Rings Fall Apart Poem by Raimi Babatunde

Love, trust and commitment
The covenant foundation
Where true marriage is pedestrialed
Sealed with an oath
Witnessed by all
For better for best
Till death do us part

Bring back yesterday
When love was love
Husbands loved their wives
And wives submitted to their Majesties
Today, the story is different
But from the very beginning
It was not so

Where are your values?
Your moral compass?
Are you not the Priest?
The provider and their rock?
When did we get here?
Wives fast becoming breadwinners?
But from the beginnng
It was not so

The weaker vessel they are called
Who is weaker of the two?
The one who provides?
Oh the one who expends?
There is a new coinage for them
We call them House husbands
When you can't provide for your family
You are worse than an infidel

And to you woman
That man might be down
But he is not out
Remember when you said your vows
You loved him
Promising to be his help meet
For better for best
You might have the reins now
Wield it with caution

I have no regard for them
Husbands who lazy around
Why not dirty your hands?
If that is all it takes
To fend for your family
There is dignity on labour
If you don't act now
You are close to losing her
It's just a matter of time

You want to know?
Your duty is complimentary
To be his help meet
Not his slave or mistress
If only he will wake up
And take full responsibility
His change is just in view

Before you leap ladies
Please look properly
Does he have a vision?
Is he going somewhere?
Does he have a job?
Is he genuinely God fearing?
Does your vision align with his?
Ask, lest you enter "One Chance"

That you have a third leg
Is not what makes you a man
If you go in and and come out
With a beautiful output
You are just a donor
If you refuse responsibility
You become a useless one

You are thirty and slaying
Thirty-Five and balling hard
Weldone Aunty!
Water you can't boil
Tea you can't cook
Who wants to marry another man
Wait till one makes it right
You will loose him automatically
Long after yourbeauty fades
Character and integrity will stand

I guess this is complicated
But let us tell them celebrities
It is not okay
Four baby Mamas you got
And for you Aunty
You don't even know theirfather
I pity your condition
I pray that you realise soon
That they place is called "A private"
Sealed with a caveat
Not a public enterprise

That's why rings fall apart
That's why we are missing it
We forgot the basic rules
That governs this Union
So as the rings fall apart
It seems like a norm
Because everybody is doing it
I warn you poetically
Do it right!
And live happily ever after
And now, thayt is the will of God.