"Better days" by Olanrewaju Moses

The rivers reek of drought;

All the streams, clustered by the evening rot.

These men! Their water vessels are loaded with the

better water

Their galleries thrive in the great numbers of skulls on

their altar

The pervading wind continues to choke the voice they raise,

Only the skulls of better days are left to be embraced

The orphan wears his favorite kwashiorkor suit with

shoes unlaced

Waiting with a broken jar for the latter rain

This child had seen better days!

The lantern wanes every night

Gently and gently…

The mother wails for her dying sun

She had sold to the moon her only shawl

For a tiny neon of light at night

The chill of death lingers on evenings like this

But her child had seen better days!

The big sun is a reckless umpire

Relishing the brawls of today and yesterday

Shelving down prospects of a colorful morrow

With savagery and fresh desire

To nibble on the proceeds of our sleepless nights

Yet, this sun is like the villain of a play – of a

melodrama

This sun is a son of perdition!

Clouds are forming –

The heavens belch its fill

Whether or not it will rain,

We can’t tell

But if again, it floods

And never flushes these aged odds

Let my words be a tireless bell…

Olanrewaju Moses Testimony, born 6th August 1997, is a 100-level student of Law at the University of Ibadan, Ibadan, Oyo state. His flair and passion for writing saw him win the 2012/2013 Leoplast Foundation Essay Writing Contest in Ogun State.