Wednesday 7 March 2012

The pity party


The dead pity the aimless, meaningless toil of the living
Appalled at the fickleness of it all, This living…
The living weep for the dead, cry at their leaving
‘Oku n sunkun oku, akawo leri n sunkun ara won’
The old pity the young, at their toil, reminiscing
In the days of old it wasn’t easy, even now it isn’t easy
The rich pity the poor for the obvious reasons
The poor return the ‘kindness,’ pray for the rich
And against contacting their diseases
‘k’eledua ma fi aisan olowo se wa o’
The married pity the unmarried, wishing them happily married
The unmarried look in at the married and wish they (the married) were indeed happily married
The employed pity the jobless…
Pray they never see the kind of hell they cross e’eryday
The jobless pity those in sub-service camps…after all that dust and to still come to naught?
Those in turn look to Aluta’s children and manage to stir their heads at them
Pity, if only they knew…
Downwards the pity descends, from Aluta’s children to Jamb’s children
While those with children empathize with the barren
Those without silently pray not to have troublesome children
3 million sperm cells keep coursing nonetheless
Keeping a date with the egg their cause
That lucky one keeping all others off their course
Pity, the only gift it gives for their ‘loss’
And the pity party starts all over again
From birth to death…


2 comments: