"He drunkard" by Nwakaibeya Tochukwu Joshua

He got there by himself, unaided or forced

He sits at his favourite spot, back against the plywood board

He does not need to say a word now, not even a gesture

He is known, to his favourite mixture.

He takes his first gulp, sighs, and then another

He has a constant supply, no need for another order

He should know better now, he should stop

He has empty bottles under the table, and on top,

more…

He looks back at his life, what he would call thinking

He knows the truth, they are just excuses for drinking

He knows better now, he should stop

He shakes his head, beats his chest, and takes

another gulp.

He thinks he has had his fill now, I think he is drunk

He staggers up to leave, whistling with breath like a

skunk

He is drunk now, he should stop

He mounts his motorcycle and speeds off on top.

He is in a huge debt now, he is finally thinking

He deficits his income, spends them on drinking

He shouldn't be thinking now, he should stop

He shouldn't be speeding now, he should stop.

He didn’t see the hole on time, he was too drunk

He tried manoeuvring, runs into a rock

He is on the ground now, his motorcycle is on top of

him

He wakes up to reality, wishing his life was a dream.

He is sinking in the mud, a mud of sand and his own

blood

He doesn't feel his leg, it’s broken and sinking in the

mud

He is alone on the road now, it just started raining

He should have stopped, now he won’t make it till

morning.

Nwakaibeya Tochukwu Joshua is a 23-year old student of the Department of Agricultural and Biological Resources Engineering, College of Engineering, Federal University of Agriculture, Abeokuta, Ogun State. He hails from Anambra State.