Steve Ayorinde: The jinx breaker, poem by Akeem Lasisi

Ayorinde

Steve AyorindeEach time we scatter far,

Every time we wander wild

You have a way of ringing the bell

Rallying the clan for a harvest great.

 

The last time we shared wines

You were the magician who tapped palm wine from an orange tree:

You switched on the moon at noon

When you broke the jinx for our darling arts.

 

They said we were a never-do-well beat

But you PUNCHED the jinx and edited with class;

They said the feat was a flash in the pan

Yet, you nurtured THE MIRROR to a standard high.

 

Each time we scatter far,

Every time we wander wild

You have a way of ringing the bell

Rallying the clan for a harvest great.

 

When they ran out of their morbid jokes

They said government was such a serious business

That should attract only mortals from the social and sciences

But you have made the Cabinet to prove a point:

 

That the man who lives by bread alone

Will wake up one day to find a rock across his anus

That the country that shuts out its art and cultured minds

Will stand alone on its judgment day.

 

Each time we scatter far

Every time we wander wild

You have a way of ringing the bell

Rallying the clan for a harvest great.

 

But our feast today will be brief

To save the time for your inaugural strides.

The ministry is waiting

The Governor is eager

 

Like a troupe of veteran masqueraders,

We will save the dance till the final night

When you must have carved the name of our constituency in gold

By moving the mountains for our aquatic State.