Save Now Poem by Chris Jibero

Barring fate and destiny
A harsh today is often
The child of an uncharted yesterday
A voyage without compass
Consequencies like the visit
Of robbers of yore
Masked night terrors
Pestilences stalking in darkness
Peddling harm and anguish

So put away one kobo today
And you have just one kobo
But a good start it is
For it is the wise
The bold
The industrious
And the mighty as ants
That save for the rainy day
A good habit worth cultivating
Aware that famine comes
At least once in a lifetime
For not even the Patriarchs
Were spared its horrific scourge

For your acorn to germinate
Grow and become an oak
Save one kobo for one week
And you may have just seven kobo
Save one kobo for one month
And you may have just thirty kobo
Save one kobo for one year
And you will have three naira
Sixty-five kobo plus interest
Provided you keep your savings
At work day and night
Even if you choose to sleep
But that could make poverty
Overtake you like a brash brigand
And save not a nickel of this at home
If you have very large heart
Like Father Christmas
That bleeds at heart
At every neighbour's misfortune
But do so in a bank
Without a thieving head
For nagging transient wants
Might sprout like midnight tares
Of malicious men
To choke your flourishing tree.

2010.