Human Garbage by Chioma Okere
Tales of littered garbage,
Like the old tins, cans and pans in bins,
The packed papers, plastics and soured pastries,
Causing us to wrinkle our nose at the stench oozing from their abode.
Tell the tale of littered human garbage,
In homes; down the line of descent
Flows in the blood; through the veins
On the streets; every nook and cranny.
Leaders of the future,
Parading as hooligans / drowning in the ocean of juvenile delinquency,
Flaunting their proclivity, as they trudge with droop shoulders
In their ripped jeans sagged to their knees
And unkempt hairs; a breeding ground of lice
Coated in colours that attests to their rascality
See them inflicting pain / roaming in freaks and cliques of insanity,
Ravaging like rabid dogs / with smoke of fag puffing out their mouth
Speaking raucously in obscenity,
Human garbage littered all over.
Uppish, errant aristos,
Buzzing nymphets like bees over honeycombs
And shamelessly adoring the ardour of defiling them,
Whilst they are yet to flower.
Soused, vagrant husbands,
Reeling up the streets / reeking of alcohol
See them gifting their wives a black eye
With clinched fists; ready to scourge and scotch.
And their children?
Left with pitiful, teary eyes for mercy
Watching their father scowl and fume like ravening hawks on chicks,
Human garbage littered all over.
Aged sugar mamas,
With wrinkling skin and shuffling feet,
Yet scouting and sniffing around striplings
To sing them melodious chirps like crickets
See them raving about the soothing pleasure of taming their raunchy souls
As flies wobble, humming songs to feast on their carcass,
Human garbage littered all over.
Leaders of the present,
Soigné in suits, padded and embroidered with filths
Sitting on seats gained by tricks
Basking in riches mined in theft
See them embezzling funds
Terminating projects
Making laws
Opposing motions
Filling up their filled pockets and satisfying their selfish selves
While they grind the faces of the poor in the land under the siege of penury,
Human garbage littered all over.
Militants of today,
Garbed in starched uniform
Armed with guns and ammunition
And stationed for extortion,
From drivers, riders and passers-by
See them cocking their guns
Quick on the trigger at innocent civilians
Meant to be protected and defended in their father-land
But are jailed, maimed and killed unjustly by trigger-happy villains
Yet militants, but masked miscreants,
Human garbage littered all over.
Chioma Okere is a Nigerian poet, storyteller and a budding photographer. She seeks to use her writing as a change-making tool to amplify her voice and that of others. Her works have been featured in Upwrite Magazine. She can be reached via her Instagram and Twitter handle: @_theremy.