Famine Poem by Kingsley Egbukole

Yam or cassava
Rice, millet or guinea corn
Seated on the table
In any varied form
Causes the stomach to smile

Now the field is shadow of self
The rains beat the soil
Wantonly in excess and no sun
The nutrient icing is eroded to useless ground
The rice, millet and guinea corn in helpless surrender
And sparse is left the field

The yam and cassava stubborn stand
To brutality of liquid nature
The foliage in winsome blossom
Yet the cassava has no stem, the yam no root

The sun at last came
Scorching and baking occupants in sight
The soil to dust shrivel crops to impotence
And vitality is lost to thirst

Harvest time is sorrow time
Empty baskets to farm return weightless
The heart is laden with grief
As expectant barns receive no seed

(Monday 4th October,1999,3.13 pm)