The Gathering of Vultures

A satirical poem by Cash Aiye-ko-ooto Onadele with an apt personification of a profession that has scavenged a continent.

Their ventriloquist sang them heroes songs from a pulpit of embarrassment,
These bald vultures, in their twilight, gathered over a land they laid in waste,
They remembered how they feasted on the hopes of our nation as carrions,
They told scavengers’ tales, who caused misfortunes to millions of citizens,
And without shame, in comfort, they enjoyed their twilight of stolen loots,

They perverted history and laughed at persisting colonialism with pride.
Their curved beaks for large swallow dug deep into the flesh of yesterdays,
In raucous laughters, decades of failure were painted in green white green,
Their feathers are dark without color but they boasted of colors of greatness,
Perforated nostrils reeked corruption as talons clutched hopes of thousands,

Colors on faces change as more corrupted lackeys contributed to a cauldron,
What an evening of gallant losers and tormentors, who murdered and freely,
They mocked displaced democracy and celebrated setting back our future,
In pomp and pageantry they declared success, at whooping sixteen billion gathered,
To their fake legacies, elder statesmen or oldest fools in the land, which is it?

As for their ventriloquist, I declare, he who trumpets evil deeds is evil indeed.

Cash Aiye-ko-ooto

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In over 115 works, Nigerian American, Cash Onadele Aiye-ko-ooto’s oeuvre spans several creative genres. He wrote and produced The Noble Warrior staged in theatres in Abeokuta and Lagos. 2019 4-part ethnographic fiction drama titled 'Blood of Freedom'. Additional works followed, 55+ children youth and adult stories, screenplays, novels, novellas, children / youth short stories, and collections of novellas. Before fiction were poems. 52 anthologies of poetry, he famously cataloged as 'Odo-Alamo Series'. He is a prolific writer, a culture-aware philosopher, poet, and playwright. Cash is 62 and lives in Lagos and Texas, USA with wife and business partner, Denise Marie. The Yoruba native brings indigenous Juju voice to storytelling. Aiyeko-ooto built the world's largest library of individual poetry work. The solid enrichment of his volumes in songs, ethnographic plays, and stories with literary devices make them appropriate for entertainment and teaching of literature to secondary and tertiary institutions. His ambition is to contribute to development of youth and creative arts in Nigeria. Cash, an Architect, graduated from UI, (BSc, MSc) 1987, University of Nottingham, UK (MBA) 1993. He walks, writes, and mentors writers. He accepts international bookings for Readings, Public Speaking, and Poetry.