The Beggar Poem by kelvin karani

On the pavements
Of international streets
Outside the big banks
Sits the beggar. Pecuniary problems
Back home, have sunk him into the abyss
Of utter need and ignominies

In the fifties and sixties
And even times after that
There were uprisings
Everybody explaining that their hut
Was for them. But now the absurdities

O! The politicians of today’s Africa
Confused. Not the firebrand of days gone
Nor a semblance of its replica
On the streets sitting- but not alone
Are beggars from the East and Jamaica
All third worldners. People with hearts of stone

But behold the paradoxes
So much oil and other minerals
O! The fertile lands- great lands
Yet, hunger sculptures sadistic smiles
On the faces of its people
Their leaders- if you call them dirt
Languish in excesses
As people eat dirt.


Aagh. This beggar
In three piece-and gold jewellery
Flying in sleek fuel guzzlers. A dark star
Is shining in this period of history.