Yellow for A Poetry King (Saraki replies Osundare) -By Akeem Lasisi

Akeem Lasisi

(Saraki replies Osundare)

Those who have no access to jumbo pay
Must be given their right of jumbo say –
It may be the price democracy must pay.

When the pot is cooking its yam
No one hears a single word
Or the tiniest morpheme from the cooking pot

But let the innocent mortar, diligent to a fault,
Let the mortar pound its yam
The night is deafened by the pestles’ noise.

Each time we are eating or scheming the world is mad
But beyond the legislative access to personal tills
We must build our energy for the piling Bills.

The assembly job is a heavy yoke –
Only a wired sense,
And a nourished strength can carry it.

So when you think we are eating like termites wild,
Or we are scheming like tortoises in an ancient tale
We are building our energy for the people’s sake.

Budgetary scrutiny is a complex task
Only a slippery conscience
And a well-fed brain can tackle it.

In our presidential game of hide and seek
You need to be in the House to feel the steam
You need to be close to the mace to win the race.

Those sleepless nights of supplementary budgeting
Require uncommon wit to stay afloat,
Require extra-dietary supplements to stay awake.

The other day we scaled the Assembly fence
The world had screamed like a wounded dog:
Can a half-filled stomach jump a fence as high as the elm?

With each plenary session bringing a peculiar shock
You do not want to be caught on a tummy blank,
You dare not be caught in the Lawanian trap:

If Christmas comes once a year in the hallowed chamber
Not even the Witch of Endor
Can predict the coming of our Boxing Days.

Akeem Lasisi, an award-winning poet and journalist, writes from Lagos.