Election Mangana

By -

1.       

For three long years, it festers 
With occasional flares  
Whilst we wait like impatient 
Hungry school kids for the bell! 
Half listening, half-sleeping 
Whilst the hapless teacher drones on 
About formulas and theorems 
And when we hear the clang 
Of the lunchtime bell, 
All hell breaks loose! 
We are released from holding 
Like breached waters 
That go roaring down the valley, 
Each trying to outdo the other.
As the banners fly
In election time!

 Read: Village Boy Impressions - A Tribute to Hunger

2.       
It is a trying time, yes! 
Election time is nuisance time. 
Trying your patience and nerves! 
You can’t listen to the radio! 
All day without rest or respite 
Talk show hosts and panellists 
Hiss and bark at each other 
                      and at you! 
Whilst others beat war drums 
And sound rallying trumpets 
All to get your poor thumb! 

3.       
No solace on the TV either!
Irksome commercials run non stop
Regurgitating timeworn promises
And extolling phantom projects
Whilst others from feigned anguish,
Shed loud crocodile tears,
Promising heaven for your thumb!
And still, others chant loud choruses
Shrieking and squealing in your ears
The nonsense and mocking slogans
Of their paymasters – politicians.

 Read: Village Boy Impressions - Accra

4.       
Neither can you walk down the street!
Giant billboards, posters, and flags
Are the only bright objects
On otherwise filthy walls!
The ads costing more than
The projects they broadcast
And less could be spent
To keep the gutters free
Of the garbage and plastics
That choke them than is spent
On the photoshopped faces
And artificial smiles on the posters

Flags of the two leading political parties hang over a street in Accra

5.       
And the papers are not to be outdone!
For you are sure to see
Screaming headlines that misinform
Miseducate and inflame passions
At a glance!
And woe to you if you open them:
Blatant lies, cooked stories
And outright calumny
Passes for news and features
And you are expected to read them
Because this is election time!

 Read: Village Boy Impressions - The Emperor's New Clothes

6.       
Everywhere and at all times
Our ears and eyes get no rest;
There is barking, cursing, hissing,
Singing, screaming, screeching,
Smirking, sweating, shouting,
Waving, clapping, howling
With loud blaring PA systems
Chanting the praises and brilliance
Of politicians and candidates
Who have become philanthropists  
Doling out cash and goodies
Whose sources no one cares to trace
Because this is election time!

7.       
The airwaves are charged
The troposphere is electrifying
The heat is suffocating
The fever hangs over us
Like the sword of Damocles!
Thick and brooding
As a storm ready to break!
Whilst motley crowds push and shove
Screaming and farting in ecstasy
At the sight of a politician
Who went missing after the last election
And has just emerged from
A drunken stupor
Because this is election time!


8.       
They don’t know, no, they don’t
These ‘crazy bald head’ politicians.
But let no one tell them
That even roses have spikes,
And we the masses have spears!
We dance like butterflies around them
But we can sting like scorpions!
If only we know!
But sadly we seem not to 
So they trample us
And cast scraps from their tables at us
And we are expected to be happy
And call them our saviours
Because this is election time!

 Read: Village Boy Impressions - The Preachers

9.       
I should tell them a story
But no, I will not, I cannot!
For they know all!
We are the ignorant ones!
(Though we get smarter by the day!)
So I tell them…
Keep droning on and on
About what you have done and will do
Keep purring on and on
About what you can do and will do better
Never ask what we want
Take it we don’t have heads at all,
We have no memory,
And we have no eyes nor ears!
We are happy to accept your view of us.
We dance and laugh and shout
To hide the drudgery and the pain
And the sickening stench of your lies
And pretentious care!
Because this is election time!

 Read: Village Boy Impressions - The Termites Hunter

10.   
Our time will come!
Our sightless eyes will be opened
You will be only a white paper
Lying helpless in our hands
Smiling at us in a small box!
There, we will bring out our stinging tails
And pierce your wicked hearts
Into a four year wilderness!
Yes, it's election time!
It is our time
If only we knew it
And maybe we do!
Because this is election time!



[1] Mangana is a Hausa word meaning ‘talk’ or ‘conversation’
Location: Accra, Ghana

Comments

  1. Albert8:12 am, November 30, 2016

    John had done it again. This is a sweet piece I must share. Share I must that all may know. The power is ours though a day it may. Use it well and we shall smile. Because this is election time.

    ReplyDelete
  2. John Akanvariyuei Agandin4:37 pm, January 25, 2018

    Yes this is election time my brother. Share away!!!

    ReplyDelete
  3. Unknown7:07 am, June 09, 2020

    This is a poem that gives us an insight into politics in Buluk. Please translate this into Buli

    ReplyDelete

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