Nigeria: Show of shame
I
Show of shame,
entangled threads
have become faded wrinkles,
Nigerians who are few,
at the helm,
puzzle huge theatres.
feinted fainting fainted figments,
Politics becomes drama,
of sheer shamelessness.
II
Show of shame,
disgruntled vultures
have become exposed drains,
Nigerians who are few,
at the helm,
prattle distract wands,
crafted drafting drifted grafts,
Politics becomes means
of utter corruptness.
III
Show of shame,
degraded smokes
have become stinking drunks,
Nigerians who are few,
at the helm,
dazzle dense masses,
stunted stinting slanted slights,
Politics becomes podium
of crook meanness.
IV
Show of shame,
obscured shadows
have become trending crazies,
Nigerians who are few,
at the helm,
rehearse aberrant concoctions,
cramped crimping crumbled champs,
Politics becomes intrigue
of realistic insaneness.
V
Show of shame,
ruinous termites
have become economic saboteurs,
Nigerians who are few,
at the helm,
cripple healthy brains,
tramped tripping tromped tripes,
Politics becomes entity
of heinous romance.
Ben Ezeohagwu won the Onigraffiks Prize for literature (2017). He is Professor of Graphonomy and Chancellor, African American University, Porto-Novo, Republic of Benin and can be reached at email: benezeohagwu@yahoo.com; www.africanamericanuniversity.
