Poet of the Week: Faruk Sarkinfada

Watering the Trees

(For MuhammaduBuhari)
A Nation of trees
With drying branches and fallen leaves
Hit by droughts, 16 years they lived

For blight and hunger, the masses leave
For killings and burnings, all the residents flee  
To safety domains in search of peace

For holidays and shops, her leaders leave
For dating of damsels, ice creams and sweets
For the collapse of healthcare, the wealthy leave
In search for cure from the West and East

For greener pastures, the health workers leave
For uncertain tuition, rich students leave
For greener pastures, their teachers leave

But the sane are disturbed, confused in grief
With bodies they live, with minds they leave
Yearning for change in homes and streets

Now the rain has come to water these trees
To revive their branches and regain their leaves

Friday May 29, 2015

My Blessed Home
Blessed is my home
A Nation abode
Of human and natural resource
My currency was twice
What the strongest could afford

As the Nation’s wealth grows
So the poverty grows
Cos our wealth is shared
By the leaders in the home
And their allies abroad

If the Nation should survive …
Let the leaders guard the wealth
Let justice lead the way
Kick corruption off the road
The stolen wealth, returned  
And the Nation shall return
Back to where it should belong  

Friday 22nd November 2013

Among the Best
In my country
The black African best
‘No sector operates at its best’
Leaders with greed of the highest grade
The masses subdued, oppressed and debased
Unity and peace melting away
From the east, south, north and west
The country stands on its head, up its toes
The nation is sick, for a healer we quest!

To uplift my country to the highest grade
Let’s vote education as the best
Uphold it as a ‘life support’  
In the east, south, north and west
That every sector may operate at its best
And make my country united as one
A nation among the best

Saturday 26th October 2013