WHERE IS NIGERIA?

WHERE IS NIGERIA?

by | Oct 1, 2015 | NIGERIAN POEMS, POEMS

WHERE IS NIGERIA?

The giant of the black continent,
locked up in the den of dwarfs,
looking haggard with overgrown hair,
she must be very old,
for her head is a fountain of grey leaves,
and these wrinkles come only with old age,
The king of the jungle
with a roar that begins the songs of mockery,
these claws are sharp,
they must have torn apart
the skins of preys during war
and this bushy mane is not for a cub,
Happy Independence Day to Nigeria! Source: www.shuttershock.com

Happy Independence Day to Nigeria!
Source: www.shuttershock.com

The Super Eagle of the skies
with wings clipped like an emu
and can barely fly
when expected to soar,
the span of these wings are wide
and these sunken eyes is only for a Mother Eagle
The land of milk and honey
where dairy owners starve to death
and landlords are milked by tenants,
until the lips of their pockets got glued
and could no longer swallow a drop of honey
produced by swarms of bees in their own hives.
There was a Nigeria,
known as a nation of enviable jewels
where all birds wanted to build their nests
and all beasts wanted to graze her pasture,
where peace and justice were citizens
and not sons lost in exile
dining with only those who live in foreign lands.
P.S.: This is for a sober reflection as the most populous black nation in the world, Nigeria celebrates 55 years of Independence.

 ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Osho Samuel Adetunji is a graduate of Mechanical Engineering from Nigeria’s premier University, University of Ibadan. He is a budding poet, a blogger, a Public Speaker, an on air personality with a knack for short stories, inspirational articles and poems. He is a great thinker, creative and dexterous young man who does not only believe in excellence but also extols the tenets of discipline, hard work and effectiveness.
TELL THEM TO REMEMBER THIS COUNTRY

TELL THEM TO REMEMBER THIS COUNTRY

by | Oct 1, 2015 | NIGERIAN POEMS, POEMS

TELL THEM TO REMEMBER THIS COUNTRY

& if at all the world wants to write about me

Tell them to remember this country: Its broken body.

The sketches of tears that litter everywhere.

& if at all the world craves to sing my name

Tell them to echo the names of boys covered

with leaves. Tell them to scribble the names of girls

raped till their thighs bled, till their cries

vanished in the wind of silence.

& if at all the world carves me a plaque

Remember to tell them about unbuilt monuments
for people devoured by earthquake, people left
with shattered hearts, people buried like
dead dogs, like the bits of a broken glass.
Happy Independence Day to Nigeria. Source: www.oanweb.org

Happy Independence Day to Nigeria.
Source: www.oanweb.org

 

Remember to tell them about lives limping in

the fire that leaks the rusty roof of this country.

 

& if at all my song tickles your ears

Remember the woman next door,

the one clutching the photograph of her
bombed son. Remember the man waiting to

explore a dumpster for wastes.

Remember this country and its fate,

its history full of lengthy dirges.

 

 

& if at all tomorrow comes with laughter

breaking the tunnels of our throats

Remember the poet that

remembers this country.

 

P.S.: This is for a sober reflection as the most populous black nation in the world, Nigeria celebrates 55 years of Independence.

 

ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Rasaq Malik is a graduate of the University of Ibadan, Ibadan, Nigeria. His poems have appeared in Connotation Press, Heart Online Journal, Jalada, Saraba, Sentinel, African Writers, New Black Magazine, Kalahari Review, and elsewhere. He believes writing is an act of healing, an art that transcends the world, that survives every death.
 
 

Pin It on Pinterest