by Aluta Nite
They poured cold water in my bed
As a way of initiating me to the next class
And they put a giant grasshopper
Between my sheets to make me scream and jump
From the top bed and break my leg.
How much nastier did they want to be!
Why emulate the worst, if they had had their share!
Food, clothing, shoes and money I had
Were for those older girls
For I was like in a penitentiary.
I had no voice to shout out no to them
For they could deal with me accordingly
Them bullies, of the worst kind.
JOY
Ma Joy will ask me where I left Joy,
Dear Mummy of Roy;
I went to fetch firewood in the bush with Joy
Hyenas came and ate her up while I escaped.
“Why don’t you tell me where you left Joy
Dear cousin, Adelele!
Why don’t you give me an answer
Auntie’s daughter, Adelele!”
I took the path most traveled
She took the path least traveled
Hyenas made her their meal of the day.
I heard growls over her and her low moans.
“Why don’t you tell me where you left Joy
Dear cousin, Adelele!
Why don’t you give me an answer
Auntie’s daughter, Adelele!”
I returned to our agreed marked point to confirm
The worst and ran for dear life on missing Joy
I have no firewood you can see
And that is the truth about Joy and me.
“Why don’t you tell me where you left Joy
Dear cousin, Adelele!
Why don’t you give me an answer
Auntie’s daughter, Adelele!”
It's impossible to soothe Ma Joy
For no amount of consoling
Can comfort her.
“Why don’t you tell me where you left Joy
Dear cousin, Adelele!
Why don’t you give me an answer
Auntie’s daughter, Adelele!”
SOCIETAL IMBALANCES
As a young adult, I saw JM, rich and mighty
Giving handouts to the poor and his worry was-
His state had ten millionaires to which he was one
And the rest were ten million, poor populace.
Because of speaking out and gaining popularity,
He met a gruesome end; dumped in the remote hillside
Where herdsmen roamed by day and hyenas by night,
But, hyenas couldn’t touch the acid blanketed corpse.
The world is up in arms to societal imbalances
Of what JM said decades ago and Nyerere confirmed.
Many have been glued to consumerism
Without noticing causes of the imbalances
Till world economies plunged and people turned militant.
To divert attention due to public outcry,
Many were bombed and died in public transport;
And a lie fabricated he was in a southern country
In capital city X, in hotel Y and room Z, only
To be called to shame by the media and herdsmen.
He was shot, scalded with some caustic agent and
Left on that slope. And Nyerere named the country
‘Man eats man society’ in echo of JM’s worry.
The world is up in arms to societal imbalances
Of what JM said decades ago and Nyerere confirmed.
Many have been glued to consumerism
Without noticing causes of the imbalances
Till world economies plunged and people turned militant.
Cities' lawns, parks, harbor Occupy Movements
In this century and time
When we should have known better in terms of
What ails communities and societies worldwide!
Yet, there’s heavy resistance for change.
The world is up in arms to societal imbalances
Of what JM said decades ago and Nyerere confirmed.
Many have been glued to consumerism
Without noticing causes of the imbalances
Till world economies plunged and people turned militant
PERSONAL FREEDDOM
I don’t have to look like you in trends:
I can’t stand slings women stash breasts in
For they compress me to faint however loose.
I don’t mind my bust moving up and down
Or swinging sideways like pendulums
As I feel free and breathe effortlessly.
Thanks to personal freedom
And freedom of choice
I am what I am without them all.
Mid rift ropes that hug waistlines
Like a human strapped ready for electrocution
Appeal not, as I’m not ready to lie down and die.
They interfere with my digestion and relaxation
For they separate me in two and kill my oneness
And I become a stranger in my own body.
Thanks to personal freedom
And freedom of choice
I am what I am without them all.
Hosiery that keeps you warm
And make you look like a countess or baroness
Make me itchy and stuffed like I’m in a sack.
Ill-fitting shoes and specs on the nose bridge
Are no pleasures either, as my feet cry foul
And my nose twitches with a heavy load on.
