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Blue Marble Review

Literary Journal for Young Writers

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Portrait Of My Country As Chaos And Blood 

By Anointing Obuh

                  There is so much              the streets/                    are really shaped like chapels
                                              blood on                 Large bullets
                 Many things I did not know until today
                   Like how many lives we will lose                          before this country annihilates us
                Hands fasten themselves on asphalt as                                        bullets whizz past
            Oh God, my people have learned to hide themselves.
           How can I dis – own a country without                                losing my head & my heart?
         Take me away he begged. This man is wounded!
             Blood gushing out of torn flesh
[I]                                        Was that a bomb blast or fire, the national anthem?

                    [Feel]         We are all growing violence, perhaps that is why they shoot at us

                 [Like]                                                             What is his name? Write it down

         [Puking]                                                                     He is going to die. Do CPR!

My sister weeps quietly beside me.  Tonight, a million Nigerians will cower in bed, tens

of millions will become lava.                                      He is breathing! He needs air!

Mark my words. We will all die together you know.                     We were born for it
 We should stop calling this nation [absent of motherly feelings] her.      An iron fist
 is an iron fist, wrapped or not.           They really bring hell fire & call it children toys
  Everything is baseless now.          See how they reduce us to mere flesh & empty
  cartridges. What is it with soldiers stealing corpses?  If I am burned,
                               We will sing our way into death.     Let me burn to the
                                                                                       Let heaven know           our land
                                 was too green with envy.                                            last
                               A man passes away from the                                       flicker
                             struggle.   Hallelujah. What am I to tell
                             my children unborn? That I hoped in
                              a country which pilfered like smoke
                                before my eyes or that I once
                                                 had a life?
Formatting: The Nigerian Map.

Anointing Obuh is a writer, singer and photographer from Nigeria. A one-time best of the Net nominee, her works have been featured in Rattle, Mineral Lit mag, Honey and Lime Lit, Barren magazine and elsewhere. You can find her tweeting @therealAnniekay.

Filed Under: Poetry Tagged With: March 2021

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