What Have We Learnt
We have become prisoners in our homes
In a time when war planes aren't flying overhead
And missiles' too crippled to design caligraphic fire in our night sky.
We peeped through the windows to watch the deserted streets,
With hopes to regain our freedom once again.
No soldiers with armoured tanks marching the streets,
But the voices of neighbours-
Asking eagerly if our incarceration hasn't been postponed.
"Baba has added yet another fourteen days
And three million households soon to see the rays."
We must bear our pains with gallantry
Even the kids have braced-up as infant-ry
Aware of the enemy that has the world in its grip.
Remember how easy our people threatened to go to war
While the youths wobble in delusion,
Glorifying the hatred that consumed their fathers,
Basking in the shallow stream of conceited deceit.
Burying the dead has become difficult
Venturing into places of worship has become forbidden
And the schools are empty without pupils in them.
But what have we learnt
Now that we are yet to be cured of greed?
What have we learnt
Now that crime has taken a new breed?
What have we learnt
When we still can't show kindness?
What have we learnt
Now that our leaders seek solace at home?
What have we learnt
Now that hunger stare us in the face?
While we watch the numbers
Descend in mass graves
With the global economy on the path of recession.
What have you learnt?
MUYIDEEN AYINLA
©?2020
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