Captains

ready your gun oh soldier
the brew cup is all dried up
the bar must be empty now
the market has become a
brothel for vultures and men
who have taken our women
their children and all the booze
there is no better way to
humiliate a man than
to rob him of family
to take all that he labored
day and night, heat, cold and rain
ready your gun oh soldier
you must take charge of your life
before it pays the cost of
a life you are not living.

you can take all a man’s worth
nothing else means much to him
he can give on a platter
of gold his heart, soul, mind
but there are lines to not cross
life does not end with man’s breath
a man who cannot protect,
make an attempt to safeguard
the lives of those dear to him
has failed the air in his lungs
he may live, but not as man
nothing should move a mountain
nothing should hold a thunder
only if it wants to die.

Victor Oyedele