November 7, 2024
Fiction

Chants of honey bees

anote
  • August 1, 2024
  • 1 min read
Chants of honey bees

By Clement Odia

VOICES rumble in the streets
Hunger-fueled marches echo
Chants of honey bees.
Voices resound in the streets
Demanding reprieve for hunger-haunted honey bees
Tired of the rhetoric of the tortoise
Who ambushed their honey combs.
Voices shake the streets
Trudging through cactuses-paved roads
Demanding honey for honey bees.

Why should hyenas who feed on honey combs disdain the hunger of honey bees who secrete honey?
A dog that seeks a duel with a leopard dies in the forest.

Let groan-defying marches chant freedom!
Let voices refuse to be drowned in the ocean of teargases.
Let voices denounce the wiles of hyenas!
Remove question marks from our empty plates
And let respite flood our blood-dimmed streets!

* Dr. Odia teaches at the Department of English & Literature, University of Benin, Benin City

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