Oluwatomiwa Ajeigbe

Oluwatomiwa Ajeigbe
is a writer, poet and mathematician. His works have been shortlisted for the Brigitte Poirson Poetry Contests and Eriata Oribhabor Poetry Prize. He has works published or forthcoming from Eyes To The Telescope, Star*Line Magazine, Ngiga Review, Kalahari Review and elsewhere. He tweets @OluwaSigma and writes from Lagos, Nigeria.

Motherless

My country bleeds from different places. Her children cry in the streets. We have become motherless, sent to early graves by the ones meant to protect us. We have become lost children, seeking peace wherever it may be found. We are being killed because we dared ask not to be killed. Suddenly, black lives do not matter anymore. Suddenly, our lives have become playthings for the bastards in power. Our pain had become a source of joy to these tyrants. Our screams of anguish are like music to their ears. So when I am asked, which country are you from? I reply with profound silence. Because no mother should be able to throw her own children into the sea without batting an eyelid. No country should kill citizens who only wanted to be treated better. I have no country. I am motherless.

Madness

Tell me, if it isn’t madness. Peaceful protesters praying for peace. Soldiers opening fire in the dark. A governor denying everything. Young people killed at the order of political godfathers. A silent president. A broken country. A riot on the streets of a megacity. Anarchy, but organized. Anarchy, but guided. Terrorism, but state sponsored. Citizens too scared to leave their homes. But death finds them in their rooms anyway. Peace is non-existent. Democracy is dead. Everywhere we turn, we see three constants; sorrow, tears & blood. Tell me, isn’t this madness?

20—10—2020

Let it be known/that this was the day/we lost our brothers & sisters/to a senseless act of violence/Lagos bleeds, Abuja groans, All of Nigeria mourns/I saw a flag drenched in blood/& I can’t get the image out of my head/when I think of my country/tears well in my eyes/I think of every minute & the people dying/I am lost in my mind/I am lost in an abyss/I am lost & cannot find myself/maybe I do not want to be found/I am stuck between sleeping/& fighting sleep/I do not want to have nightmares/but I am living in a nightmare already/I wake up every morning/& the first thought on my mind is/will I be next to die?