December

Fooo foo foo fooooo

Faka fiki faka fi

Crowded terminus

Of the year's restless journey

With a track-record

Of fragile freight

And grating joints

The season browns into

Your raw metallic clarion

Counting every speck

Of the dust of fleeting clouds

End without end without end

The year coils up like a snake

With its tail in its mouth

Faka fiki faka fi

Thunderous choir, pealing bells

The Magi lost their star

To 6,000 megawatts of darkness

Herods traverse the land,

Their swords loud

With infant blood

From the eloquent corner

Of the Kingdom of Memory

Esa Oke's Cicero* mocks the mystery

Which still clouds

His night of flaming bullets. . .

Swelling carols, pealing bells

The Prince of Peace

High up on yuletide horse

Finds no manger to lay his head

Faka fiki faka fi

The year grinds to a curious close

On December's relentless wheels

Chief Bola Ige, Nigeria's former Attorney-General, assassinated in his own house on December 23, 2001. His killers have yet to be found.