A Youth Is Gone. Poem by Tony Adah

Death looked at its hit list
And its pangs piercing like a spear
In the heart of the world
A village scene is ridden with melancholy
Men, women and children are bleary- eyed
And their tear source swollen like a boil
Dogs are barking
Goats are bleating
And all the hens as apprehensive as they are
Are all standing on one leg.

Death has applied palm oil
On life's effervescence
And all suds are gone
Its black maria has just driven past
And it is a coffin for the youth
Who in a blind alley has walked
Truncating his journey
At this fiendish end.

In all the vexation and mourning
Mourning merged with merriment and
Men, women and children
Deigned to eat, drink and dance
In the pitiful exit of the youth.