Poem: ”The Midnight Summer” By Komene Famaa

In tropical Nigeria,

At Federal Government College,

There we studied

A phenomenon then I never grasped,

It was a geographical phenomenon

It was called Mid Night Summer;

But in temperate Finland

Thousands of miles away from Warri,

Mid Night Summer and I met face-to-face!

Observed once every year

At night which appeared day,

The sun still clutched to the sky,

Spraying golden beams of light

At midnight on earth below

Even as people jabbered or slept

Their amazements and sorrows away;

It was a wonder to behold!

From the four corners of the earth,

People trooped to see the Mid Night Summer,

A twenty first century world phenomenon;

All through the night, sleep was scarce.

All through the night , our hill-post stood

In awe to watch Mid Night Summer act;

We, well dressed in clothes long, with caps tight,

Mosquitoes and flies our unfriendly companions,

Even at midnight…..were they also awake

To pester mankind or to watch

Mid Night Summer, act?

As we watched, like little babies

Stricken with feverish expectancy,

At midnight, Mid Night Summer burst open

The doors of sky and earth, its golden beams

Shot through tight shafts to spark a once passive

Crowd to life….a kinetic release of claps and shouts,

That swept through the once hollow and darkened night,

With bright little stars that turned night into day

To the chagrin of all that on our hill post stood.

Darkness awash with sunlight, recognition palpable,

Creatures and beings alike, on this cold night turned day

Aware that with Mid Night Summer,

A new day has arrived in Rovaniemi, Finland,

And, may be, in the tropics of Nigeria

Faraway at Federal Government College, Warri

***THE END***

This Poem was sent in by Mr Komene Famaa.