MAY THE LAND BE TRULY SECULAR
by Kamarudeen Mustapha
MAY THE LAND BE TRULY SECULAR (For Leah Sharibu)
We peel peace layer by layer
Till nothing remains of our sanity
We betray all orderliness at home
Till gloating terror ambushes our
bravest hopes
Then, we start again
We pile terror layer by layer
On pedestals of our bravest hopes
Until we hatch heartless wars
Shrouding us front and black
In our fray for self justification
We have disemboweled the deodorant air
We let loose the flatulent bowel
Of the Mongudu mammoth
Choking us with horrors hovering
All over our space
Only Leah Sharibu has some faith
In the land’s claim to be secular
She told the heart of terror
“I am a Christian and I deserve to live …”
O let her faith suffice her
And may the land be truly secular
Like the God of Peace bides
“No compulsion in religion.”
MAY THE LAND BE TRULY SECULAR
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Kamarudeen Mustapha writes short stories and poems. He is a teacher based at Ibadan, Nigeria. His poems and short stories have been published in Our Poetry Archive, African writer.com and Setu inline magazine. He had also had poems published in few anthologies apart from self-publishing some children story books like Zinari the Golden Boy, Winners Never Quit and The Magic Bird among others.
Beautiful