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.