WHEN - A poem

WHEN?

When are we going to talk about the poverty ravaging in the land?

When the three-square meals have become a thing of the past,

When the meagre incomes are spent even before the time passes the half mark,

When the majority have turned to beggars, 

When industries are packing up  everyday, 

When hunger registers more death rate compared to accident

When rags and tattered clothes become the official uniform of the populace,

When homelessness can't let us differentiate between the masses and the electric poles - they both sleep out

I ask, When?

When will we get to iron out the ritual and serial killings?

When people are slaughtered every day like fowls,

Many are massacred for gullible and delusional reasons,

When the loud sounds of wailings and sorrows deafen the few remaining,

When the blood of innocents flow in the land like natural resources,

When our people are displaced and rendered homeless almost every hour,

When beautiful young souls are orphaned like they subscribed to it,

When the peace that once existed has escaped into this clouds,

When?

When are we going to talk about hatred that has become inhabitants in the mind of our people?

When love and compassion just exist in books and in the theoretical world,

When brothers live like enemies,

When sisters can't keep a hand for each other,

When friendship is just on the tongues and faces,

When our hearts are clogged with enmity *covered with beautiful deceptive smiles,

When tribalism and ethnic bigotry have clouded our sense of reasoning,

When we see people practicing other religions as those blocking our way to heaven (sic),

When Harmony has become a thing of the past,

I repeat, When?

When are we going to talk about our rotting values?

When all we do is defraud people of their hard-earned money,

When we get ourselves immersed in the delusion of  "it's our forefathers' money",

When our girls have turned themselves into sex objects,

When all they do is sell their bodies for stipends,

When we all become 'His royal HIGHNESS',

Highness not of crown but drugs,

When we pop drugs like we drink water,

Can somebody tell me When?

When are we going to talk about the issues that affect us as humans?

When are we going to have time for us? WHEN?

©Ajibola Akinola Abubakar

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