Drumbeats in the Forest

The Dust settled, we emerged.
Like kuluso-the ant-lion, we danced out of our cone pit.
Dusting off the souvenir from the mother earth
We grinned as our dry lips paved way for our teeth.
In synch with the sonorous melody of singing birds
And the yawning sounds of the well-fed lizards
We won.Freedom - the profit of our pressing demands:
The real clear politics.



The fitful fever faded into the thin air
The bell bangs, beckoning us to a bustling jamboree
Come, the wine-bearer! Pour, pour, and pour the wine
For we must drink to the toast: freedom of labor
To the workaholic - rest, it is expedient
For the day after tomorrow the taskmaster calls back
Jerking you up at cock-crow for the rush-hour bus
Wait O! Did we fight right?


Unending cacophonic music dragged me out of my couch of slumber.
With a blurred vision I stole a look at the black night
Light from the full moon dusted my room with silvery hue
Casting sinister elongated shadows but the noise persisted
The humming of agitated generators shivering in their cage
Because our paid bringer-of-light refused to light the candles
Yet they bang our doors at full-moon for wages
NEPA, Oga o!


"Even if a rat should drink a lot of water,
It can only drink enough to fill its own small stomach"
Belched the Task Masters in their big flowing gown.
Our noises became the ranting of rats.
Flying caskets;Bloody conquests;
Looted closets; faceless cabals
Why the drumming?