Discipline Poem by GEORGE AMADI

Barely five, Mmam to Ebute-Ero Market with obstinacy sent me,
A jute bag of garri worth one pound brought home required of me
On my return; taking, it would seem, kidnapping, rife at the time,
Not into consideration, expected me, as well, to buy her thyme.

I whipped along a disused bicycle wheel during the entire trip,
To and fro, only getting to look up whenever a motor-car's horn
A note of warning sounded or the tribal-marked girl in tow any
Question asked; I my impatient porter saw no more than as pawn.

Nightly, at my Lagos Wesley Street duty-post under an electric pole,
Brisk business recorded I selling bread-loaves well into the night,
Vectors shrugging off, not to mention taunts, whilst I sat in the cold
Thinking how things might have been, had my dictators got it right.

But now, with the benefit of hindsight, it is crystal clear from up here
How fortunate I was back in the day when parents discipline instilled
In their children and wards alike, juveniles gone astray brought to book,
Not caring whose ox was gored or bloated ego had been cut to size.

The questions, agitating the minds of many on how the youth should
Be disciplined toward making a mark in today's world, a myriad are
But the most poignant: how to get them sound work ethic to embrace;
Not forgetting, finding a way to keep their itchy fingers away from drugs.

Lagos, May 3,2013