Nothing Lasts Forever


How is it that it took only a straw from the wind
to crush the thick walls of your iron gate,
exposing your fictitious face.

It was not your broken walls that shook the land,
neither the sweat from your perfumed brows
that traced the contours of your shameless face.
It was the freedom your fall brought to your prisoners
that gladdened the heart of all.

Nothing lasts forever,
the pillars we build to hedge our thrones,
the delicious offerings of the praises of men,
the soothing hands of generous mistresses,
all the wild drums and rhythms of vanity.

When the wind of retribution blows
all it will take is a tiny splinter
from the roaring arrow of judgment,
or one missed syllable from your porous lips,
one tremor from the cry of vengeance from the oppressed;
or one stubble, one stagger,
to end it all.

Geroge MacLean Akurunwa