spilledwoords
“Poetry burns in our hearts with the passionate heat of a lover’s embrace.”
Should I worry?
Tribute to: Oluwatoyin Salau, 19-year-old, a Nigerian-American Black Lives Matter Protester from Tallahasse found dead after a sexual assault.
Today, I watched that brown earth close up
and I thought of my own closure.
Who knows how many would gather to say
ugly things at my passing.
When this arm finally lies still,
should I worry? Could I prevail upon
my mourners to sing my praises?
Could I prevent my turn when it comes?
Who would not taste the dust of nothingness,
when that inevitable bell rings?
I’d have rather preferred to pass
from breath to breath like is promised,
but ‘tis GOD who chooses to bless those he’ll bless
with such an unmerited favor.
I watched your earth close up today
and bowed my head to pray,
that on my own day, may he find me
as faithful as a sinner could be.
May the majority who gather
to fare me well hold
good words about me to show
I lived what I preached –
the little a sinful worshipper could do,
and not that hate rid the world of a pitiful pest.
©Ndidi Ugo Nkwoala
SpilledWoords, 2020
Recent Posts: spilledwoords
A Fortnight Today
A fortnight today,they will rationalize their actions –‘Keeping the Peace’and forget what they did. There was no CLAMP DOWN! A fortnight today,their victims would still reminisce;their ordeal they’ll pass on fromfather to child, from siblings to neighbors. There was a CLAMP DOWN! A fortnight today,how quickly Propaganda will rewrite historysay it once, say it again […]
Conspiracy
Nothing works against the successof a scheme so much as a wish to makeit wholly secured n’ sure to succeed.Such an attempt requires many men,much time and very favorable conditions;these heighten the risk of being discovered –how daring, how O dangerous!Yes, Conspiracy has a human heart –cold n’ calculating, fearsome n’ fearful – most unscrupulous. […]
Helter-skelter
Helter-skelter in the cityThe mall strangely in disarray –Smashed windows, ransacked shelves. Citizen: “Liberty! Liberty is in town. It’s a protest!”Government: “No, no, Citizen! Be on your guard!Law and Order now cower at your feet, too timid to act.” Soldiers, to the street! Forward march!Load fresh bullets in your gunsOff the safety catch, pull the […]
By the Tollgate
By the tollgate at Lekki, by the roadsidefar from the comforts of our loved oneseased from the day-to-day tasks we abidethere we sat in anguish n’ anger – agitated. Placards we brought with us –a solace to our heavy hearts,a plead to the world to hearbut soon we found we’ve upset our censors. With resentment, […]
Weapon
The will to power destroys the power to will.The weapon made, we cannot help but use it;it drags us with its own momentum still. The power to kill compounds the need to kill.Grown out of hand, the heart cannot refuse it;the will to power undoes the power to will. Though as we strike we cry […]
