A Tale of Two Eateries

Sandwiched between two well-paved streets,

One gentleman’s tale on good authority has it,

A notorious alley two dingy eateries harbours

Where knaves all day long inebriates become;

Poison from tipsy loins, fences sting, threaten,

Not forgetting smelly mouths which tales vomit.

Downing booze in moderation not their motto,

As the story, told by my genial old mentor, goes,

Drinking sessions, by noisy banters characterized,

Into the wee-hours slip; sleep, from all depriving,

Sunday all-night binge Monday cock-crow muffles,

Absentee workers then, a query in the kitty get.

Time and time again, protests on deaf ears fall,

The octogenarian judge spinning this yarn insists,

Yet, folk benevolent reason soon will prevail, hope

But although promises had with glee been broken,

Not a few, patience thinks the way forward needs,

The sleazy joints will a natural death die believing.

Lagos, Aug. 28, 2014

Change Of Heart

Climate change every clime ravages

Refugee in shock from fertile land flees

Skirmish outbreak hatred ignites

Relief camp up here and there springs

Politics no longer people serves

Election by the day unpopular gets

Resource global a handful controls

Disease like a thief in the night prowls

Religion louder prosperity preaches

Society ill-gotten wealth flaunts

Judgment nobody can escape beckons

God for man’s change of heart waits

Lagos, August 5, 2014

Love-Child’s Fate

Imbued with humility, perseverance, dignity,

Weaned away from a hopeless beginning

By a surrogate mother whose affection

Smothered the girl no end; at the news

Of her self-immolation, irked wasn’t a few

Who, without doubt, for her had high hopes.

Brought up in poverty and deprivation, things,

All sorts, lacked as she grew up but although

A poor aunt to her niece, the widow’s mite

She had, gave; In contrast to her younger

Sister, the girl’s mother, who, thanks to

An expatriate-lover, in splendour basked.

How could such a bright, innocent lass,

Due to no fault of hers, albeit, to a life

Of vile servitude abroad be destined?

What hardship had she not endured?

How could Efe’s husband, knowing how

It will devastate his wife, be that callous?

Rather than sail across a well-known sea

From an archipelago just to get violated,

She chose to drown, chastity protecting,

Shame will never haunt her family hoping;

But pray, might have her fate, kick-started

On a bleak note, a promising future betrayed?

Lagos, November 30, 2013  

Dropout’s Invitation

Buffeted by a dingy bar and a run-down building,

Hair-dressing salon, in one disused container set,

Not a few gals of appearance conscious, attracts;

Unwise men nearby quaffing beer, object of focus.

Owned by pretty teenager with low-cropped hair,

She, struggling high-school dropout, pulls a crowd;

Without fail, every Friday to the bank goes smiling,

Toward future growth, a small fortune puts aside.

Many among her peers from a sordid past still roam

The streets, flimsy excuses giving for their flirtations

Although, she to one and all job offer letters sends,

None invited with arduous work intends to grapple.

Discipline

Barely five, Mmam to Ebute-Ero Market with obstinacy sent me,

A jute bag of garri worth one pound brought home required of me

On my return; taking, it would seem, kidnapping, rife at the time,

Not into consideration, expected me, as well, to buy her thyme.

I whipped along a disused bicycle wheel during the entire trip,

To and fro, only getting to look up whenever a motor-car’s horn

A note of warning sounded or the tribal-marked girl in tow any

Question asked; I my impatient porter saw no more than as pawn.

Nightly, at my Lagos Wesley Street duty-post under an electric pole,

Brisk business recorded I selling bread-loaves well into the night,

Vectors shrugging off, not to mention taunts, whilst I sat in the cold

Thinking how things might have been, had my dictators got it right.

But now, with the benefit of hindsight, it is crystal clear from up here

How fortunate I was back in the day when parents discipline instilled

In their children and wards alike, juveniles gone astray brought to book,

Not caring whose ox was gored or bloated ego had been cut to size.

The questions, agitating the minds of many on how the youth should

Be disciplined toward making a mark in today’s world, a myriad are

But the most poignant: how to get them sound work ethic to embrace;

Not forgetting, finding a way to keep their itchy fingers away from drugs.

Lagos, May 3, 2013