Ambassadors of poverty are
The corrupt masters of the economy
With their head abroad
And anus at home
Patriots in reverse order
Determined merchants of loots
Who boost the economy of their colonial order
To impoverish brothers and sisters at home
Ambassadors of poverty are
The saviours of the people
Office loafers in the guise of workers
Barons of incompetence
With kleptomaniac fingers
And suckling filaments
Position occupants and enemies of service
Locked in the corrosive war of corruption
With their people’s treasury
And killing their future
Ambassadors of poverty are
The dubious sit tight patriots
Frustrating the corporate will of their followers
The beleaguered, hungry and famished owners of the land
People priced out of their conscience and power
Incapacitated by destitution
Unable to withstand the temptation
Of crispy mints and food aroma
Ambassadors of poverty are
The political elites
In air conditioned chambers
And exotic cars
With tearful stories of rip offs
Tucked away from
Their impoverish constituencies
Lying prostrate
With death traps for roads
Mud for water
Candle for light
Underneath trees as schools
Rat for protein
Fasting as food
And alibi as governance
Ambassadors of poverty are
The rancorous elites In battle of supremacy
For the control of power
And their people’s wealth
Mowing down their own
With white man’s machine
Oiled by the prosperity of black patronage
Counterpoised by deprivations
As the corpses of their able-bodied men
Women and children lie un-mourn
In shallow graves
In their fallow farmlands
Long abandoned
Ambassadors of poverty are
The round trippers
The elusive importers
Of unseen goods and services
Sand inclusive
Who trip the economy down
By tricking form M
For harvest of dollars as import
When their people see neither money nor food
Ambassadors of poverty are
The able-bodied men on the street
Without motives, without vision,without mission
Men fit for the farm
But glued to the city
Hungry and desperate
Constituting willing tools in the hands
Of political overlords
For mission of vendetta
Against political foes
In their fight for power
Ambassadors of poverty are
Those who actions and inactions
Reduce their people’s expectation to nothingness
Those who antecedents
Have lost the spark to inspire
While their people lie in surrender
Having been defeated by poverty
Ambassadors of poverty are
All of us whose in-actions
Steal our collective joy
Because of what we should do
Which we never do
As we bargain away
Our conscience in the market place
Under the weight of poverty
To assuage our hunger
And our master’s will
Analysis and summary of Philip Umeh’s Ambassador of Poverty
The poem, “Ambassador of Poverty by Philip Obioma Umeh,” is apparently a long narrative account of a corrupt and ill society. In the poem, the poet – speaker blames and accuses both the leaders and the led. The poet – speaker also shifts the blame on those who are in office and accept bribe; all of the political leaders who are corrupt, looting money and saving it in other countries:
Ambassadors of poverty are
The corrupt masters of the economy
With their head abroad
And anus at home
Patriots in reverse order
Determined merchants of loots
Who boost the economy of their colonial order
To impoverish brothers and sisters at home
Read also: Boy on a Swing by Oswald Mtshali
Ambassador of Poverty are representatives of government in foreign lands. In the poem, ambassadors stand for any group of persons serving others. However, their services are not for the common good of the people but for the selfish interest of those officers. The third stanza, the poet – speaker asserts that Ambassador of Poverty are the political elite who drive in expensive cars, promise to provide the masses with water, and good road but bluntly refuse to do all what they promise when finally elected to into the office as governor or president. The people or masses get mud for water, candle for light, study under the tree instead of school classrooms, and starve because there is no food.
Ambassadors of poverty are
The political elites
In air conditioned chambers
And exotic cars
With tearful stories of rip offs
Tucked away from
Their impoverish constituencies
Lying prostrate
With death traps for roads
Mud for water
Candle for light
Underneath trees as schools
Rat for protein
Fasting as food
And alibi as governance
Ambassador of Poverty are those workers in office with itching palms who occupy positions without corresponding services. They are the “baron of incompetence.” The rest of the stanzas harp on political thugs, coupists and all other economic sabotuers working against the collective interest of nation They are clearly the ambassador of poverty.
Ambassadors of poverty are
The able-bodied men on the street
Without motives, without vision, without mission
Men fit for the farm
But glued to the city
Hungry and desperate
Constituting willing tools in the hands
Of political overlords
For mission of vendetta
Against political foes
In their fight for power
Ambassador of poverty are those whose action and in – action of promise to aid the citizens are woes to the people because after the hopes and expectations are laid on their pledge by the people, the people eventually realized that such promise will never manifest; hence the people’s expectations are being reduced to nothingness. Since their promise to revive the dead economy will never come, the people surrendered and became defeated by poverty.
Ambassadors of poverty are
Those who actions and inactions
Reduce their people’s expectation to nothingness
Those who antecedents
Have lost the spark to inspire
While their people lie in surrender
Having been defeated by poverty
The ambassador of poverty are those who know what they ought to do but bluntly refuse to do it. They were selfish and only interested in their own gain; thus, they have sold their conscience, trade it in the market.
Literary devices in Ambassador of Poverty
Ambassadors of poverty are
The corrupt masters – line 1 and 2
Ambassadors of poverty are
The saviours of the people – line 9 and 10
Ambassadors of poverty are
The dubious sit tight patriots – line 19 and 20.
Ambassadors of poverty are
The political elites – line 28 and 29
Ambassadors of poverty are
The rancorous elites In battle of supremacy – line 42 and 43
Ambassadors of poverty are
The round trippers – line 56 and 57
Alliteration: The alliteration used are:
“People … power” – /p/ – line 24
“fasting … food” – /f/ – line 40
“with … white” – /w/ – line 48
Language:
The language which the poet used in conveying his message in the poem is simple to understand. The language helps the reader to understand all the points of the poet without reflecting deep.
Repetition:
The poet – speaker makes emphasis on some words which are:
“Ambassador of poverty” – line 1,9, 19, 28, 42 and 56
“patriots” – line 5 and 20.
“Political” – line 29 and 74
“men” – line 66 and 67