LOST IN THE CITY

When I passed my exams
To go for higher studies
Shortly after dad died
My mother asked me
Where I would get the money
My answer was simple
Like the bird, it sows not
And reaps not, but feeds

Once, I was told
How hard it is to tell
The suffering of the past
When success comes
And how you don’t tell
The tale of the rain to fire
Time heals, but the scar remains
The story of suffering slipped away

After school, I told mum
I was going to the city
She said, no son, stay
Go to the farm
Crack palm kernels
Raise money and marry
Build a house and be happy
The village is good for you

Stubborn, I made up my mind
Left the village to Lagos
I see fine and tall houses
With high gates of iron
Crisscrossing overhead bridges
Express roads full of vehicles
But none accommodates me
I sleep under the bridge

I wake up early everyday
In search of all sorts of jobs
The soles of my shoes are gone
I am a faceless shadow in the sun
I think of going back to my community
But there are so many crossroads
I can’t find the one to my village