Famished Amidst Plenty Poem by Tony Adah

I feel so famished much
As my siblings
Not hungry because the sky is not up
Or that there's no land below.

We have survived
On fermented farina
Mia kuka and amala
Roasted yams on palm oil
Sipping garri
And our only saviour the gorgeous mushrooms!
Others have not eaten
Some have had palm kernels.

And when we look at the vast expanse
Of our land
We see the palm trees
We see the yam farms and the farmers
Half clad like madmen
We the rice farms
We see the peanut farms and cassava farms
We see the bean farms and onion farms
Cabbage farms and tomato farms

We see the high derricks
Of the oil rigs
We see the copious smoke
From the flare of gases

Still we are famished amidst plenty
We prefer palm oil from across the seas
Our palm trees swallowed by the wild
We prefer petrol from away
Our refineries moss grown and weed ridden

We move on like a slug
Condone everything and
Cry in silence
Where nobody hears
Famished amidst plenty
Like a man standing
In the middle of the river
With soapsuds in his eyes