Writers 
Theme: MOTHER'S VOICE AND CARES
Title: The voice that cares.
A Nigerian mother can hear a pin fall from another room,
Yet pretend she did not hear when you call her name.
But let you step outside without saying where you are going,
And suddenly, your full name becomes the sound of the evening.
Where are you going dressed like this? she asks,
As if the whole world is waiting outside to judge your clothes.
You say, “I’m only going around the corner,
She replies, “And the corner will run away if you dress properly?
She keeps giving advice you never asked for,
Then repeats it until you finally understand.
Sometimes her words come with a serious face,
But behind that face is a heart that cannot stop caring.
When you travel, she gives you things you never requested,
"Take this. You may need it.”
You laugh because you think she has packed too much,
Until the day you need exactly what she gave you.
When you are sick, her whole mood changes.
She checks your face like a doctor without a hospital.
She brings medicine, food, and prayer,
As if love itself can fight every sickness.
When you stay out late, her phone calls become serious.
“Where are you"
You say, “I’m coming"
She answers, “I did not ask when you are coming; I asked where you are"
Her care may come with warnings,
Her love may arrive with plenty of advice,
And sometimes her concern sounds like anger.
But behind every sharp word is a soft heart.
She remembers the small things we forget,
The clothes we need, the places we should avoid,
The people she warned us about,
And the dreams she quietly carries for us.
One day, we may leave her house
And finally understand the meaning of her many words.
The voice we once called too loud
Will become one of the voices we miss the most.
Because a mother's voice is not just a voice.
It is protection wearing the clothes of discipline.
It is love hiding inside correction.
It is care speaking in the language of home.
And wherever life takes us,
Through success, failure, laughter, or pain,
A mother's voice remains somewhere within us.
Written by: Yusuf Fwad Ola (Afflatus Writer)
