Beware
Beware of politicians whose active manifesto
Is always to speak ill of other candidates and opposition parties.
They are the real problems!
Beware of political goons and rumour-mongers, spinning allegations
Twining civil questions, yakking all day but never about
What they have done or can do. They have no vision!
Beware, my brother, of trillionaire politicians who only remember
The poor during campaigns and invite the press to a snap
Of a picture with a kwashiorkor in the slum. They are hypocrites!
Beware of politicians who make fabulous and illusory promises
Whose speeches are seasoned with oenomel to please and hype
History is a witness to their chronic failures and betrayals!
Beware of politicians who evade critical discourse and the press
At home like a mosquito bite but would run to the Chatham House
To seek an audience. They are no solutions!
Beware of desperate politicos defying every civil structure to rule
Bigots whose ploys for victory are religious and ethnic mantras
Kingmakers who want to have their turn on the throne.
Beware of politicians who make Aso Rock their retirement plan
Hall of fame, cashpoint, birthplace and right, their next career
A doctor or lawyer who could save a life or vindicate rights
Has become the Dionysius of our time.
Beware of politicians whose patriotism pulsates on oversea products
Trips to Harley Street, Burj Khalifa, bikini-infested Miami Beach
Back home, they vow to tighten the laws and expand the cells
To make a great nation.
Beware, you goofs and poltroons taking up the squares for heroes
You moneybags, Kings of the jungle, sacred cows, powerbrokers
Plumed and brocaded with national honours, OON, CON…
Amid the chronic poverty and acute frustration.
Beware of kleptocracy, autocracy, gerontocracy, oligarchy, plutarchy
And amidst the hunger, ignorance, confusion, and frustration
Beware of vote merchants!
Copyright © Itsoghole O Solomon | Year Posted 2023
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