POEM: Does the president have a spine?

I was just walking around the castle

In my hunting gear

Looking for that annoying bush rat I’d been chasing since dawn

I was getting tired and angry

I wanted to get back home, but I needed the rat

The Christmas had been dry, the new year, depressing

I heard the wind whistle

Saw the dust rise,

Felt a chill in my bones, moving ever so slowly down my spine

Got confused

Was about to abandon the chase

Until I heard the noise

Sound of people settling down

Moving chairs

Microphones been checked

Curiosity drew me

Closer to the source

Source of the sounds

The birds in the air were equally agitated, chirping excitedly

My mood lifted, I was not alone in this agitation

The closer I got the more I felt my heart beat

Faster than the bush rat could elicit

Then I saw the crowd

Of people in suits

Then I saw the president!

Splendid in his outfit

Then I remembered, this was the 7th of Jan. 2010

The president is meeting the media

I crouched, closer to the ground

The ground and myself almost as one and at peace

The questions started

The president got some right

I smiled, that’s my man

Then the questions got tougher

The ministers’ asset declaration

The president deferred to his ministers

At that point he slumped a bit

I got worried

Why could he not stand properly?

I edged closer

Crawling on my belly, slowly

Almost like the ants around me, noiseless

Muntaka reared his head

The president slumped further

At that point, more than ever

I wanted to get close, to satisfy myself that my president was ok

Then he answered, at that point

The dust settled

The silence resonating, deafening

Eerie indeed

The chirping stopped

There was a standstill

I realized there was no need

For me to inch any further

I had my answer

Sadly, it dawned on me

Like lightning bolt

Like a forceful awakening

That the President had no spine

Kwame Mepeasem