Yesterday...

in poetry •  last year 

This piece was originally written in 2019, for a spoken word video. After the Supreme court judgment of yesterday, affirming the APC's victory, the gloom in my heart was renewed, and I remembered this piece.

Here is to your reading pleasure... and to make you sad too... If you are also a Nigerian, that is...


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Image by kristi611 from Pixabay


Yesterday a child died, did you know?
He had internal injuries, intense blood overflow..
But alas at the hospital, they had no spare bed,
And couple hours later, that little boy was dead...

Do tell, what was his crime?
Being born into a country, still backwards at 59?
Do tell, because I've run out of ways,
To devise excuses, for the many yesterdays...

Yesterdays when tankers collapsed and lit-
With fire, our livelihoods out on the street,
When the fireman was ill-equipped, to quench the fire,
And our goods burned out, doomed never to meet their buyers...

Yesterday when the supposed savior came to steal,
To bruise deeply, where he was only meant to heal,
Now our pensions are locked up, in houses forfeited by the EFCC,
Instead of checking our bank accounts, we now stare with grim faces, upon Channels TV...

Yesterday, when one man dared to speak,
In a country with supposed freedom of speech,
Yeah he had much, but his sixty seconds of fame,
Now we chant the words "free" as a prefix whenever we say his name..

Or is it yesterday where a lawmaker, not a God,
After publicly hitting a woman, is given an award,
Or yesterday when in vain we cried,
That our leaders should simply mind,
As our brothers, down in South Africa died...
Is it that yesterday, that same yesterday...

But will we ever learn?
Yesterdays are bad investments yes, but today will we earn?
Its now so imperative, someone has to ask,
For you, for me, for us, will we ever be up to the task?
Because ultimately, Nigeria is ours...

...

Yesterday a child died, did you know?
He had wealth, family, and lots of room to grow...
But alas he was Nigerian, born and to be bred,
So before he ever lived, that little boy was dead...

#SladenSpeaks
#IfWordsWereNudes


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