Recession

You came with no warning

Like winds of Sahara and downpours of October

You rain sour milk to severely starved souls
With your cruel hands

Fighting our race, right in our face

You have marred and battered lives

Have afflicted sundry with suicidal thoughts
Don’t you hear them howling?

With voices hoarsen with hunger

The silent scream of the masses

A pretty ugly plea for mercy
Look what you’ve turned men to..

Paupers now beggars; savages now cannibals

Siblings selling siblings

Souls of blood for bowls of salad

Flutter by, butterfly of yester years

Your orange wings bring memories of good ol’ days

When the sun shone brighter and the rainbows wore colorful robes

When ‘garri’ was ten naira and ‘kulikuli’ five naira
Oh recession! Have you no shame?

From afar, echoes the cry of old men in depression

Breadwinners turned ‘breadwhiners’; spirits deeply sunken in frustration

Cage your crown at the cave of shame, cruel recession!
©Grace Okoliko