NIGHT DUTY

By Tikum Mbah Azonga

He massaged his head
All night
Outside, the owls suffocated
All night.

Copyright 2011

VICTIM OF CIRCUMSTANCES

(For Alice in Wonderland)

By Tikum Mbah Azonga

What will I really say?
That I saw it or that I didn’t see it?
And who would believe me?
I was so close to the scene of action
Although unaware of it
Three things filled my mind
The pharmacy, the chemist and the pharmacy
So I couldn’t even have seen the chairman pass
So what more of the fracas?
A brawl in which I couldn’t have been a party
I was in the pharmacy and God is my witness.
I’m no villain.

I don’t have feet made of clay
Often too busy to sit
I’m not on bended knee
If I was, I would be full of compunction
But being a Spartan, I categorically refuse grit
I can draw a Persian hind
But that doesn’t mean I’m without class.
If I were called Lucas
I’d also be called Epanty
But to me what matters most is fitness
That’s why I work at Villen.

Copyright 2010

LIES, ALL LIES, DAMNED LIES

By Tikum Mbah Azonga

It’s all a hollow sham
Stage acting
Playing to the gallery
He’s just another Honorable Member
So don’t listen to him.

His cupboard is full of bangles coated with ham
And lumps of fat sagging
And boldly written in scarlet, the name, `Valerie`
But when he shall be asked for the ram
He’ll complain everyone is gunning for him.

Copyright 2010