Prostrate he lies
Before the ancient shrine
Muttering mystical mantras,
Beseeching
Amadioha,
God of his fathers,
For justice and vengeance
over his enemies
With bowed head
She’s reciting her rosary
Intoning the words
With quiet fervency
Asking for mercy
And prayers
From Mother Mary,
Five times facing the East
Humbly we kneel
We Offer salah
To the Most Merciful Allah,
Along a poorly lit street
She mutters a plea
To the Queen of the coast
For a good generous customer
Not a murdering rapist or a ghost,
He looks up
And requests brisk business
From his chi
Bends down to sandpaper a beam
Five coffin sales later
He is seen to beam,
At a highway
In the dead of night
They rob their victims
Deaf to their plight
Turning children to orphans
Wives to widows
Inwardly praying
Not to fall by a bullet’s blow
Operation done, they give thanks
For a good raid and a safe heist,
Words are rendered before
The gathering
Addressed to the All Seeing Being,
Weary wanton hearts mutter
A pretender’s petitions
No one remembers Him,
When they begin
To milk the treasury
And squander the money
Meant for the country,
As they shamelessly
Devour the poor
And oppress the polity,
None courts Justice
Or Transparency
None remembers
The spelling of
Accountability,
A little boy
Going to bed hungry
Lies prostate on
His mat
And prays
Dear God
Let there be
A little garri
The morning,
Every day, everywhere
We say our prayers
Muslim or Christian
Agnostic or pagan
Young or old
Rich or poor
Our hearts we
Out pour
To Deity, deities
And we keep
Hoping
For just a little
In the morning
While the wealth of a people
Is wasting
In the hands
Of the cruel corrupt ones
in our lands
That is the Nigeria
We live in
That’s the Nigeria we
We pray in
That’s the Nigeria
We need to
Change.
Open
your eyes and hands
Let’s work and pray.
Amen.
Beautiful in many ways.
Wow! Thanks @kaycee ! I am glad you like it. :-)
Brilliant.
Thank You! Monsieur @banky !
Nice….What of the atheists nko?..Well done…$ß
Poetry that is written in vertical form just like yours, does it have a name?
Thanks… hmmm,… maybe they aren’t “everyday” enough. :-) @sibbylwhyte :-D
I quite enjoyed the poem to a large extent. Many people pray to different ‘gods’ or GOD for different things.
I am very glad you did. I spent 5 weeks thinking about an event that was “everyday Nigeria”. Thank you for reading.
Rich and superbly crafted.
Thank you for reading, and appreciating. @ohmston
Original. Good
Hey! THank you @magic
Splendid…
Thanks @francis . You are a gem.
A beautiful poem.
Thank you sir @layrite
Very encapsulating.
You did well but I s’pose you know that already
Bravo!
LOL. Do I? No be so o!
Thank you. @midas.
“That is the Nigeria
We live in
That’s the Nigeria we
We pray in
That’s the Nigeria
We need to
Change.
Open
your eyes and hands
Let’s work and pray.”
The most realistic I have heard for long.
:-) am honoured
@sontel
where are you @sontel ?
a pleasant read. good work
Thanks @clemency , you are greatly appreciated!
I like the various angles, both righteous and sinful, you brought to the activity of prayer.
Nice work sunshine. Keep improving your art.
Thanks! @chemokopi
@nicolebassey, this is a beautiful poem.I love the last lines,they are very powerful.This might be a winning poem.Good luck!
Thanks! I hope the judge thinks so…
babe,kngrats ddar on making d list wit me!
Thank you @nkemjika
There’s a pile of smoking rubble where my mind used to be, blown to bits by the brilliance of ur song….
@nicolebassey
speechless………..