Almajiri (Al muhajir)

Sun is scorching, skins are burning,
Ahmed and his choir are out there,
Dishing out tunes, begging for alms,
Weak bones with no comfort to lie.
Welcome to the North.

Ahmed intends finding knowledge,
But being hungry is no man’s friend,
Ahmed and friends started a band,
Seekers of knowledge turned beggars,
Now ‘One Direction’.

‘Al-Muhajiruns’ were structured,
Until the British came along,
With ‘Boko’, leaving some in grief,
Some in school, others with a chant;
For ‘Boko Haram’.

Tomide Abdul