The poem i wrote when i was 17

Photo by Markus Spiske on Unsplash

With little pay and no pay, my men worked with effort,

Boys carrying buckets full of gravel and sand walked with determination,

Sorely caterpillar drove by taking sand and small stones away,

Angrily the dust attacked the workers,

With little pay and no pay my men worked with effort.

Water truck passed by sprayed water like love to control dust,

With love water tank sprayed water on the constructed road,

The sun burned without mercy evident the salt trickling near the eye,

Men continued working with an imagination of the soon to be paved road,

With little pay and no pay my men worked with ambitions.

As a team they took turns gave laughter to each other,

And encouraged themselves to keep up,

Their children and wives depended on them,

Who will they be if quit,

With little pay and no pay my men worked with drive.

My men prevented cracks by making cuts between concrete slabs,

Cuts that will help the road to withstand any disaster any storm,

The sun didn’t shy away neither did the wind,

Men with hope kept working others laid back,

With little pay and no pay my men worked with courage.

As days more like years withered away,

So was mens’ hope because no clear picture of the outcome,

The road was half way done,

To speed up we worked overnight,

With little pay and no pay my men worked with hope.

When the sun came back the workers were gone,

The man eaters rumors spread,

Imagination kept the few men working,

But doubt and fear loomed like cloud,

With little pay and no pay my men worked with trust.

A leader I am,

I lead my men to work,

And now we are done

We do not regret the sacrifices we made,

For who said it will be easy

What was that? Oh yes, no pain no gain,

With little pay and no pay my men worked for UHURU.

- Road to a free country.

NECTA.

i wrote this poem for the common wealth poem competition but never had the confidence to submit. the poem is about the hardships that activists pass through to make a nation or a place better for the future generation.

Disclaimer 😉 half of the poem doesn’t sense