Nigeria

Prince Odimegwu Onwumere
Male, a writer, poet, writes creatively in other genres of literature.  I have been contributing humanitarianly in the field of creative writing to help change men from their egotism, arrogance views, fight against the scourge called HIV/AIDS, and against man's inhumanity to man. I am a member of takingItglobal, www.takingitglobal.org, and the Nigeria Director of Working to Empower (a Canadian NGO formed for creating the awareness on HIV/AIDS epidemic), www.workingtoempower.org.

Their Coming

Our milieu was once salubrious that
One could hear the footsteps of ants and the passing breeze;
It used to be quiet, as thus nature but,
Since they came in the neighbourhood
We do not sleep and do not complain
And our anger is buried in our minds, while
Our eyes blinks in self-reprimands, “Why are they making noise?”
Do they not know its night? From morning till dawn they’re there.
But the more hearts of ours quarrels, the more they make noise
And derive joy? With such falsetto, the help of white man’s gung!
But if they talk tête-à-tête, wouldn’t they understand
Like whispering as thefts do no one hears and they theft?
We could not bear this nuisance and notoriety they call culture any more,
Nuisance they’re coercively luring us into, than the News they came with;
It’s incongruous. But just one day, one flabby day!
We matched to quell its progressiveness, but instead of fathoming,
They called us Witches and Wizards and other belly-aching names.
We called the Gestapo, in a world where there is law?
They respected not anyone that came! But, “Holy spirit fire” they complimented us,
But their Master we know was a gentle man devoid of noise and disturbance,
Who fasted with kneels on the ground, on the mountain, so that
His fellows and followers would have rest and peace,
And he didn’t make noise casting impure-spirits,
But since this people came in our neighbourhood, the noise makes
Our brats leap at the dead of night and our old parents
Sit in chair gnashing teeth saying, “What they came for is good
But their coming to our neighbourhood has caused us perils”.