Silent land
By Clement Odia
IN a land where silence is peddled
Like a curse,
I collect stones from the brook of stillness,
Building a refuge for reflection.
I will not run away from the dance
That chooses me
I will not ignore songs of thunder
Which invoke rupturing rhythms
I cannot bury my head
In a shroud of innocence
When all around me
Hawks bare their inglorious fangs.
Unseal the parched lips of the silenced,
Where whispers wither like the Harmattan leaves,
Tame the icy grip of oppressive calm,
That numbs the skin and chills the bones,
Shatter the visage of vultures,
With eyes that glean like polished onyx,
Slake the suffocating shroud of silence,
That wraps around us like a damp shroud,
Remove padlocks that gagged our mouths,
And unlock the rusty hinges of our tongues.
For impunity spreads its dark roots,
Where shadows writhe like human beings,
And hawks shriek, talons extended,
In the silent land, where freedom’s wings are clipped and silenced.
But we will not be tamed,
Our voices rising like a storm,
Shattering the stillness,
Unmuting the silenced land.
* Odia teaches English at the University of Benin, Benin City
