Thief By Mistake

by Abbia UDOFIA

I am a thief by mistake
I am a lifter by default. 
How thoughtless my hand in the soup pot?
How was I to know the treasure bag 
I took from the balcony wasn't mine?
Does the sun not shine on elephants and ants?
And do palaces not share with common serfs?
I am a thief by error.
 
Was the edgy goat I led away
From the crossroads, yours?
O, sister forgive me.
Was the noisy chicken I seized
From the street corner, yours? 
O, brother pardon me.

Which teeth asked to keep meat
Will not draw or savour a sheet?
Which bee asked to fetch nectar
Will not taste sweetness so dear?
Forgive my slippery fingers.
Pardon my stealthy legs.

Do not run in doors at my coming
Do not speak quietly, abusively
When I walk the street.
I am a thief by mistake.
I am a thief by error.

I turned over a new leaf.
Ah, what is this treasure box
Again doing in my pocket?
Come on, whose jewels and trinkets
Are these anyway?


Thief By Mistake by Abbia UDOFIA

© Copyright 2003. All rights reserved. No portion of this work may be duplicated or copied without the expressed written consent of the author.



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