By
Oki Kehinde Julius
PETTY-ROLL
hungry kegs go unfilled
at a fast food where pumps splash fluid.
barrels starved to fast the length of ramadan
after jewish wednesday had been burnt into ashes.
angry feet gnashing her teeth
on a long queue that attends to few
sunny fierce burning the skin
splashing rainy lashes on outer meat…
pulling pushing on pointing rows
metaphoring staggers of a fumbling drunkard
buyer raining frailty curses
on the forehead of fuel attendant
chanting wailing nemesis tales
on the looters of our govern-hen.
petrol litres differs from erst-while
prices costing centuries of naira
faces painted like a ripened coal of fire
singing hopeful lullabies to cajole away masses’ worry…
our father’s land, fathered the well of crude oil
our mother earth, mothered the springing pool of petroleum
our bastard sons pierced the line pipes with dagger of vandalisation
our naughty daughters fetch them with a selfish bowl of scarcity.
bikes and cars tearing the tears of famine
engine’s oesophagus thirsty, amidst the dearth of oil scarcity
inflation banging the drum of expensivity on the nation’s goods and commodity
forcing the empire’s swiping feet, to dance to its percussioned bitter tune.
woe to the milky tongues of drought
that suck-dried the sweet candy of our ember fluid
enough of all this saga movie scenes of insufficiency
dramatically acted amidst the reservoir location that founts crude fuels.
FUEL FULL HERE
give us some diesel
even if it’s just a little
our engines are now thirsty
‘wazobia’ can no longer stop a taxi.
give us some petrol
we’re tired of standing on this roll
we’re no longer in primary schools
why assembling us, before fetching from your pool?
give us some kerosene
before our stove becomes sick
we have abadoned our electric cooker
since electricity had become our betrayer.
give us some cooking gas
our cylinders have no other oxygen to survive
we’ve bid farewell to our fire wood
do not let our strong eba reject our cold soup.
history proved we own oil
her well springs sprang beneath our soil
voyaging bitumen, thin and coal
mining diamond, graphites and gold.
this fuel full here
why is it now found rare?
our gallons are starved to death
since their balanced diet is solemly dearth.
our legs are aching
we’re fed up of queueing
enough of all this saga
that engufed our nation with a hazard
we beckon on our petrol dealers
to bring back our oil to eighty naira per litre.
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