Gift from the mother,
She has responded to us,
She has accepted our appeal,
With arms open wide,
She has taken us in,
She has smiled at us,
Giving us rain in due time,
We have sowed and reaped
a bountiful harvest,
The climate has favoured us,
We have a bounty yield,
Our perishable crops
have not withered away,
They’re as fresh as alive.
Roughage is the new black,
Not our liquor,
Not our excesses.
Michael Emate is a poet who has distinguished himself against all odds. He lives in Lagos, Nigeria.