Poetry

AP photo

By

Stephen Emmanuel Ogboh

green is green

green is green

be it lush as the grazings of Nigeria

dark as the envy

in the bladders of our ‘leaders’

cool as the essence of grape

plummy as fresh green apples

or unripe as the inedible fruits

our blind, naive followership bears

green is green

on postcards or placards, or voters’ cards

on flags and banners and posters

on charts and television or news headlines

on rigged result sheets or jigged growth rates

but white is white, too

free of stain and grime and dust

free of speck or grease and rust

be it the flowing gowns of politicians’ wives

or the conscience they lack

or garments of African leaders in AU summits

who siphon their people’s wealth

and their green destinies to ‘the whites’

white is white

the colour of parliament buildings that does nothing

about the dozen colours in white UN refugee camps;

white faces, red sores, black hunger, brown leaves

or the white chalkboards in dilapidated classrooms

or the blank spaces on greased farmers’ check

Stephen Emmanuel Ogboh

I am Emmanuel Stephen Ogboh (Stephen Emmanuel Ogboh on Facebook), the first of four boys in a poor Nigerian family.I am in my mid twenties and started writing poetry a few years ago (probably 2012) after being inspired by Lisa Smallwood, a Facebook friend.

I write about my thoughts, feelings and experiences and plan to publish a poetry book whenever I have the resources to.