The rains came pouring again today
We breezed past them in haste
Splashed and sped away
Anonymous behind the tinted shades

Boys, men, pulled up their pants,
Walking right through the flood
Women, girls raise their skirts,
Wading through the murky waters

Oh God, it’s in their houses too
Living rooms sunk in rain water
Beds, mats, sheets, drenched in flood
Nowhere else is home, and tonight they return to it

They suffer, yet they smile
Oh the kids, they play in this water?
Littered, pest infested, contaminated fluid,
Our children bathe in this at their peril

Tried shutting the curtain, turning my back
But it is here too, and there, and the other place,
Oh it’s everywhere,
The prickly heat of poverty, its reeking stench

Oh the children!
They stab me with those needy eyes
The frail legs, the big tummies
They are in my head, my sleep, my dreams

Who will fight for these ones? Who is on their side?
Mr. President you steal their future
Mr. Governor, you have their hope
Give it BACK! DO SOMETHING!

This is their Nigeria too.

To the powers that be,
President, Governors, LG Chairs, elected officials
Look around you, and this time without the shades
This place, leaders is your report card

Job well done.


At your mercy,
The helpess.
by FF.