Rain Lullaby

We are
Trembling limbs, slaves to the hands that use the whip.
The hands that sketch what mouth would fear to own.
And the mouths invited to thorns and crumbs.
In these flinted hearts,
Hope is a mere flicker.

For we are
The eyes that will not look tho' the back is turned.
And backs, bruised and bent, salted with sweat.
The blood of our sweats enriches the masters;
Wages of our enrollment,
Is death by installment.

Yet our fathers were
Freemen, proud with God's good grace and blessing.
The blessing of milk and honey, peace transcendental.
Men whose love for peace paved way for progress.
Whence come this tyranny
That saddened our honey?

Though we are
Bones crunched under heavy boots of wicked men,
Hearts heavy with load of humiliation and oppression,
Eyes sunken with longings for an understanding heart.
We will pray
Relief in rain.

On those who trade with our patience,
And grow big-bellied with the profits.
Whose reign is preserved by rituals of corpses that died of wages unpaid,
We pray for rain, we wet our hope in the promised rain.
For yet, this creeping tyranny
May climax into a symphony.

Note: this poem is written for students and staffs of Ladoke Akintola University Of Technology (LAUTECH), whose salaries have not been paid for more than thirteen months