When suddenly, there’s nothing,
Yesterday become wasted, not spent,
Like time spoilt, so bad we couldn’t use it,
When kids are bolder, because they see,
Men are frightened because they saw,
Who saw the end and beginning?
When suddenly, a mirror turns spirit,
Shows ghosts of our past, like no future will be.
Then I wonder, what is the mirror without me?
No! What is me, without the mirror?
Am I who or what? This is not the man in me.
Only if another mirror has same to say.
When suddenly, I need you to see me,
What would you say? Is that all I am?
Maybe I am, but I was; I were there.
Yes there! Yes dear, you’ve never been here,
Find yourself and find me. Find your lost!
We spend time, yet we’ve bought nothing.
When suddenly, everything is nothing,
We scramble for the last bits of yesterday,
Till my birth, when I have none to remember,
Now, I’ve seen my fear painted, not by Hillary,
I’ve seen the world emptied without artillery,
I’ve seen the days in my fear, but not the end.
When suddenly, everything is a child,
Yes! The one who could see the mirror,
I’m bearded like Soyinka in the future,
I’m ugly like who again? No, not this guy!
But why? Where are my monies?
Is this wanting what I’ll never have?
When suddenly, there’s nothing,
When suddenly, a mirror turns spirit,
When suddenly, I need you to see me,
Now, I’ve seen my fear painted, not by Hillary,
When suddenly, everything is nothing,
When suddenly, everything is a child,
I’m just a country without reflection.
By Chinedu Hardy Nwadike
12/5/2015
Dedicated to Nigeria in the face of change.
