18/11/2023
THE DRINKER'S HEAVEN
For my gift I am thankful,
And so will I remain for many a decade to come.
Sharing life cake Nature has favoured me;
Living only to drink and sing and dance,
Even as a merry bird of Paradise.
My bottle is the fountain of happiness,
Excelling the sweetness of honey
And surpassing all love which women
could offer.
It's the unfailing fire which warms me
through the length of Harmattan
And an icepack to chill my bone in the
dogdays of March.
The world may trouble themselves
with vanity and ambition
And slay one another with savage
cruelty
Out of envy, out of hatred, and jealousy and pride;
I shall make no movement to intervene
But drink only to my eternal health and
happiness
And watch the chaos of their little
lives with scorn.
Life is short, they say, but I have no
reason to bother, for in the security of
my cup do I not live forever
As long as I know not when I die?
Tobias Igwe
November 2023
