Learning the Hard Way

Life goes on and on and thou keep on learning
For as long as oil lasts, the lamp keeps burning
Toil as thou may, receive shall thy prize
Only with the death of depth, a man truly dies
Some learn easy, some learn the hard way
Yonder the shades, ye are made of clay
The tummy of the whale – dark, wet and smelly
Jonah therein, trapped wretched in the belly
Chosen if he had, where God’s will did lay
Escaped may he have learning the hard way
So I ask thee O Jonah, tangled in seaweed
Why humans learn not until they bleed?
©Jalees Hyder