Sometimes,
Rejection makes us feel worthless.
Like all efforts are wasted
And all hope lost.
Yet, we try harder!
Face painted in hues
By the smiling sun and the gloomy moon,
Our hearts are faint,
Swamped in disbelief
Of our strength to trudge ahead.
Failure mocks at us.
He labels us fools to success.
Disabling our mentality
Until we become false nonentities
Stifled in rage!
Attacks here and there,
Make our heart cold in fear.
And sometimes
We find ourselves giving up –
And we weep.
Our souls are pierced
And stabbed with rumors;
Alienating us from our hopes
Of malnourished thoughts;
Of failures spilling into our tomorrow…
But most of all,
We shiver to disobey the wrongs.
We shrink to complacence,
Afraid to be tagged –
Unprofitable, faithless failures.
Many times,
Sergeant ignorance and his friends,
Drive us insane,
And make of us nuisance to the society
We built with our own bare hands!
With hearts full of trepidation,
We trek.
With our blinking hopes,
Peacefully installed in our hearts –
Diluted with doubts of diabolic prize.
Our faiths,
Encrypted into gentility,
We condemn ourselves
And demolish the future of our dreams –
To rot in heartless disgrace.
With fear so bold to conquer,
Masquerading our dreams in torments,
Of self-blames and pity.
Our pleasantries entertained with caution,
Suspicions and fear.
Thoughts allow us talk,
Only out of courtesy –
Believing with times.
We will rag away, without doing anything.
So they have time to mock at us!
Such is life?
We are not ashamed to fail.
‘Yes’, no matter what,
Our nation must not fall,
Because we failed to play our role!
Distraction may make us proceed backward –
Towards a precinct
Within the wimp and wilderness
Of perpetual self-deceit and ungodly forces
Sharing our national cakes alone.
And relishing our faces,
Trained by poverty.
We speak lucidly from a polluted heart.
Proving our inherent amnesia –
Inability to face the truth of our failures!
Here we all stand –
Parading on garments of fading glories!
As children from hunted homes of enmity,
Where is the peace we preach?
Indeed where is love – all fables from dirty lips?
This is the land we inhabit,
And nurtured with our bear hands to grow.
In love, peace and justice!
We have now a festival of rebellion and deceit.
But this is our heritage.
Indeed. We have to, ought to:
Let us be re-baptized,
Become our natural real-self.
And lay claim to our portion –
With heart brave like the lion’s.
This is our Father-land!
Arise O compatriot!
meet the poet: Moses Opara
