Darkness Around The Candlestand Poem by Akachukwu Lekwauwa

it was heard
the tomatoes are coming out of hiding
nothing more than a placebo
to the gluttonous
an army few are still not enlisted
all other monsters remain loosed
and rampaging

now that our oil has lost its place
in both our staple
and those of our allies
a snare to the pot-bellied rich
a delusion for the kwashiokored poor
we must and quickly too
fathom how else, we may fry and bake
that we may flight malnourishment
t'is the only ointment
to stay lubricated
Keep the fire burning
and maintain an anointed economy

economy_ not quite different
from my mother's kitchen
all it needed to thrive was _ my mum
a woman gifted in pans and pots
to the ace economist
my prayer on your head goes
not down to plutus or mammon
but, up to the God of abundance
that you may be endued
with this same gift of pans and pots
as much as my mum was given

how we've become a kingdom in darkness
where night never ceases to give its darkness
the darkest part of the night
underlines the odeal of the hapless souls
wallowing in a land bounded by oddities

to the candelabrum
where is thy light?
where is thy promised candescence?
behold! the darkness of this kingdom
has come up in judgement against you
change! show the light
let it shine, so bright
that all may see and rejoice
else, you will cease to be
the candlestand

this revelation had come
while i was kneeling
in a chapel of reflections
but i knew it was not divinely inspired
more likely, it was nothing more than
fair words _ to be engraved in the heart
as on a worn marble
and embedded in an ornate mind