IN DAYS NOW HERE
As the sun goes slowly blind
As day gives way to night
Does the earth bring forth works of the nocturnal kind
To light
As the sun goes slowly blind
Do the fears of days past pervade my mind
And I, finding myself more lost in my own eyes
For I have become habituated to blood and cries
In days bygone
We lived without fear of a stray bullet
From the end of a gun
Or from rampant attack by armed children of night with the insatiable gullet
Those who have shed the last shred of innocence
The last vestige of shyness and despoil without conscience
In days now gone, inhabitants of the north
Could practice the religion of colonialists of the west as in the south
Without apprehension
Of an abrupt visitation
Into the bosom of the messiah
Although being the desire of every believer
Messengers of death pluck in their prime
By crime
Those who are ripe for death and those who are not
In this web of bigotry are we caught
In days bygone
The sound of firecrackers did not set our minds affray
Back in the day
The sound of fireworks did not bear a striking similitude in sound to bombs
Mere sounds did not remind us of sobs
This air I breathe reeks of despondency and doom
For I cannot find safety even behind bolted doors of my own room
The next sound may be boom! Who knows who the next victim may be
It may be you, it may be me
How much I envy the bliss of the numb creature
For reality
Being too thorny for my noble nature
In this world is much cruelty
I wish I could wink and make it all go away
This cannot hold sway
For reality does not tango to the tune of tiny tots
Or even of noble thoughts
How long shall one continue in battle against reality?
We all lie as victims in the hard hands of insecurity
If life is a stage, it is time to play our part
For our dear nation is fast drifting apart
If we continue to steer this chaotic course
Even by faith there shall be no recourse
This nation shall be as catastrophic as titanic at sea
No more bloodshed, this is our plea
How much I mourn the loss of days bygone
In days now here, what lies the fate of the one
unborn?
by Yewande Adebowale
