They watched us, as we burnt
I don’t think I have cried,
Since yesterday,
And certainly I haven’t today either,
But tell me why,
My eyes still feel so heavy?
Is it because of the tears I havee cried,
Over the last two weeks,
Putting all of my strength,
Doing the little I could,
As my country was going to a new place;
Or so I thought,
And what joy,
That it was championed by youngings
In my generation,
And what greater joy,
That it was women like me;
In the frontlines,
Being just what they were called to be;
GREATNESS!
Damn! The adrenaline rush!
The rush of hope!
The undiluted faith and belief
I was beginning to feel for us;
For Nigerian people,
For our government,
For us,
For those coming after us.
But the government;
In their usual fashion,
Shattered those hopes,
And killed the faith,
And really,
It would have been better,
If it was just the hopes they killed,
But they didn’t stop there,
They killed us,
They killed us for asking for our rights!
We asked to stop killing us,
And the Nigerian government,
Replied to our request by killing us.
I was devastated at first,
But still held on to a little hope,
But I let it go,
After I saw it was a false one,
They killed us.
and I feel like,
I am a betrayer,
Because here am I writing,
About how shattered I felt,
But Jimoh Isiaq,
The people killed at the #LekkiMassacre,
Oke,
People killed by akwuzu sars,
Chijioke;
Whose father had to look for his body among others in a river?
Ilochuku,
The apo 6,
Linda,
Kolade;
And the several others, who have been harassed,
Raped,
Extorted,
And killed by police and the government,
They have no luxury to cry or express sorrow or hopelessness,
They can’t even breathe,
Or hear us.
And it makes me feel like I’m betraying them,
Now that I have no will,
Or strength to do anything.
I feel helpless,
Hopeless,
And lost.
And this reminds me of my own life,
And how hopeless it is;
How lost I actually am.
The Nigerian government have failed us,
And the gods looked on,
That is unforgivable.
They killed us,
And the gods did nothing.
They watched on,
While we burnt.
#EndSARS
25/10/2020.
A.ARK
