My Country Is Sick Poem by Ikenna Omeje

My country is sick
For urchins and scavengers litter
The streets
'Destitutes' and beggars
Under the sun and in the rain
Singing and praying to passersby
For a coin or two
.

My country is sick
Four or five years out of school
No rose in the work market
Forcing the young minds into crime
.

My country is sick
For millions of children have no future
They are in the school of hawking and begging
With a look of darkness all round them
.

My country is sick
For the rich cannot be guilty of any crime
Even though, they are in the eyes of the heavenly law.

My country is sick
For my people have become more catholic than Pope
The spirit of laziness has taken over their souls
Living them obscurely with the magic of prayer
But without work.

My country is sick
For excellence has been sacrificed on the altar of mediocrity.
The best for a job is the one that knows somebody that knows somebody

My country is sick
For the roads are death traps
Electricity is epileptic or nonexistence;
Poultry and piggery farms as classrooms;
Contaminated water as spring water;
Tomatoes more expensive than bride Prize in Imo;
Ijebu Garri more of a treasure than gold;
Rice an expensive food;
And hunger everyday word.

My country is sick
For the head is away
And the children are crying
Praying day and night that he returns
To save the situation
For the bell of coma beckons.