t. reflexion

Aug 30, 2008 ⭐ View statistics (Premium feature)

A POT CALLING A KETTLE BLACK

A POT CALLING A KETTLE BLACK You make me laugh, each time you talk On how good are the choices you’ve made To deify with mighty cathedrals and mosques And I turn around on my stool to see A pot calling a kettle black You ridicule my ways, call them primitive past You scornfully spit on my shrines And claim a better understanding of life While you know nothing about me at all A pot calling a kettle black You say I make sacrifices, I accept, To appease the gods of our land Which you condemn as pagan ways Finding fault as I dance to the heat A pot calling a kettle black A dancer does not know his back is crooked Yet you smile to your admirers as you dance Who are you to apportion blame? Your back too is crooked, ask the audience A pot calling a kettle black You sacrificed your only son Kill ram and goat on Christmas and sallah days What do you call these things you do We are all the same, just take a look A pot calling a kettle black We sit on the stove with fire on our buttocks Boiling water or cooking soup Bathed in smoke all the way through Losing our shine with the flame of life A pot calling a kettle black You came from afar and took my land With crusade and jihad, you pulled down my home And forced me to live in the forest now I am at home with nature, give me a breathing space A pot calling a kettle black Include me in the law book of the land Accommodate our million worshippers You are not two but three, count me in Father, son and the spirit, get it right A pot calling a kettle black

— t. reflexion, Aug 30, 2008

About This Poem

About the Author

Country/Region: NGA

Favorite Poets: Inspired by an article in an old manuscript , It reads:, AXIOMS OF PERFECTION, In the physical order – In the realization of the dream of beauty, In the moral order – In the realization of the dream of love, In the intellectual order – In the realization of dream of poetry, In the spiritual order – In the realization of the dream of the mystics

Critiques

Rett

17 years 9 months ago

T. Another beauty from you

It is funny, I hear all sorts of things from every religion about how this and that is bad, yet they never look at themselves before making a judgment. I always try to understand a little about a religion before I make a decision about it. I suppose that is why I have friends that are Jewish, Christian, Muslim, Wiccan, Agnostic and Atheist. As long as they respect the fact that I believe in God I can respect their beliefs or lack of belief. I try to look at the person and not how they believe. Sometimes I go from the frying pan into the fire but try not to call the kettle black. *G* another great write sir and I enjoyed it. Thank you. Respectfully, Rett: "The only thing observable with the naked eye to exceed the speed of light is rumor" Unknown

t. reflexion

17 years 9 months ago

Thanks Rett

In Nigeria, the government recognizes two main religions, Christianity and Islam. In some universities you can see a church located opposite a mosque, Near Murtala Mohammed International Airport, Lagos, A church is built near a Mosque and in the federal Capital, Abuja, the government allocated lands for National Mosque and National Ecumenical Center. The irony here, is that these two religions are strangers to our land, so the traditional religions that are indigenous to the land are not recognized. They are derided and pushed to the dusty rear. Thank you for the reading and the comment. Best wishes. Oh! Before I forget, I like the gentleman with a hat on the screen, Cheers!

themoonman

17 years 9 months ago

T...

yes .. I have to chime in with Rett here... this is a very deep write.. so many think their way is the only way and yet there are so many differant religions and beliefs... how indeed can any one be the only way... appreciate your words here ... Richard

t. reflexion

17 years 9 months ago

Richard

Thank you for your compliment, my reply to Rett encapsulates the motivation for this writing. The biggest threats these religions pose to the free thinking world are in the misinterpretations of the original messages of the founders. I appreciate your comment. Best wishes.

Kailashana

17 years 9 months ago

If I may T…A Tale

If I may T... A Tale Retold Once upon a time there was a town, the town was just like the one in which you live, except instead of people, pots and kettles of all sorts and shapes carry on the business of being kettles and pots. No one knows which came first, the pots or the kettles, suffice it to say they each arrived just about the same time to lay claim to the land of kettles and pots. Dare I say there is always trouble brewing just below the surface,, and the land of pots and kettles was no exception in this matter, and thus it was passed down to generations of pots the business of calling the kettle black. Yup.! ~A

t. reflexion

17 years 9 months ago

Kailashana

Your tale of pots and kettles is good and complement to the parchment I placed on the screen and it throws an insight to age old attitude of 'Pots calling Kettles black' Thank you and best wishes.

Kailashana

17 years 9 months ago

In any which manner one

In any which manner one might sing it, *it* is a never-ending story of what *Is*, come what may. I love your smile T. I think you got the *punchline*. Smiles. ~A

t. reflexion

17 years 9 months ago

Thank you very much

I am honoured, thanks a million

easylife_2

17 years 9 months ago

Another rmindblowing one

A deep and introspective one,if only we could convert this into a song for all those people who have turned to hypocrites in the mane of religion,how wonderful it would be.Thank you very much for this write.

t. reflexion

17 years 9 months ago

easylife_2

If you make a song out of this, the religious bigots in government will ban it on radio and television. They may even collect the available copies and burn them. Thank you very much for your comment. Cheers.

akabeks

17 years 9 months ago

religion...

I will respect peoples belief as long as they don't go about attacking and deceiving innocent people in the name of religion... akabeks.

t. reflexion

17 years 9 months ago

Thank you

Religion is man's attempt to relate with his essence, call it God or whatever name he chooses. Using it to achieve personal ends, is something else. Thanks for the comment. Best wishes.

Linda Moses

17 years 9 months ago

T

I feel much anger in this poem. You surely had something to say and said it well A pot calling the kettle black, used to be my aunts favorite saying. You knew she was irritated whenever she said that.

t. reflexion

17 years 9 months ago

Irritated?

Yes, that is the word, but all those who feel this way should learn to accommodate, lest the kettle should call the pot black. Today, the use of cooking gas has given a new dimension to the old saying, the pot and the kettle need not be black. They all sit on the fire place taking on the heat. They constitute the crucible, where our meals are transformed for our consumption. So, our religious institutions, like the pot and the kettle should see themselves as the spiritual crucible transforming our lives through evolutionary march to the divine. The choice, therefore, belongs to the individual. Linda, thank you for stopping by to read and comment. Thanks for the appreciation. Best wishes.

Kailashana

17 years 9 months ago

Very succinctly said T.

Very succinctly said T. Bravo! ~A

t. reflexion

17 years 9 months ago

Thanks

Anna Thank you for stopping by to read and comment. Best wishes T.