We are a conquered people

By Michael Ipogah

OUR voices are hushed and crushed
We could barely say our minds
Except in whispers that echo in our deprivation
Our voices are broken
The pieces flung apart to places where they are not important
The pieces no longer fit for relevance in decisions taken
Our voices are killed from their conceptions
Who cares what you say or think?

Come over here
I invite you
Come
Please come

See the testament of inconsideration for our voices
Yes, our voices
These voices hanging thinly on penury
Malnourished voices
Faint voices

Our voices
Even when they travel with heavy messages
Between our mouths and their ears
Our voices fail
The strength of speech gone
The strength of speed dissipates too
Our voices are dead
Who will wake them up?

Our voices are on the ground here
Since they have lost their masculinity
Now in the groves of castration
They are trodden upon by the feet of our oppressors
Even in this weakness
None of our assailants care
These voices must be crushed
They are better dead than voiced
The point to which they have travelled demands immortality
Yes
These failed voices must be immortalized in the oblivion of silence

Crushed
Crusted
And forgotten

Who in the first place gave you the voice ?

What do you want to say?
They have been said before
Can you save your fragility by saying nothing

Do you want to talk about

Poverty

Poor infrastructure

Joblessness

Insecurity

Freedom

Economy

Inflation

Housing

Corruption

Our voices are gone
We lost them years ago
In our desperate interests
All we ever said seems meaningless to the ears of our traducers
They pet their ears
Like ear picks
And they are sent to slumber since they know

Our voices have been conquered

@Ipogah Michael Irobodu
6th of December 2024

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