My Own Business
Abeg no spoil my
business with your business biko.
Shebi dem say two
birds fit fly for sky and fight no go show?
Na my only way be
this —
Hawking na my
business.
My business earns
me praises, ego, kudi and owó.
I no wan hear
corona abi coro.
I'm a laudable,
yet hopeless hawker in sweltering sun,
a broken vessel of
no value,
inhabitant of
penury with crystal clue,
dogged peddler
come rain come sun,
prisoner in my own
home,
isolated with
punctured promises of palliatives.
Release me to feed
my needs.
Carry your wahala
go with your COVID business
feeding from my
overflowing perspiration,
taking bread and
water under a jealous sunlight.
Rain and sun
tortured me but I live daily to cater for my children.
If I die, my
children die, but my being alive keeps them alive.
The government's
order fed us with hunger.
Who am I to defy
government's order?
Ordinary fugitive
of a virus, powerless than hunger.
I'm poor but don't
want to be poorer,
the heartbeat of
the rich for this virus dey louder.
Poor man problem
na only hunger.
Wetin I need na
hope to restore my hope wey don die.
No talk say make I
no sell my market if your plan fit make person die.
I go put my yansh
for house
If you sef go
share wetin we know say e go reach us.
Nothing kills
faster than hunger,
But who am I to
defy government's order?
_____
Akinbi Oluwarotimi is a Nigerian writer and poet. He is presently
a student at Adeyemi College of Education (ACE), Ondo, Ondo State of Nigeria.
He is a member of The Association of Nigerian Authors (ANA), Mindstriking poets
(MSP) Adeyemi chapter in Ondo State. He is also a fellow at WritenowLit and other
writing associations. His poems have recently appeared and are forthcoming in
the Association of Nigerian Author's anthology. Akinbi can be found on Twitter
@Akinbioluwarot1
Bravo
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