Grass To Grace Poem by Victor Okechukwu Anyaegbuna

Let this green horn arise and shine
Amidst motley odds, where dearth
Dared, and accosted renowned Harpies
Searing penury in sundry modes;
When even sumptuous fantasies
Availed the path of finite thought
And the avalanche of melting force
That fearless oriental glow cast
To tear brains and plant reason.

There was a time when shoes
Were pecks of malaria dreams
And jalopies were pets of imagination
That only visual passion aroused;
When plebeian boys, encircled in awe,
Elated and delighted to merely touch.
School bags defined privilege
As mud huts excavated dreams
That fell short of nightmares
Beyond the clairvoyance
Of fathers in Joseph's nest.

Time and seasons lobbied nature
That plucked beggars from obscurity
When valour's wit came to an end
From successions that dared assail
The havoc wreaked on freaks,
And benevolent goons alike,
To pave way for providence
That diminished ambition
And conquered aspiration.

That John the Baptist reincarnated
To stun agbada clad gurus
Where well laundered English suits
Paved way for emergent identity
Destined to serve tenure
Craving on vanishing values.
Glued to stunning realities
Beyond the leaking umbrella
That still must be mended.


[For Goodluck Ebele Jonathan, GCFR
President, Federal Republic of Nigeria 2009-2015]