Bring me rubles from Maiduguri
Let me build a monument to Allah
Bring me blood from Bornu
Let me fill this trench like Elijah
Bring me charred bones from Baga
Let me commune with my ancestors
I will split my heart on this altar
And send them as ravines to the gods
Life is a free gift after all
One that I desire no more
Here god take it back, take it all
Kill this foolish feeble feather-flight fellow
Then reincarnate me
The will to go on
A heart of steel
A desire of stone
And a thirst for home
Addendum
I will summon the gods
For baga’s blood speaks sadder things
Let heaven be closed to their souls
And hades to their spirit
Let their wailing weepings be puppets
To strings of my anger
Against them that put them there.
Originally published by Loudthotz Poetry on 13 February 2015.