And the radiating light, my glorious abode.

Feign no ignorance to the turmoil that visited our land.

In an agonizing puzzle, I’ve stared at the rising smoke set on by the imperialists.

I’ve walked and strode the paths of my fathers and ancestors,

The ground stained with the hues defining their existence;

The colour segregation and eyes evaluation.

I’ve seen my fathers inhale the breeze beclouded in the dark shades of the ever thick smoke.

I’ve seen my mothers go nude and stroll the roads engulfed in anger with cracked feet;

The path made weary by the pangs of colonialism.

I’ve touched the sands in aimless wonder, the wails and protests and wars I read from the sands,

They shatter me into debris.

In the quest to escape the claws of slavery,

I’ve watched my fathers on their overly carved black torso and amulets.

Incantations were heavily scripted on their lips,

With their shaved shrinking heads.

In shrines, they communion with the auxiliary deities.

Yet, they have fallen a thousand times.

After I voyage upon the rivers of the afterlife,

My writings from the decaying papers should be your guideline.

Let not a drop of tears from the streams of your eye.

Never remember me of my excruciating pain.

Do not seek my intercession after I’ve sojourned beyond;

The strife and feats will go with the yesterdays.

If eventually, you cross the breach to the other side of life,

Freedom being the pillar of every household,

Dance and waggle your supple behinds to the sounds that reverberate from it.

For it is a saviour that comes once in a lifetime.

Oseghale Favour is from Esan Central Local Government Area, Edo State. To Favour, poetry is a way of life. She believes everything we do transcribes into beautiful lines and stanzas of poetry. Poetry is a panacea to every defect. She hopes to make oral African traditions into beautiful pieces of art.