The Begging Beggars

En-route Onikan Stadium I had evaporated from My abode in Samonda Only to condense in Iwo road. There I saw them begging One barely leaves before Another jumps on us They were beggars of the Niger-Area. Behold !an old haggard Tattered looking woman, Muttering some prayers Only to her very self, Cowries she needed. Then comes another man Clad in all white attire, Making incantations through His chimney-like look. He shakes his head chanting Some rehearsed -versed prayers Meant for us passengers In all, cowries he demanded. Appears another blind man With a kid directing his three legs The first leg he points to pave way For the other two legs For he seeth no more Cowries they needed too. Two kids looking rumpled Their mother tailing from afar They are from a lake called Chad The Chadian kids chanting, Singing in aYoruba language Their Yoruba pronunciation brings Passenger’s teeth out impromptu. Only then and there, They got attention more Cowries they had more than others. More came till I lost count of them For three scores of a minute Beggars came begging for cowries , Poverty hovers round them Wretchedness consume their look Like a Vulture that is about Being starved to death. They are all indeed wretched of The Earth on our own Earth. The driver fired the engine Still lost in my thought About the begging beggars. I looked through the windows Only to find more beggars in Lagos Cowries, they all needed. Are we not all beggars in this land? Begging for food , water, shelter ,air . . . Killing ourselves for crumbs from their table Even amidst plenty They have made us empty They are Gold- Diggers of our wealth. For how long would we beg? Can we ever stop begging? Can we ever exist without begging? Were we born to beg? I said to myself “ No”. We are not destined to beg We are only made to beg To suit their whims and caprices But our desperation to get to the Destination of our dream land Lies with the destiny in our hands. Alayande Stephen. T February 11th, 2006 11.35am A true life story. On my way to Onikan stadium in Lagos For NANS Zone D Convention .It all happened Between Iwo Road and Lagos.