Poem: The Tale of Maribosa

Introduction: I met a girl recently whose story challenged me. Even though she was raised by a single mum in the most unsuitable environment, she’s passionate, vision-driven, and purposeful. She’s Maribosa (pictured), and they’re so many girls like her. Girls who don’t give excuses but strive to learn from the mistake of others and advance through the storm to a better future.

She appears crimpy and rough…
But issues of life made her grow tough…
She learnt the hard way…
That day her dad walked away…
She reminisced as tears dripped down her cheek…
As much as she hoped, the future seemed bleak…
Being the second child out of three…
She worked so hard to get a high school degree…
Mummy growing old and weak, filled her with fear…
Becoming bitter as the load became too much to bear…
But as fragile as she seemed, she drew strength from within …
She read, she prayed, she kept on believing…
She lived in an environment filled with crime and promiscuity…
Where Girls her age already had unwanted pregnancies…
She sparkled like a star and her beauty attracted so many guys…
But she had disciplined herself, to differentiate truths from lies…
She rose through storms scaling through all odds…
Made the right choices, even without lauds…
With hard work and diligence she graduated from college…
Became resourceful and rightly applied her knowledge…
Now she’s 28, married to the man of her dreams…
With 2 boys and a girl, she is highly esteemed…
Some tales end tragically…
Some end happily…
People fail, some overcome…
Our choices and actions affect our outcome…
Her success story is a function of her commitment…
She had a dream and in it she found fulfilment…
She overcame temptations and rose to be a star…
This is the tale of Maribosa.