Muttering voices

  "Giant Wound" At the feet of a giant nation Lies a great boil Dripping with pus and blood. Decades of sheer neglect  Has heighten the stench of its rottenness And all remedy seems to fall short. What good is your strength when you can't walk? What good is your vision, when you can't run? What good are your riches, when you can't enjoy them in peace? The facade of their admiration Has blinded you from your need to heal So you saunter about like an antiquated peacock. The world you once attracted flees from you No one wishes to stand your fall to shame. Except your praise singers  Whose voices will grow dim when your feet touches the dust of your grave. Would you not heed the call in your soul? Would you not listen to your sons and daughters bearing placards of hope? Or would you let the fading stories of your glory days Lull you into perpetual silence?

  "Soro Soke" (Battle Cry) Soro soke! It is the dawn we have been waiting for, A dawn where darkness bows to light, And the wicked at the feet of the righteous. Soro soke! We are done with the silence, We are done with the fake smiles, We are done with hoping in their dead promises. Soro soke! The giants have risen in the form of a youth,  Taking bold strides through dreaded places, Taking back our land and her freedom. Soro soke! Our voices will be louder than their threats, Our crowd will march and not fret, For our faith in eachother will fetch us a better fate. Soro soke! Death can stop this cry, Guns can shoot this might, Prison houses can hold this overdue wrath. Soro soke! It is a chant born in every generation, It is a chant of freedom, It is a battle cry that awakens fallen and living heroes. Soro soke! A ceaseless prayer on our lips, But if no one else answers, We will become our own gods And heed the cry of the nation. 

" The Struggle" 9 a.m on a dull Tuesday morning, I walked with a heavy head, I've been carrying this for a while now, Something common to men of my status, Scamperring at the feet of the scavengers at the top of the national bounty, They come with tummies tucked inside and mouth full of fairytale, But leave pregnant with our wealth, And then hands it over as a heirloom to their kind. This knowledge is the weight we carry everyday in restrained silence, To speak is to die, The death of the poor fades like the morning haze, So we choose to let our silence live, Than die as an unsung activist. But our mind finds no repose, The warrior within wants to pounce, The outcome of the dice is to take it back, This fight we know will leave beyond us, It will be for those coming behind us, They will hear of our feats, and our courage to decide our faith. They will learn from us to have a mouth that speaks, And a voice crying at every corner of the street Demandi...

  "The Soul of Freedom" The morning on our creation day Had the charming face of a young cheetah But ran in the pace of a snail. Who would have known that the trophy of independence That we fell over eachother in celebration of Will tighten again the locks of slavery yet the more? We cried of faces white as the moon But not anymore, not anymore Our own faces bear our nightmare. The stranger's whip has departed our soil But our brother's sting us like a scorpion And this pain eats deep into our soul. The soul of the African, The soul presumed to be free But every corner in chains and in pains. The soul battered by many years of loots and lies, A soul hungry yet in plenty A soul unknown to itself. Do you know that the patched map of our soul strung together Were the wild guess of an overfed white boy Drooling over riches untapped within our borders? Every memorial of you  Is like a sword that pierces deep into This self-inflicted wound lying brashly in our soul. Your fr...

  " Help meet" (Dedicated to Gift Ifechukwudeni) There are few humans like God That could see our tears before they come Draw close to us whenever They sense our loneliness from afar Snuggle silently to share our solitude. Only you can share this cross with its thorn Bleed and act as if you are not hurt In every pain you sought my gain You lost many too precious to find me Love was all that mattered to you, and still does, Few go this far in this scorching sun And never bothered to look back. Grace is found always on your lips You wear beauty like a regal rope Strength lies in your loins, And you choose to bear me with them You love relentless like death And we have chosen that it won't do us part. You say you worry I will leave  But how could i? When I just found the right bone  That made my life empty all this while. This is our honeymoon night I have come home to roost forever with you.

"Lockdown at '67" Like in the days of communal clashes, Our world became a deserted playground, A war of pride and power Is loosed on us, And every feet is on the run. Our children walk with tiny heads on  bloated stomachs, Body tattooed with hunger and suffering, Foot bare on dangerous pathways Some reckless piece of artwork unattractive to human stare  Smiling faces retract to a frown Brave men tremble like feverish children. We are lockdown in a war: Each day rises with horror  And falls with many dead. Life has turned its back on us And is walking away. 

" Spell Bound" The evening you walked away from him The night cast its spell on your rage Your tears dropped lavishly on your cheek He walked out on you again! He didn't say it was over. He walked on the feelings  You spread like trophies at his feet. And left with her, the new lady that's not you. Your mind were another's, a maniac's. It muttered strange things to your head. Your feet walked on and on Searching to find lost things. When you saw the pictures of you two Hanging perfectly on the wall You heart missed a beat thrice. You held it from breathing its last At least not now but soon. This time it won't be another's hand Ripping you apart  But your own bloody hands Sending the avenger swiftly at the heels of his victim. Vengeance stood in yours eyes  Like a drunken maniac  You're madly in love with him And this madness is the cord that ties this knot again  together in another life.