Seye's 1969

The recent happenings in Nigeria is getting me very disturbed: the Presidential pardon, the robbery at the International Airport, the bomb blast in Kano yesterday that claimed many lives... SAD SAD STUFF! I remember those days when bomb blasts happened only in Hollywood, now it has become part of daily living.  I read @Seye's post a couple of days ago and this poem just makes me remember 'the-good-old-days'. I'm re-blogging with his permission. You can read the full post here.

No moments could ever have been more perfect than the days of 1969.

The streets were full of dust

Yet full of much hope.

Policemen walked with smiles

On their faces, occasionally stopping

To ask the Shoemaker if he was okay

Or if the popular photographer

Had captured any strange events

My favorite outfit had

6 shades of black

And 3 shades of white.

Trimmed professionally at the seams

Styled by my mother.

And then other mothers

Got provoked to style for their sons.

Oh the black and white days

To mark our lands, we planted trees

And not fences. Today, I don't see

The tears in my neighbor's eyes

Because we are divided.

People still hawked extinct seeds

With smiles on their faces

Knowing you would buy a seed

For one shilling and make 100 shillings

Out of them.

Women still had clear faces void of blushes. 

And when the men whistled, the natural blushes showed up on their faces.

like a canvas smeared with paint.

Our minds were big.

As big as the record disks,

stereos and computers of those days

Uncle Daneko used his computer for calculating data

And not to access dating data

We rode 2 months in ships

And the word 'overseas' meant much to us.

The ship cruises were part of the joys of life

Now we clutch to the weaker feelings of going abroad.

And that was it.

Bands played live.

Even for recordings.

Men and children could dance.

Our drinks. Our drinks.

We either had our juice squeezed

or our beer fresh from trees

Banks were the only ones we owed

And not the traffic warden.

 3 bags from the bank were enough for the installation

Of the biggest factories in the city.

Only the influential knew how to.

Chicks were called damsels

And I only took a second look

When I heard Her sing.

And not when I saw a swollen appendage

on her chest or her back side.

Churches were bigger than

 most buildings, and a cross at the top

distinguished them from banks

We heard from you from the letters

In the pages and not from the screen

In 1969, no one had secrets.

But here I am keeping them from you

I got an award from @Feyi, thanks dear, putting up my answers and questions soon.