FATHER SAID

In the time of old

When cutlass was pen

And hoe, a noble school material

And cat and mice were fans

Father said:

Children of polygamous homes

Flocked together like brooding chickens

Under the moonlight

Sharing meal happily without rancour

Their joy they shared in love and unity

For the land was happy with them

It yielded much also for them

But today

Today

Children of a mother

Become enemies biting one another

With the venom of a viper

Stabbing one another

With the knife of the wicked Cain

Our land is sterile also

For tears we give for libation

And blood for irrigation

The blood of our brothers

So the land is bitter, the land is vexed

But no one regards it.

Olatubosun David is a Nigeria writer and poet. A graduate of Rufus Giwa Polytechnic, Owo, Ondo State (2013), in Office Technology and Management. Currently works as a confidential secretary in the department of Mathematical Sciences, Achievers University, Owo. Ondo-State, Nigeria.