UPSIDE DOWN
– Akeem Lasisi
For the sake of this chameleon’s night
Let the sage adjust the cap of adage,
My tongue is a Kigalian flame
Will shake wisdom forest to its ancient roots.
I am the learned lark living in a chamber of glass,
But I am poised to sing a song of stone:
My song is the first straw
But it will surely break the camel’s back.
I have outlived dynasties
Of pellets and stones
Of blood-stained guns and desperate gowns
I have relished roasted pledges
On dawns of coups
Savoured sugary vows on manifesto nights.
But because I have been a witness to budget scams,
When they promise water at night
I prepare my fate for drought at dawn
When they pledge a reign of moon
I train my sight for a trip in void,
Prepare my destiny for an eclipsed year
For up, up
Upside down,
The eagle is trampling upon its wings.
Only yesterday
They buried the last needle
In the womb of the sky
I am just planting a family seed
When public clinics are down with stroke
Dispensaries, a playing ground for giant moles.
This night of my flight,
Filled with horror of unfulfilled wages,
Matrons have turned their backs on labouring wards
This night of my flight,
The Pope is home-sick
But the angels are still on strike.
Up, up upside down
The eagle is trampling
Upon its wings.
Upside down,
The school is standing
Upon its roof.
The curriculum that wobbles in
Via the gate of the class
Jets out through its open windows and open sky.
Then, “Who wrote Macbeth?”
Queries the bearded satirist of the Orwellian ilk.
“Who wrote Macbeth?”
Students swear they are not the one
The teacher vows he, a whole graduate, could never have
As principal swears to innocence by his gaping loins.
Up, up upside down
The school is standing
Upon its roof.
