Not Another Statistic


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Two million people died of malaria last year
The worldwide divorce rate hovers around 53 per cent
One hundred and twenty six women and children were murdered in Jos last night
Fourteen million Nigerian youths and adults are unemployed
More than half a million people are die of  typhoid fever annually
Five thousand people were killed by the earthquake in Asia two weeks ago.

I refuse to be just another statistic
Making up numbers to be sung like music
Only useful for the pages of newspapers and websites
People shaking their head in pity at my plight
Not pity for my name, ‘cause it wasn’t even mentioned
But for the large number I’ve been immersed in just like an ocean

I choose to stand out of the crowd and lift my head up high
So when I die, fireworks would be flashing on the sky
Not just by writing my name in the sands of time
Cos when the tides overflow, it would be gone, like it never existed and it wouldn’t worth a dime
But by etching my name in the immovable rock of earthly eternity
Where no one can ever wipe as it would be stronger than reality

A city set of a hill. This is what i choose to be as I walk along the way
Not just another flaming statistic who made the headlines today
But tomorrow, no one remembered if I died or chose to stay
As I was just news to be read away

34 comments

  1. Another nice poem...melancholic.....life is all vanity...one dies, forgotten like a puff of wind! Only to be remembered by their loved ones...sighs.

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    1. Thanks. We can try to do more, so that more people will remember us.

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  2. These statistics are not just numbers, they are lives, alive or dead. And do we just sit tight, fingers crossed, hoping we don't count?. We should do something; one neighbour at a time, one friend at a time, one brother at a time , one young person at a time.....we just need to speak out on issues we find disturbing and push for change in anyway we can. Love your poem!. http://jaynewhyte.blogspot.com/

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    1. Yea, they are real people. If you read my write-ups, you will realise that I like talking about societal ills, and will keep on doing so.

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  3. I love this Lola. really deep stuff.

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  4. Nice and amen o... "A city upon a hill"

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  5. May we not be a statistic. An important prayer.

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  6. A prayer as well as a reminder... Deep and well written.

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  7. Passionate. Ilola your good at what you do.

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  8. It takes determination and conscious efforts to live a purposeful life.

    ThePETprojects

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  9. I chose not to be a statistic, merely existing and not living. I will live a purposeful and fruitful life, making impacts everywhere I am. So help me God.

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    1. Amen to your prayers. I pray that God helps you achieve this dream

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  10. You chose well @ilola.Choosing to look at statistics and let it influence us would only lead us to places we don't want to be.Nice read.

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    1. Yes o. We just have to keep hoping that we can make a difference.

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  11. Your spirituality your ambition for lasting legacy your pain for a dying world all come thru brightly and that's what I love about this poem

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    1. Thanks so much Sage. And thanks for dropping by

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  12. Sigh. These numbers have a way of stripping the dead of their humanity. We forget that they were people who until death claimed them had dreams, plans and aspirations.
    I pray that I will use my time on earth to touch lives so that when I live at least in the hearts of a few hundred i will not be a statistic...Amen.

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    1. Try. Let's just try to do something tangible before we leave this world

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  13. Yessoooo...I wont be another statistic too iJN...and my fav. is "Not just by writing my name in the sands of time Cos when the tides overflow, it would be gone, like it never existed and it wouldn’t worth a dime"... keep it up dear. I love the rhyming.

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