POETRY: Toronto

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They are here in Canada.

Toronto.

Two of them.

Men.

From two families with a long history.

A violent history.

Steeped in blood.

Fighting over land.

A vast expanse of land.

From one generation to another.

An inherited angst.

Finally the government intervened.

In the judicial court of law.

A decision was passed that caused swords to be sheathed.

One family won.

The other lost.

The family that won shared the land amongst the members.

The oldest took the lion share.

Nearly 70% of it.

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And one of the two, those men, who are here in Toronto, of which I spoke of.

Is the first son of the oldest who took the lion share.

With three other siblings.

He is in his early 50’s

A bachelor living the life.

Parties.

Women.

Expensive clothes and jewelry.

Fast cars.

Who came into the handsome inheritance when his father died.

All he does is sell pieces of land to fund his extravagant lifestyle.

And when the other one of the two, in Toronto, saw him spraying money at an event over the weekend.

He said with a pain soaked sigh.

“Dat one na the money when my forefathers die for na im e just dey waste here for Canada. Men I tell you, wetin you dey kill yourself over for dis life, your pikin go use am just dey do rubbish. I tell you na wetin you go chop for belly na im matter o, all dis one wen pesin dey struggle to leave for dia pikin na uselessness. Your pikin go carry wetin you sweat die buy, sell am for ikpini, carry the dough use nack olosho. E better make you just use the dough as you dey dis life use carry send your pikin go better school, make e learn sense, tell am say all the things wen you get, na charity you go give, show am small money wen you don put for bank for am wen e reach 21, make e use settle im life, because if you dey use all the dough wen you get dey acquire upandan, e go make your pikin eye dey enter land and property, work im no go gree work, e go just dey wait make you peme, so e fit sell your property use mala dis life. In fact e go fight die even im own blood for the sake of dat property. I tell una land and property na curse o, if God bless you with pikins wen get head wen no dey house. To dey childless e better sef dan to born pikin wen go use all your sweat and blood use buy condom and big stout. Tueh!”

Toronto.

Jude Idada