By Abubakar D. Sani, Esq
You’d be surprised at Just how many verbs End with the 19th, 5th and 1st Letters of the alphabet Which, together, Spell the word ‘ate’ ‘Who cares?’ You may ask Is this a sport for idle-hands? Why should anyone bother? And, why not - if it will delight Amuse and be worth our while? So, here goes: (But, be warned . . . It might be a long slog Even though it will be no tome) Starting with the essential The word – both fanciful and technical – For chewing, i.e., masticate To do that effectively, however, you must salivate Likewise, to be done properly, it must be moderate In other words, its measure you should regulate Especially in public – otherwise, you’d be a cheapskate Trust me, the reaction would be immediate Prompting, perhaps, your counter-reaction – to self-isolate That is, your ‘traducers’ – alienate In an extreme case You might choose to litigate If, that is, it would resonate With your advocate In other words, He might question Whether that option is appropriate Or whether it is disproportionate Forcing you to reassess and re-evaluate Indeed, to contemplate . . . ‘Should I, this counsel ex-communicate?’ ‘Our relationship terminate?’ Is there a template For resolving this sort of case? I need to investigate But, first I have to ruminate And, indeed, cogitate Unfortunately, I vacillate This is turning out To be more difficult That I thought But, it is too late now . . . To back out, that is So, forward, I press I hope the endeavour is not quixotic Or, I’d be in a real mess Where were we again? Yes, me and my counsel; Should I pardon and retain Or should we simply cancel? In the latter case, We must arbitrate Re-negotiate and re-calibrate Else, the alternative would be to repudiate So much for that Moving on to other matters Life is such a kaleidoscope It’s a struggle just to cope From the strictly personal To the local and the regional And, of course, the international Forces - intangible and material Characters – inspiring and deranged Ideas – sublime and ridiculous Causes – worthy and lost And idols – false and legitimate Life’s challenge is how to navigate It’s stresses and strains: How do we co-habitate Not as best-mates Team-mates or classmates Bust as members Of the same race: With minimal friction and angst When such tensions Do boil over – as they must How do we manage Them, so they don’t become floodgates For, whoever said: ‘Love is no holiday’ Was actually referring to life itself That is surely the lesson of experience As can be attested to by sages Who tried to legislate Life’s problems away It is surely easier to drain the Euphrates As attempted – so diabolically By Saddam Hussein And the Kurds were the worse for it But, while they lived to tell the tale Our villain - in due course Met his Waterloo (no pun intended) And his place is assured Among the likes of Goebbels, Paul Joseph Abubakar D. Sani, Esq. Kano/Nigeria
