abdullah

Imagine you wake at dawn

And was told you had a day to live

Would you try to go back to sleep

Or panic until your death’s eve

Would you jump at the sound of every horn

Lest a car hit you to death

However you know it shouldn’t be your time

But alerted you are like a tripped alarm

Would you sit by the phone and call loved ones

Or your enemies to make a truce

Or think of the fornications you haven’t committed

Or how far the mosque or church is

Hoping you can repent in time

For all those crimes and sins committed.

Would you feel time is too late

And look up the sky

With hope and pray

You had just one more day

Just to be better prepared.

A moment spent is gone forever

As we wander through the corridors of time.

Would you see the world through a new eye

And appreciate more of what has been lost

Would you think of what to do

While you while away your little time

Tomorrow is promised to no one

The life you have now is a precious commodity

Time can on only mock you as you walk by

Because you think its walkway is infinite

And you can only waste it

Not conserve or store it, utilize it

Perhaps not I dare say.

If your life is filled with purpose

A purpose to live in peace

To be true at heart and acts

Help the poor, assist the weak

In whatever ways you can and not

You can only etch in the stones of time

A persona that will remind time

There was once a human who was ready

To die at any minute

Loving truly, forgiving completely

Ready to die with ease

And truly rest in peace.

Ahmad Abdullah, AKA Ahmad Holderness is a medic and a writer who is about to be published. He is the director of Home Of Book foundations that seek to help Nigerian youths to read and write better. His writings can be viewed at  and you can follow him on instagram at @home_of _books_foundation

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