The need to die

Adookorn Auaduma
@auadumaadookorn150359
10 days ago

I shall not ignite the flame of freedom
and enter the arena with Caesar
or drive my nail into the burden's skull

I shall not hurl the spear of truth to pierce
the calloused hide of oppressive weight
or inject lethal venom into the vein
of greed, least the beast returns to hunt me
let me undergo the transformative baptism from rooster to hawk;
no,let me recall the sacrament of error

Let me sit here, on the fence of time and tide
and let the sea flood down its bank and bay
till empty shells float on the sea.

Here I sat, here on this silenced fence,
when Biko sniffed his last breath
under the oppressive jackboot

Here I lie silent as he succumbed to his fate
at the echoe of a letter

Today, while I slouch here on this docile fence,
man is lynched like dog on the judicial stake of dry log

I will speak out, and if, by this passion -- my yearning and love -- for poetry,
to voice the unspoken pains of displaced residents, I happened to fall from the fence
and I am found guilty, guilty of multiple offences worth: the oppressive jackboot,
the echo of a letter,
or judicial murder

Do me a favor: when you banish me
don't banish the echo of my requiem.

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