Jamb Day Poem by OTONYE DANIEL

Anxious faces, curious stares
Hands on desks, silence waltzing here
Calmness and solemnty walk in peers..
Doubt tangos.. Jumps all over like curious hares


The invigilator peeks at her watch and looks throught the window..
Into the class, were students with confidence shalow..
Wait with nervous pens..
All.. Waiting for JAMB's startin bell


Confidence coyly creeps in
Girls start chewing gums
My pen scribbles a phrase
It's time.. The invigilator walks in


The wails of every gums mutes
Vividly u can hear the intimindating thuds from her boots..
She.. (The invigilator) halts..stares at her watch..
Then begins to smile
Aye! Anxiety is heaped in a nervous pile!


The exam starts
Pencils dance nervously on computer sheets
Complete silence walks in the hall over an about
Then suddenly falls in a pit..
Mumbles.. Murmuring-vioces crescended into clear talks..
Phones vibrate.. Then 'cring-cring'.. Then musical ring tunes!


'You know the deal..five hundred for every phone that rang
And a thousand to use them for malpractice'
The invigilator says, then smiles
And starts calculating the money she'll have


So it was that JAMB day
That students wrote and praticed-mal and played
For their money did the thinking
Their hands did the writing..
Whilst the supervisor smiled and sat money-counting