Thanks to personal freedom
And freedom of choice
I am what I am without them all.
Oh, dental structures gripping gums and teeth
And contact lenses poking eyeballs;
Oh, a tie that says-‘I am strangling you now’
And a turtleneck top sheathing like a python;
They drive me nuts till I feel like I am invisible.
I have a phobia and I’m rescuing myself.
Thanks to personal freedom
And freedom of choice
I am what I am without them all.
LIBERATED
School is no more and work is no more
How relieving and comforting is that!
The reins are in my hands forever.
It means independence to the end.
I’m liberated, I’m liberated; I’m liberated.
Oh, I’m liberated I’m liberated.
I wake up when I want to and I eat what I desire.
Passionately, I do what I do and go where I wish
For age is not doom, as many believe,
It simply means liberty.
I’m liberated, I’m liberated; I’m liberated.
Oh, I’m liberated I’m liberated.
You fear age, yet you don’t know what it is.
Wait for your turn and taste it for real,
Only then will you grasp the whole scenario;
It just gives you autonomy.
I’m liberated, I’m liberated; I’m liberated.
Oh, I’m liberated I’m liberated.
CONSIDER OTHERS
Why be selfish, yet you have good neighbors?
They live to your left and to your right,
They live across the corridor and up and down.
At dead of night, you aren’t the only one around
And play music like you’re in a dance hall.
Your boom, boom music wakes them all up.
Consider others in the vicinity you belong to.
Consider others in the vicinity you belong to.
Consider others in the vicinity you belong to.
By day your nuisance continues, as your
Noise bursts their eardrums, doors and windows.
Dear neighbor, listen to their cry, for like relatives
Or country, they didn’t choose you as a neighbor,
Yet, they’re your first respondents in time of ne
ed.
Your boom, boom noise distracts those concentrating
Consider others in the vicinity you belong to.
Consider others in the vicinity you belong to.
Consider others in the vicinity you belong to.
PAYCHECK
Due date is awaited like a hawk watches its prey
Yet work is done like a slave forced to labor.
Just like its arrival is anticipated and welcome
So should sweating be orderly to receive it later.
Paycheck, paycheck, paycheck
You’re the biggest curse to man
For man discarded barter trade for you
And you’re as rare as the diamond ore.
Bated breath longs for its appearance
Meanwhile, time seems to stand still
While man salivates for its delivery
For without it, there’s no livelihood.
Paycheck, paycheck, paycheck
You’re the biggest curse to man
For man discarded barter trade for you
And you’re as rare as the diamond ore.
AS WE SEE IT
A MD told fellow medics treating him-
“Take out of me all that say no to alcohol
For I am not done
And I’ll not be till my last breath.”
As we see it, that is what we want
As we see it nothing else matters.
A surgeon told visiting colleagues,
“My best work is done when I am high.
How else do you attribute my success,
In chest surgery, in so many years?”
As we see it, that is what we want
As we see it nothing else matters.
And I say to myself, “Get rid of mucus
For it is the worst part of my system.
As much as I know its usefulness
I loathe it more than anything in me”.
As we see it, that is what we want
As we see it nothing else matters.
HE HAD HER HEART, BUT - - - - -
Love is a nice thing to experience
And it takes two to enjoy.
Mean what you say
For tomorrow is not promised
She gave him her heart to the last puff of breath.
He flaunted his around for hyenas
To pounce on and make him theirs;
He had her heart, but he was careless with it.
Love is a slippery thing to handle
For it takes two to build on.
Keep to your word
For tomorrow is not promised
She gave him her heart to the last puff of breath
He flaunted his around for hyenas
To pounce on and make him theirs;
He had her heart, but he was careless with it.
Love is a painful thing to hurt
For it takes two to nurture.
Respect your commitment
For tomorrow is not promised.
She gave him her heart to the last puff of breath
He flaunted his around for hyenas
To pounce on and make him theirs;
He had her heart, but he was careless with it.
