Threnody to a New Year

I woke up this morning
Soaked in water from my sweat
No electricity!
Not mortified to find
The date changed,
Again!
It's January 1  
Looking in the mirror
I still have the same look;
Same eyes
Same nose
Same lips
Same head
Same clothes still,
No changes
Checked my foodstuffs
Still the same, no increase
I checked my bank account
Still disappointedly red!
Checked my Facebook account
WhatsApp account
BBM account
Still the same.
No changes.
Checked Google news online

Same old bad news
No good news.
The harmattan is very much present.
Like the day before.

As my room I step out from,
Before me, I saw.
Neighbours dancing to familiar tunes
Neighbours drinking familiar liquids
Neighbours eating familiar foods
My curious mouth asked.
"What's the occasion?"
In response
A calendar was shown me
There is change, they told me.
I went out to observe "change."
I thought (wrongly,)
Change is proportionate, commensurate!

  

I went to the streets of Bariga
Touts still extort motorists trying to make a living.
Peeked on igi-olugbin road
Still filled with sand
A hallmark of an abandoned road repair
Checked MRS petrol station
Same two-month-old queu
Fuel's still scarce
T.fare's doubled
Checked exchange rate
A dollar is N199.
Did sai forget to catch us falling?

I went to the market.
Thinking prices of food would fall
Surprisingly
They skyrocketed
Like a jetliner
Seems like sai forgot to catch us falling! 

I Went to the hospital
So many people.
So much for change!
Heard sounds of generator
That noise and headache generator
Evidence of no power supply
Will sai ever catch us falling??

I got tired and went back home.
Turned the T.V on 
Checked on Aljazeera
Folks still fight in Syria.
Checked CNN
Reports of murders
Like killings from a series
Checked electricity bill
Scary as ever
Paying for power you don't use.

A pat on the back, my neighbour
"Welcome to 2016" he said
I smiled!
'Welcome to 2015 in 2016'
I said in my mind.
An old year on a new calendar! 

I thought
'The calendar changes each day'
'As the earth rotates'
I watched my neighbours merry
I can only wait and watch
I wait for a change in humanity.
A change of human heart.
A change of human pitiable condition.
A change from death to life,
from sickness to health,
from hunger to abundance of food,
from slavery to freedom,
To freedom from slavery 
from war to peace.
I wonder still
am i alone in the wait?
The wait for a TRUE change??

Author : Uchenna Duru

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