Today I saw a mysterious thing
A thing that vexed me to my very soul
I saw the black man dressed like a king
But crouching in the shadows with a begging bowl
His children were starving in fields of cassava
Dying of diseases the palm kernel can cure
Homeless in a land of rock and timber
“Why are you begging?” He said, “I am poor.”
Today I saw a mysterious thing
A wonder so great I cannot tell it
I saw the black man dressed like a king
But lying in the dust, crying at my feet
His legs were sturdy like the palm tree
His forests were rich and teeming with game
His muscles, they rippled like the proud Zambezi
I told him, “Get up!” But he said, “I am lame.”
Today I saw a mysterious thing
So shocking I have no words to say
I saw the black man dressed like a king
But standing like the lost by the highway
He huddled in a cage that had no gate
He could see where the keys to his chains were kept
He stood in clamps but they had no weight
“Why are you here?” He said, “I am trapped.”
Today I saw a mysterious thing
How can I tell such a horrible story?
I saw the black man dressed like a king
But sharing a sleeping mat with poverty
His poverty was a fat man with a bulging stomach
Lying on his back beside a pot full of treasure
This conviction was all that he lacked:
That he could get up and make his own future.
from the collection, “The Revolution Has No Tribe: Contemporary Poetry on African History , Culture and Society” available at Silverbird Bookshop and also on-line on Amazon.
AUTHOR PROFILE
Dike Chukwumerije (Dike-Ogu Chukwumerije) is an Abuja Literary Society (ALS) Poetry Slam Champion, and the winner of the maiden edition of The African Poet Nigeria (TAPng) National Poetry Slam Competition.
He is a literary advocate and a dedicated social activist, whose passion for change finds expression in his works.He has self-published several books, including the highly acclaimed poetry collection, “The Revolution Has No Tribe: Contemporary Poetry on African History, Culture and Society”.
One of his novels, “The African American”, was long-listed for the 2012 Wole Soyinka Prize for Literature.
Dike’s other poems are available at http://www.therevolutionhasnotribe.blogspot.com/
He lives in Abuja with his family.
What is mine to do, is always done.
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