Blood
Boiled from hours of sitting under the sun
Boiled from anger against police brutality
Boiled from the shielded stem whose only desire is to tilt towards light
Beloved Nigeria
Whose youth evaporate from the scaly hands of policemen,
And the dirty palms of politicians
Ten Twenty Twenty Twenty
On that day, there
was
fire
Not orange like the one that cooks beans and rice
No, metallic fire
Heads rolled
The earth shook
Not just from the stamping of running feet
But also from the ear-piercing screams of Ala
The goddess of the earth shrieking, yowling for her children
Their weapons were placards, the Nigerian song, and Nigerian anthem
Yet they were murdered
Shredded by the guns their taxes bought
Massacred by soldiers who should protect them
Blood watered the plants of Lekki
Promising brains fertilised the soil of Lekki
Tears rained on the crops of Lekki
Chi jiri na ehihie
The Nigerian flag could not save us
Torn apart like the battered bodies that once held them
All for what
ENDSARS
Souls still stampede at the toll gate of Lekki
Voices of unseen persons still cry at the toll gate of Lekki
But the brain-fertilized crops will grow
Into stronger, resilient, cedar trees
But until then,
May we never forget.
#endsars #blood #lekkimassacre #endpolicebrutalityinnigeria #endbadgovernanceinnigeria #sorosoke #nigeria #lagos #corruption #badgovernance
Kasimma is an alumni of Chimamanda Adichie’s Creative Writing Workshop, SSDA workshop, IWP, and others. She’s been a writer-in-residence in artists’ residencies across Africa, Asia, and Europe. Her works appear or are forthcoming on The Book Smuggler’s Den, Jellyfish Review, Kiwetu Journal, Orbis Journal, and The Puritan Literary Magazine.
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