One day,
I shall smile and laugh,
flashing my teeth like humans
Wait a minute, why do humans laugh,
yanking their varied teeth…
those teeth of variegated greeds
of rotten gums and dental caries?
Do you know why?
One day,
I too will smile, sha,
flashing my teeth as humans do!
Do you see my human master there?
He’s a demon of tricks and evils
whose love for me leads me to doom
But one day, sooner or later,
whether he likes it or not,
I too will smile and laugh like him
My merciless master will sell me
on his koboless day,
or cut my throat on his festive day!
That’s the love he has for me!
But one day,
I’ll smile and laugh like him
He calls me a stubborn goat,
hitting me with tough sticks,
but to God, my master and I
are His beloved creatures.
So, he’s a two-legged animal
oppressing me, a fellow animal!
But one day, I shall smile,
even for once, I shall smile
My smile will be endless,
pregnant with meanings
The time is imminent
when I shall tell my story
in a smile:
It may be on Christmas day
when I’m slaughtered and roasting,
or on the road when a wicked van
runs over my fated life
and soon, I’m in the pot boiling,
my master mincing my head
for _isi-ewu_ pepper soup,
I will be smiling wide at him,
for all my woes, all my worsts
are now forever over!
Oh, my day of smile!
From Ekundayo, Bode Steve. _Smile of a Goat: A Collection of Poems_. Nobel Publishers, 2009, p. 59.
