Poetry

UN photo

 

By

Maryam Saleh Mainah

 

 

 

Tormented Souls

 

 

When the heart is dry

Tears become barren

We live like ghosts

For the soul is gone

Long long ago

 

The heart contains

Nothing but pain

For it had poured out

All its sense

 

Threading into the defeated land

Walking down the gave up land

Watching all the destructed buildings

Damaged properties

 

Nothing like nature seems to be here,

Trees were burnt out

Plants are dead

Grasses are dry

All in all the land is sterile

 

Once a time, we all lived here

Plants and animals once lived too

The land was fertile of trees and plants

Once a time, we called it home

A happy home.

 

The memories are so vivid

When we moved like wind

Beautiful smile spread over our faces

Our clothes were clean

Hearts in peace

 

It gets so boisterous during the day

Goodbye we waved,

When we walked out home

Children’s laughter

When they came out to play

Excited voices fill out the place

As we all depart to our different destinations

Sounds of engines as they all get started

The crowded places are the most clamorous

Rich and poor we all lived in peace

 

During the dark

Some laid to rest

Families gathered to dine

Men chartered under the roof

Arguing over their point of views

 

Down in the village square

Under the cricket moon

Women danced to the music beats

Men wrestled to the chaotic crowd

Lovers bantered under the tree shade

That is to say the secluded plot

It was once a lively place

 

Suddenly, a disaster falls upon

A vicious misfortune

Experiencing a traumatic moment

Taking out our precious lives

 

We were chased by humans like us

For they possess same features as us

Within their souls is black as night

Preying on us

People were slaughtered just like goats

Shot like birds

To call for exile

Should have been a simple task.

 

We ran for dear life

Passing through the scariest part

The sky gets all red

For  the cause of bomb blast

 

It was just like a movie

As we watched our loved ones die

Our hearts crying out for them

Behind we left the deceased

Swimming in their ocean of blood

That will be washed away by rain

Their once smiling faces

Excited voices

Were now replaced by a miserable sight

Their crying souls as they die

Continues to ring in our ears.

 

Our land was conquered

Our lives were too

Families departed

Orphans they became

The innocent infant

 

Our once happy moments

Become a dream

Our past experience

Is still today’s nightmare

The so called land

Is now a tale

 

 

 

 

 

Casting pearls before swine

 

 

He is weighted

With an unbearable weight

That eyes can’t see

More than

shoulders could carry

Head can take

But who really cares?

 

Behind he leaves

His beloved….

He kissed her goodbye

He bid them goodbye

It might be

Their last farewell

But who really cares?

 

Leaving behind

Their teary eyes

Their saddening faces

He walks out home.

No one knows

if he will be back….

 

He mourned for their vicinity

To say he will miss them

Is an underrate

His heart submerged

Down to a sea

Of boiling tears

That no one sees

 

A loyal citizen

Is he to the nation

Sacrificing his life

Just for his people

But who ever noticed that?

 

He lived in a place

that’s confined

A place where

Snakes and insects

Become his friends

A place where

A dug ground

Is used as bed

Margosa leaves

Is used as cover

But who really cares?

 

Behind he left

All he endear

His life

His health

He served it for us

But who really cares?

 

All we carelessly say is;

Him not doing his job too well

Should this really

Be called a job?

When it’s a battle

Between life and death!

Yet still no one cares!

 

All he got

Are bunch of imprecations

For no one cares!

 

All his life

He lived on order

To kill or be killed

Is the only way

Yet no one cares!

 

If he’s injured

They called him Coward

When it’s obvious

He got no forces

 

But if he’s killed

His end has come

For no one cares!

 

His carcass

Will be left

To be fed

By vultures

And no one cares!

 

We all ignored

And no one cares!!!

For he had lived his life

Casting pearls before swine

 

 

 

 

 

Maryam Saleh Mainah

I originated from Gombe state. I was born on 22 december, 2001. I graduated from ilimi international college Gombe, and am currently a part one student in Gombe state university, studying English education. I had been published in daily focus and am a writer on wattpad.