Colors

Tattoos don’t make superstars
Colours don’t define humans
Our diversity remains a tool in our hands
The future beacons

When from the table we cry foul
We yearn to be giants among the fold
And yet we are by ourselves maligned
By the desires of those who want to break us apart
From the middle to the top

From Apa to Otukpo
From Igumale to Ojantele
From Iga to Oju
From Ohimini to Ado
And back and forth
With a whip we chasten our unity
With a leap we undress our mothers
Before Makurdi and on the feet of the King of Gboko

We hail thee Protector of the Benue Valley
But at home we curse the stool of our ancestors
Pointing filthy fingers on the robe of Agaba’idu
Gnashing at the crown of our forebears and spitting on Aleku we so extol above the maker of thrones, kings and knights

Our contradiction is basic
Our insinuation is faulty
And our assumptions are worth not a coin

These stripes are eternal
This strife is earthen
And yet the media is quiet
Unknown mediums question reason

Break away from Makurdi’s chains and fasten your belt with Ugbokolo’s cassava stems
Adorn yourself with the beauty of Agatu’s ornaments and cherish your King oh Kingdom!

Let the fire on the mountain quench it’s thirst on the rocks and do not make a path where it creeps into our lands
Devouring our shrubs, making haste to cut us all from the land of the living

If colours don’t define humans what then is our identity?
We are Idoma and we are us
Let us be we.

@John Simon Enokela
+2348135643044
JS 🦄
#johnsimonpoems2022