Analysis of Destiny or Design

Bernadette Sannoh 1978 (Freetown)



She was all hail and hearty
As she packed her mangoes neatly on the stall.
She feels grateful that she could be productive
Not as poor and lazy as her neighbor Nancy;
Who spends her life begging and borrowing.

Just as she was about to sit, the hoot of a car startled her.
A beautiful lady of her age, wanted to buy some mangoes.
Her car, her skin, her purse, her aura and the money notes,
All show she's from a privileged background.

As she drove away with a smile, she took away her own smile.
Sadly, she sat and forced back the tears
Which could have given her away.
In her mind she kept wondering
How come she was not privileged as her client, who seemed to have it all.

Could it be because her parents were poor, and she not schooled?
Or that her husband was a taxi driver?
How can one become rich with such background?
Do riches come by design or destiny?

Then she thought of Nancy her neighbor,
Who couldn't boast of a trade, nor a husband, nor children, not even a house of her own.
Just like her, her parents are poor, yet she's blessed with those things.
Was her blessing by design or destiny?

None of us are equal in status, beauty or privileges.
Some were born with these things, while others work hard for them.
But riches never come easy; for someone, somewhere, sometime ago, had worked for them.
If you are enjoying these blessings without your labour, know that it is never cheap.
And for you who is wishing to have riches,
Know that wishes are not horses;
Wealth comes by design or destiny.


Scheme ABXAC DXXE XXXCB XDEA DXXA FGGXFFA
Poetic Form
Metre 1111010 11101010101 11101111010 111010101010 1101100100 1111011101101100 0100101011011110 01010101000101 11110101 111011011101011 101101101 11110001 00111100 11111101010111111 11101010010111 11010101010 111011111 11011011100 111110010 1101101101011011001101 11001011111111 10101011100 111110010101100 1011111101111 110101101111011111 11101011001111111101 01111101110 11101110 111011100
Closest metre Iambic hexameter
Characters 1,523
Words 312
Sentences 21
Stanzas 6
Stanza Lengths 5, 4, 5, 4, 4, 7
Lines Amount 29
Letters per line (avg) 41
Words per line (avg) 10
Letters per stanza (avg) 196
Words per stanza (avg) 47

About this poem

Few days ago, as I was in the car going home, the driver stopped by for someone to buy some mangoes, there I got inspiration to write this poem.

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Written on June 12, 2016

Submitted by bernadette_m on February 25, 2022

Modified on March 05, 2023

1:34 min read
6

Bernadette Sannoh

I'm a Registered Nurse who has passion in writing. I've been writing all my life, yet to be published. more…

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