Today, the first of a brand-new month,
Yet our pockets echo emptiness -
Our due wages lost
In the fog of bureaucratic forgetfulness.
I confess: I am bombastically bamboozled,
By this chronological altitude
Where salaries take sabbaticals
While sweat still glistens on honest brows.
This devilish delay
Be-devils the hoi polloi,
Eroding faith in the sovereign of the land,
Extinguishing the zeal
That once fired our humble duties.
For what thrives in a nation
Where lily-livered lords cling to power
With feverish fingers through the back door,
Draining the wells of welfare
Into potholed pockets
That never fill?
We sweat - they smile.
We hunger - they hang out,
Their laughter echoing in joints
Where our sighs cannot reach.
Oh yes, I must serve my fatherland,
But tell me, how can I serve
When my father forgets to feed me?
With what strength do I lift his flag
When my stomach folds in protest?
Abeg, I de vex!
Whoever dey hold our salary -
Release am, I beg,
Before I finish counting
The ceiling in my room.
Because truly...
Ebi npa mi o!