CITYLIGHTS

Constantly we have been criticized,

This generation, of how out of touch we are with nature.

We are not out of touch with life.

We do not understand each other,

This generation and the ones before.

The gap between us is thicker than the walls of Jericho.

Their history lessons are over our heads

Our fashion lessons are met with the blinders over their eyes.

The difference between the cry of the kite and that of the magpie we cannot tell

The difference between the cry of the ambulance and that of the motorcade

Give that to us and we are your man

Life taught you through nature

Allow life to teach us through the city lights

The magnificence of the cheetah will draw snores from me

Unless it were my purse

It doesn’t hurt that Obama’s wife has a fashion sense.

We are not lazy

We just prefer our ‘irreplaceable’ to your ‘dabi dabi ebeye yie’.

How about you learn our ‘grand theft auto’ and our ‘new York nights’

And we will gladly learn about your clan animals.

Till then, don’t belittle our life just because yours is different.

The city lights will teach us, just like the magpies taught you.