The Death Before Me | By Isah Bala

Like the proverbial rebirth of eagle who flew to isolated mountain top at old age to remove its heavy wings, bent beak and weak talons to give way for new ones and passed through excruciating pains after making the hard decision in its 40years to live for another 30years.
Despite the severe pains of the rebirth and the joy of living for another 30years; at the end, it dies, death catches up with it. 70years becomes like few years, and the pains it passed through to live for such a record years become part of history.

Man, like the eagle will vanish with the passage of time, the years we've spent learning, pursuing career objectives and of course; the power we so much jostled for will be left behind and will be buried beneath the filthy earth, leaving everything behind and life goes on.

As the time flies each day, I remember the obvious truth of the death before me which I cannot escape nor delay when the assigned time for me to leave comes.

I do not know when it will be but I am most terrified and concerned of my trespasses on daily basis than assuming the golden throne of infallible and gauge the undoings of other mortals.

Just like I have dreams and aspirations, the obvious reality of people who are on my shoe and life fizzled out of them always remind me of the inconsequentiality of life's fleeting enjoyment.

Yes, I've seen brides and grooms becoming widows and widowers few days after their wedding, I've seen a woman longing to have fruit of the womb only for her to die after giving birth to the precious Jewel she had been praying for, I've seen and read about best students who died on their way home after collecting their results and awards.

Yes, I've seen political candidates died at the verge of victory and I've seen a president in charge of state's armaments died helplessly amidst the country's arsenal and  resources to save him, yet I've seen revered people praying with utmost sincerity for long life but life fizzled out of them when it was least expected.

The distance between life and death isn't far, death occurred within the shortest possible time, and end the vision and the aspirations.

Death to me is a personal burden we all carry around, it's on our path and we grow with it, it's within us but the when is what we don't know.

I lost a best friend while growing up, I lost my dear father at a tender age while growing up, I've seen relatives and neighbors died just a minute we talked and I believed you've experienced the reality of death in your own way. Then, is this reality not enough to drop any ill and ungodly behavior since the time of death is yet unknown?

Isah Bala.