I have offered at the altar,
Three pieces of kola nut,
Two gourds of palm wine and water-
To quench the thirst of the gods.
Still the gods will not eat or drink.
Was my sacrifice too small?
The old priest-
Ordered I made a feast.
For whom…?
But to the gods of doom-
To make the harvest boom.
Two bales of white clothes,
And ten wads of hundred naira notes.
I wonder if the gods spend money!
“Why not bring a hunched back cow
And an hunched back fowl-
To appease the hunched back gods?”
Asked the hunched back priest.
May be they would talk now,
And heed to the distance cry-
Of babes still to witness a momentary crawl.
The cow was slaughtered-
Staring at us and the carved broom gods pitifully.
Will you kill to get peace’s pill?
But the deed was done!
When will peace journey to our land-
To scold and scrub this pains from our heart,
Now that it seems the gods are asleep,
Are they really worth the praise?
Gin for the gods, beer for the priest
Rattling of gun in the distance-
Restlessness lurks in the dark.
Wailing and gnashing of teeth-
The shrine stood the gods a splendid feast.
Let them address our pains-
If the gods are not deaf.
Monday, February 9, 2009
Tuesday, February 3, 2009
To the uncelebrated soldiers
To the uncelebrated soldiers
Men of war-
Who bore this gallant blood.
Brave and bold as ore,
Sacrificed to cleanse the world-
Of hatred and oppression.
To those brave men
Who slept in the cold arms of the valley
And made friends in the forest’s den,
Feeding on water and barley-
As their souls rise and drop-
Like a withered crop.
Men who went in peace
Combing the deserts of the north
Cracking and crumbling all evil’s fort.
The brutal civil war in Nigeria,
The dastardly genocide in Rwanda-
Come to halt with your passion and palpitation.
Men of steel
Stirring this wheel
Of freedom, from Freetown
To the deserts of Sudan.
This day brings forth your crown
As we envy your courage as a man.
Men who journeyed
Among the eerie sounds of grenade
And the spits of bullet-
That made the cracked and the damaged
And this weary gauntlet
That made you prisoners with a grade
And not a shameless renegade.
We know you
As you lie still
As an uncelebrated soldier
Just to show a true son-
Of the land you are.
Let this be your epitaph-
That; here lies a gallant soldier
Who risked and died for a cause.
Who bore this gallant blood.
Brave and bold as ore,
Sacrificed to cleanse the world-
Of hatred and oppression.
To those brave men
Who slept in the cold arms of the valley
And made friends in the forest’s den,
Feeding on water and barley-
As their souls rise and drop-
Like a withered crop.
Men who went in peace
Combing the deserts of the north
Cracking and crumbling all evil’s fort.
The brutal civil war in Nigeria,
The dastardly genocide in Rwanda-
Come to halt with your passion and palpitation.
Men of steel
Stirring this wheel
Of freedom, from Freetown
To the deserts of Sudan.
This day brings forth your crown
As we envy your courage as a man.
Men who journeyed
Among the eerie sounds of grenade
And the spits of bullet-
That made the cracked and the damaged
And this weary gauntlet
That made you prisoners with a grade
And not a shameless renegade.
We know you
As you lie still
As an uncelebrated soldier
Just to show a true son-
Of the land you are.
Let this be your epitaph-
That; here lies a gallant soldier
Who risked and died for a cause.
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