A strange land, “Aluu”;
Tell me what the name “Aluu” means.
I hear the sky whisper ‘abomination,’
A strange land, Aluu;
A land I know not.
The ground that never swallowed my placenta
The same sand I walked on, in the quest for knowledge.
In pursuit of mental liberation, I met my end.
The desired end I dreamt of was shattered by people within.
I prayed for a fruitful day at dawn,
Instead, I was offered a bitter tale.
I struggled to tell the truth, but the hatred
In their hearts prevailed.
Oh! How my blood turns cold in my helpless watch.
My soul cries for help as each stick strikes my scalp.
Oh! Their scream for death,
Supresses my heart beat.
My nakedness was made public with shame as my cover.
But it meant nothing to me; all I wanted was to be heard.
Their ears were stopped up with the lid of death.
“Die, die” is all I hear,
Helpless is all I see.
In the weakening gaze of my friends;
Papa, I yearned for your spank;
Not these barbarians on me.
Did God watch too? Or was He heartbroken for His creatures?
Did Mama feel her heart melt as I painfully transformed into a ghost?
Is my sin matched with this kind of death?
Hmmm… This is my Golgotha.
The sticks to my head, the tires around my neck;
The screams from my soul; my pleas, my pain, my spit, my urine, my tears, my blood;
A land I know not, Aluu took it all.
A strange land took it all.
RIP- UGONNA, LLOYD, CHIDIAKA AND TEKENA.
By: Chimaobi Onuigbo
