Read Time:1 Minute, 22 Second
'Akpabana’s Banquet' is the winner of the Brigitte Poirson Literature Prize 2024 (Poetry)
Tonight, a minister makes merry,
lavishing numberless notes
on a bevy of stunning ladies
somewhere at a top Lagos lounge,
while little kids go to bed hungry;
their bellies knotted, their dreams of bread fragile,
dreading the ambush of the next day's hunger
In another corner of the night,
a senator snores in surfeit,
fatigued from the long day's toil
of diverting the path of public treasury.
A smile sprawls across his scheming face,
while a civil servant lies sleepless,
mourning the untimely demise of his paycheck
But far above, in the tower of Justice,
a cauldron simmers with a searing brew;
the scent of reckoning rises, thick and sure,
for every stolen coin and shattered promise.
Slowly, a masterful feast is prepared,
its aroma sharp with a truth that cuts,
and shadows gather, anticipating the taste
The host, Akpabana*, paces the sky,
stirring clouds with heavy hands,
as he issues invitations with each rolling peal;
Soon, beneath the heavens' trembling roof,
the potbellied profligates of public trust
will dine on the bitter fruits of their schemes
as lightning carves their names into the night sky.
* Akpabana is the personification of thunder in Idoma mythology.
Hillary is a Nigerian writer, social critic, and academic passionate about social justice advocacy and the rule of law. A graduate of English, he serves as a Teaching Fellow in the Department of English at Adeyemi Federal University of Education, Ondo. Currently completing his MA in English at the University of Ibadan, Hillary has written numerous short stories and poems highlighting pressing societal issues.
You must be logged in to post a comment.