Dawn 2 Poem by Emmanuel Ayeni

I, this day, crowned in might,
a giant of promise, a bearer of light.
Yet sixty-five years, and what is the fruit?
Wealth in my ground, but hunger at root.

I watch my children bend the law,
fraud turned to hustle, vice without awe.
Bodies for bread, morality sold,
dreams pawned away for a handful of gold.

I build you a dawn, yet keep candles at hand,
while solar blooms bright on my villa's own land.
I vow you great light, yet you endlessly wait,
your nights left in darkness, your power in fate.

I sing with the Dawn, an annual song,
the chorus wearies, the night far long.
I wear the crown, crawl yet in needs,
a giant in name, a beggar in deed,
a colossus unfruitful, shackled by greed. Me