VAIN REFRAIN

VAIN REFRAIN
(By PoeTHICK Samurai- newly crowned King of Spoken Word Poetry in Nigeria @The Nigerian Writers Awards 2017)


Tell them that the chalkboard is the hall of fame 
Time is the duster that dusts away and can't be blamed
Taming the flame of fame
Is a vain refrain.

Tell them, the Ronaldos and Messis of this world
Magic footers whose names are still netting the goalposts of fame unfurled,
That fame is like the air in a ball, once the ball hits nail,
The air fizzles and flies away like a fantail.

Remind them of Roberto Carlos
Remind them how, fame can be callous.
Ronaldinho, how can you die so soon.
Our beloveth free-kick ace;
Though still kicking the ball, but his name had long kicked the bucket.

If I'm one that foots the ball,
I'd rather heed death's final whistle when it calls.
I'll leave the lee,
Even if it be
when I'm still dribbling and scoring hat tricks;
And I would dribble fame's trick.
So my name would still play on the pitch,
And spectators would still echo my name in a high pitch.

Tell them that the chalkboard is the hall of fame
Time is the duster that dusts away and can't be blamed
Taming the flame of fame
Is a vain refrain.

Tell them!
Tell them Sam Smith and Adelle of this time,
Whose music is still jingling in the air like the voices of high pitched chimes
There are many high pitch singers,
Whose high-blaring names have been lowered.

Tell Rick Ross that RikRok had rocked this same stage.
But his name had hit the rock before his old age.
Tell Olamide, Whose star is shinning like sunrise at midday
That I'd rather leave the stage while my music is on
than stay and watch my name fade away.
I won't join the band of musicians
Musicians who though still sing but their muse is sick
and their names sunken
Like the eyes of those drunken.

Tell them that the chalkboard is the hall of fame
Time is the duster that dusts away and can't be blamed
Taming the flame of fame
Is a vain refrain.

Tell them!
Tell them Sarah Kay of this generation
Before they nationalize to damnNATION
That there had been slam champions
whom competitions had slammed door against.
If I were you I'd wield a Samurai
who would be defending my championships.
While I still hold on to my gracious kingship,
I will propound my chemistry in a KEMISTREE.
So that the chemical reactions of my name would still be reacting,
Reacting in the minds of men
when my mic is off
and I'm off the stage.

If Oluode wouldn't teach Omoode how to hunt,
Who would fire the gun when he's gone?

Tell them that the chalkboard is the hall of fame
Time is the duster that dusts away and can't be blamed
Taming the flame of fame
Is a vain refrain.

Life is like a classroom,
the people are the students
and the chalkboard is this hall of fame.
The inscriptions on the chalkboard are celebrities' names.
When one period ends,
we rub off the board and write another.

Before your period ends,
let the students copy you into the notes of their hearts.

And after you've been rubbed off,
they can always go back to read you.

I tell you, tell them before it's too late.
Fire dies and leaves its ashes, great men die and leave their names.
Though good men may die, but their names are immortal.

Tell them that the chalkboard is the hall of fame
Time is the duster that dusts away and can't be blamed

Taming the flame of fame
Is a vain refrain