My blue cup of porridge at Biyaya boys

By Atok Dan

It is all about my azure bluish plastic blue cup of porridge,

which doubled as breakfast and lunch at Biyaya

we had never known what breakfast meant before lunch

at Biyaya boys, we ate porridge at noon instead of lunch,

and that answers how blue became my favorite color,

it wasn’t just about the color of water,

nor it the conventional color of life,

it was all about nutrients in the blue cup

the porridge at noon time in Biyaya

The blue was the pond that kept my corn porridge

Could it tell how I became a fan of English blue?

The Chelsea FC and the bluish city at Fulham

It was my blue cup of porridge that paved the way for blue

At Biyaya boys, we were with him Rev. Ayok

My blue plastic cup of porridge at Biyaya boys,

with my stainless steel Chinese branded spoon,

Rev. Joseph stood with us doing all he could,

though anxious about how boys would cop

with only a daily meal of porridge,

in a sea of abundance gifts of nature,

He never wanted us to expose to risk,

Especially by those who hated us

Rev. Ayok and Karen had it for the boys,

that we never fall victims to a hateful society around us

our identity as we were what everybody at arm's reach hated us

Yet that identity still stood tall like the hated Berlin wall,

but were mindful of our ancestral resilience,

A guiding tower that sailed us to a covetous life,

and Mr. and Mrs. Ayok were troubled day and night

to inculcate a future of generosity in boys 

We had not only blue but red, green, and pink cups

at Biyaya boys, all that we knew for noon was a porridge

even the youngest boy Bol Bol had tolerated

the noon cup of porridge, our daily meal

at Biyaya boys, our colors were collective,

not just only a collection of red, blue, and green,

like the American states,

but the colors that glued us in love for a rich future

In their fun-loving hands at Biyaya

Boys slept happily at peace with their day half meal,

a meal nourished by love from Mr. and Mrs. Ayok

They let us sail through that tumultuous waters,

Mr. Mrs. Ayok sharpened us to face life with nostalgic facts

It was like that Rev. wanted us to conquer,

And emerge as winners at the end.