POEM
LAMENTATION FROM THE
ENVIRONMENT
BY
W. C. AGUGUA
I was created before man was made.
The Lord God made man to take proper
care of me, while I nourish them, so we are supposed to have mutual love for
each other just like husband and wife but how man’s hatred grew against me,
that I do not understand. They mis-father and maltreat me so much. They make me
look dirty and ugly in the face of their kind, yet I endured but they never
stop.
See how they hate me!
I watched them sneezed, vomit and
defecate on me, they open their wide mouth and yawned, coughed and spat on me,
releasing millions of micro-organisms into my body and I became sick without
any doctor to take proper care of me but they have doctors who take care of
them. I manage to get self help but they keep polluting me.
See how they hate me!
They gossip me in their various
hostels, cars, offices, homes and even on the streets. Some said that I emit
offensive odor, another group said that I look tattered like a mad woman while
others said that I keep my body unaesthetic. Their ignorance has blind folded
their knowledge. If only they had tamed me well, they would have seen how
beautiful I look.
See how they hate me!
You see how they injected teargas
into my eyes, ears, nose, mouth and skin; they said its industrial,
transportation and agricultural activities. Now, I am blind, deaf and dumb. My
systems are weak, my life span is short. Man must surely suffer from the miasma
of pollution which they have caused and imposed on me.
See how they hate me!
I supply man with water, fruits, meats,
vegetables, and oxygen for their nourishment, health and wealth but they refuse
my children a common blood meal.
See how they hate me!
When I start producing new offspring
by weathering, they call me earthquake, volcanic eruption or soil erosion. When
I supply them with adequate water on their demand, they call me flood. When
they feel hot or heat and I provide them with one of my kind, they call me
tsunami, tornado or hurricane. When they are tortured with cold or pneumonia
and I gave them the sun, they shouted “ozone layer depletion” and I ask; who
depleted my layer? Is it not man? Again, when I laugh and blink my eyes in my
moment of ecstasy, they will call me thunder and lightning.
See how they hate me!
My family and I were very happy when
they appointed their kind to help prevent man from causing me pains. I saw them
in their black and brown shoes, khaki and white, then I hurriedly went to
prepare a celebration party for the relief from man but on my return, I saw
them eating, drinking and partying with those who hurt me. When will man keep
me sacred?
See how they hate me!
