CENTENARY BLUES

CENTENARY BLUES

Nigeria,

My feet bear the portrait of Odyssey

Through your passages of seasons;

I am the custodian of the memories

 

I have spread the arms of this poem

Like street traders’ wares,

Let history journey beyond Lugard’s court

In this caravan of verses.

Inkhorn suffers no amnesia;

This Odysseus’ staff-like pen,

Bears the cargo of words,

Knitting your puzzling tales

Of a hundred years into an elegy

That mocks centennial fetes

 

When Lamentations relieve

The national anthem,

I put on my prophetic garb;

Like Jeremiah, I see into other realms

I envisage heaven’s embassy

Where your rulers

Suffer multiple visa rejection

I am in tune with

Your theatre of absurdity

Where politrickers act out

Corruption‘s endless scripts

 

Fatherland,

Niger and Benue are the tributaries,

Today,

I join the confluence of testaments;

Your regions are havens,

I fear not,

I fear north!

 

About the Author

‘Gbenga Adeoba is a lover of words. His poems have appeared in Sankofa LitMag, Bukrepublik and elsewhere.

 

 

 

 

 

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