The National Ceremony

THE NATIONAL CEREMONY
We gathered in large numbers
To listen to the annual speech from His majesty
Daring the blazing sun
We couldn’t afford to lose concentration
Lest the sharp suits escaped our glances

The hot ultra violet rays pierced through our rags
But the ad hoc band cooled our worries
Family by family, clan by clan our voices lifted to heaven
Hymning the patriotic tunes
A glorious entertainment for our servant leaders

We had to take a hiatus
As his majesty drove in nonchalantly
We pushed and pulled hoping he would warm our stretched hands
But today we weren’t lucky
Huge men barricaded us away from our benevolent servant leader

One by one they stood to address themselves in the queen’s language
As we followed suit clapping for words not much understood
But we clapped the most for his majesty’s vernacular speech
He seemed to bear with our illiteracy in understanding the queen’s language
Such a humble servant leader who in our language had proved to be a son of the soil

It was an eloquent speech promising to award those loyal to his authority
The chief band master even incorporated his name in the anthem
And we sang our hearts out as they watered their throats cheering us on
The event unfortunately came to an end and
We were too tired and thirsty from the singing to even remember our rightful handouts