Kay Ugwuzor

‘If  you  misbehave the same thing will happen  to  you.’ ‘What?’ ‘The  forest  will  swallow  you.’ ‘Then  I  will  become  a  tree,’  I  said. ‘Then  they  will  cut  you  down  because  of  a  road.’    ‘Then  I  will  turn  into  the  road.’   ‘Cars  will  ride  on  you,  cows  will  shit  on  you,  people  will  perform  sacrifices  on  your  face.’   ‘And  I  will  cry  at  night.  And  then  people  will  remember  the  forest.’ Azaro and Madame Koto  Excerpt from  The Famished Road By Ben Okri. Pg 164 Azaro is surrounded by myths and mysterious things that no ...

They say there is only one way for politics. That it looks with hard eyes at the hard world And shapes it with a ruler’s edge, Measuring what is possible against Acclaim, support, and votes. They say there is only one way to dream For the people, to give them not what they need But food for their fears. We measure the deeds of politicians By their time in power. But in ancient times they had another way. They measured greatness by the gold Of contentment, by the enduring arts, The laughter at the hearths, The length of silence when the bards Told of what was done by those who Had the courage to make their lands Happy, away from war, spreading justice And fostering health, The most precious of the arts Of governance. But we live in times that have lost This tough art of dreaming The best for its people, Or so we are told by cynics And doomsayers who see the end Of time in blood-red moons. Always when least expected an un...