Tuesday 17 May 2022

Sit-at-Home by James Eze

the streets are lonely again today
traffic lights blink with eyes swollen with grief
& the skies are dressed in translucent clouds
to mourn our sudden loss of freedom

silent market squares, empty classrooms
deserted bus stations, forlorn playgrounds 
foreshadow a future festooned with pain
for a society tone deaf with hate

and so we sit-at-home
for one man in chain is a million-consciences in jail

a distraught mother hugs a casket
her son took a bullet & rode the sunset
convinced that nations are born in tears & blood
& life in bondage is life deferred

and so we sit-at-home
gnashing our teeth to rhythms of sorrow 
seasoning every minute with bitterness
since conversations cannot heal the cracks on our wall

for who mourns when a city dies 
it’s streets and alleyways swollen with blood
it’s monuments made a bonfire to shame
it’s young too purblind to see tomorrow

who hurts when a nation dies
when elders speak with bifurcated tongues
& children are drunk on wrong philosophies 
who cries when they kill for their gods

and so we sit-at-home & count our losses
because injustice sits on our heads 
in a land where the present leaves the future in ruins
nobody cries when a country dies

James Eze

James Eze is a Nigerian writer, poet and journalist. He is well-versed and has a lot of publications to his credit.

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