A CHANCE FOR THE LIMELIGHT
Publicity beckons everyday
As competitions tantalize in:
Jeopardy
Wipe Out
Spelling quiz
Deal or No Deal
Bet On Your baby
The Biggest Loser
Who’s Still Standing?
Sing Off
The Voice
The X factor
American Idol
Let’s Play Millionaire
Dancing With the Stars
America Has Got Talent
So you think You Can Dance
Survivor
Fear Factor
Family Feud
Amazing Race
Don’t Forget the Lyrics
You’ve got A Minute to Win It
Who Wants To Be A Millionaire?
America’s Funniest Home Videos
And more
The unknown come
From nowhere and become celebrities and
The less known get chances to be known,
The poor get opportunities to be rich,
Creativity gets a chance to flourish
And talent gets a chance to shine,
As the successful view poverty
In their rear view mirrors.
She might never have sung like a lark to millions.
He might never have shown his creative possibilities.
She might never have taken her young guts to France.
He might never have shown his baritone in Los Angeles.
GOOD BYE LOVE
The lonely one remains alone
Since his departure a while back.
His travels take him all over
For duty calls him alone.
Good bye love
It’s sad to see you go,
It’s sad to say adieu.
The Almighty be with you
Wherever you go.
There’s no provision for company
And she must abide by that
And his return is not known
For duty calls indefinitely.
Good bye love
It’s sad to see you go,
It’s sad to say adieu.
The Almighty be with you
Wherever you go.
BROWNING OF THE WORLD
Races exist in ideologies and expectations
And within are pronounced codes
In culture, tradition and customs,
But rebellion creates new codes.
The browning of the world changes all this.
The browning of the world alters equations.
Who is to blame? No one,
But true urges for the forbidden.
What are forbidden are always desired
For the hearts grow curious and fonder
In eagerness to find out more about
Strange persons and things.
The browning of the world changes all this.
The browning of the world alters equations.
Who is to blame? No one,
But true urges for the forbidden.
INADEQUATE LAWS
Man-made laws are insufficient since days of yore.
There’re oversight, favoritism, misjudgment and sloth;
Propaganda, thirst for riches and power struggles;
Corruption, looking the other way and inaccuracies.
Meanwhile, many aggrieved get hurt further or die
As the hands of those trusted with laws grind slowly
While turning confessions into arguments
In the name of fair trial.
Public court is not always wrong
For the villain is a criminal.
What legal protection does he deserve!
And why give lesser punishment to the villain
For admitting to the foul acts!
Even human rights groups overstep limits at times
In clamoring for persons condemned for rotten deeds,
Yet it is payback time for the wrongs done
To innocent people of the world.
IN PRAISE OF MOMS
In time of hunger,
She deserted food for her kids to get satisfied
while she starved to death.
In time of disaster,
She covered her two children with her body
while she suffered loss of limps
via wrecked knee and ankle.
“Mom, you are the best Mom
in the whole wide world”
‘Child, I’m merely fulfilling
my earthly calling.’
WANT IT ALL
Egoism and merit bore animosity
And no one was to be seen or heard, but her.
Those who sang her songs and praises
Were
dotted on to the letter
While those who stood aloof
Were concocted to distraction.
Tales were born and issues were raised
Where there was no grain of flour
In order to destroy credibility and create ire
For independent souls, that desired peace.
If one was not spotted at a gathering,
She claimed one had gone to hide
In the city far away, yet one was surely
Having obligations to fulfill there
With no knowledge of any calamity.
Commands were her directions and all
Were to run, walk, jump, move or anything
And utter no word of objection or but, but
Otherwise, one’s loyalty was in question.
In a conversation, mentioning someone
Else other than her, was futile
For one crossed the line
And had to be dealt with accordingly.
If one did a good deed
And she came to know about it,
She had to double the deed
To nullify or belittle one’s deed.
If she telephoned someone
And that someone was absent
She wouldn't leave a message
Because talking on one to one
Without notice, gave her the upper hand