Africa Today
by Joseph Ushie
She is the blind bowl-bearing beggar
Sitting on a roadside mound of gold
Yawning all day, yawning all night
America arrives, cleaves a chunk of the gold,
Drops a coin and some affronts, and passes;
Asia arrives, cleaves a chunk of the gold,
Drops a coin and some contempt, and passes;
Australia arrives, cleaves a chunk of the gold,
Drops a coin and some chuckle, and passes;
Europe passes, cleaves a chunk of the gold,
Drops a coin and some insult, and retires;
Then hail her own one-eyed leader:
He clears the bowl of the dropped coins,
Blames her plight on her slothfulness, and passes,
Belching all the way as his beggar-land yawns.
Joseph Ushie teaches at the University of Uyo, Nigeria. He is a Fellow of the 2002 Fulbright Program and recipient of many honours and awards including his state government’s for his outstanding contributions to the growth of African Literature and Culture. He’s been a judge in national literary competitions and was Africa’s representative at the 2010 Philippine PEN 50th anniversary celebrations. His poetry has appeared in world-class literary anthologies and has earned global attention.