The rain washes down the slippery clay <br />On the untidy shores of Africa <br />Passing through the frontal of our impoverished household <br />For ages and generations it seemed to remain that way <br />You could see that degree of penury just everywhere you stare <br />From the rusted tired zinc roof to the ragtag of curtains and carpets <br />From the abundant culture of algae on the wall to the dwarf height of our fence <br />All you can see in this household and down the street to the left is indigence <br />If you need to confirm this, you need just one simple process <br />Standing at the tip of your toes, you can glare to the left, over the fence <br />And the first impecunious erection you would see is a shrine <br />Yes, a shrine, an old one <br />And from stories I heard, if you walk right in, your destiny is sealed <br />Sealed to a change my parents never believed <br />They preferred to remain in poverty than in self-insolence <br />Each day Baba, the priest, babbled and screamed to some shadows <br />Before entering the shrine one had to make do with his footwear <br />One had to carry a handsome sum of money <br />All this to get ones destiny sealed <br />All this to be empowered <br />A few occasions I was chased by hunger, I might have ran in there for refuge <br />Today was different <br />No hen or goat screamed for its life and Baba didn’t cry out to the spirits <br />I was curious to know how my neighbor’s business got so tranquil <br />Maybe the spirits had cried out to him this time that no one could hear or see <br />I stepped outside my house and moved to the left <br />I drew open the gate and took off my slippers, <br />Still Baba didn’t shout nor did I hear his irritatingly loud gong <br />I walked shaking down the carpet grass path towards the door <br />Steadily I pulled open the curtain <br />Then I heard the scream <br />And it was probably coming from me<br /><br />Ivan Chizurum Ezeigbo<br /><br />http://www.poemhunter.com/poem/empowered-4/
