No Pain No Gain

No Pain No Gain
(I paid the price for leaving my long house)

Plucked, half-starved
from the pit of poverty.
Heavy was the price
for discarding
the long house life.

Leaving the nest
was a heart-rending wrest.
The current was too strong.
All I could do was go along.

I pined day in and day out,
wishing I could shout.
Eventually, married to my job,
I simply must cope.
I realised then
there'd be no gain
without the pain.

Soon a family I raised.
My problem deepened.
More walls were erected.
Like it or not,
religious and cultural
walls I cannot hassle.

I resigned to my fate.
Thankful and grateful
for my family's full plates.
Though I couldn't quench
my inner and deeper thirst,
I realised it was God's wishes.

For after all,
without pain, there'd be no gain.