By Victor Uzodinma Chukwuma
55. Vain Peacemakers
At the war front ears stood on edge
Hearts skipped beats,
As floods of shrapnel
Whistled frightfully through the air.
Some came as demented treble
Confused with tenor, some in angry alto,
All from metallic choristers of hade,
Altogether creating anguish and end.
Somewhere out there,
A mother has lost an only son,
A toddler has a caring father lost
A young wife widowed for lifelong grief
But as Blood unjustly let
By vainglorious marauders
Continually throng heaven’s narrow path,
Vain peacemakers in ornate halls drink coffee,
And move motions for adjournment,
That only brings peace to an end.
56. Crisis lost the war
Flesh hungry falcons zeroed in,
The vultures brought the rear,
In fright we trembled and
The falconers under influence laughed.
Then he stood up,
Against the ravaging wave,
We found our feet
And the tide foretold receded.
Then a twilight from Judas,
Dusk enveloped our land;
Falconers and falcons in jubilation struck,
The vultures landed with famished pecks.
Now we are gaggle of darkness,
Venomous fangs are everywhere,
Plucking from every socket eye that see,
Pardoning only those that are blind.
Victor Chukwuma, Professor of Physics, renowned for his immense contribution to the development of Astronomy and Space Science in Nigeria, is a Fellow of the Astronomical Society of Nigeria and the Nigerian Institute of Physics.
