Sule Joseph – “Gloom of a Forest”

My skin is not telling the truth,
my teeth are the symbol of yellow,
my appearance is calling the odds,
who can I turn to?
they all think I am strong. Yes! I am.
I am the mighty land that suffers
the eruption of the wicked rock,
its weight is so heavy: my land is sinking!
I can hear the strong beat
in my heart:
just like a fish taken out of the water.
how can I breathe?
the inhaler has been taken away!
I looked far away,
nothing displayed.
the mind desire to tell the truth,
my mouth must never utter it
how can I say it without opening my mouth?
My phocomelia saviour is mighty,
but, how can he save the watery?
the ones that drown in deep sea.
I cried for help: the blinds came for my aid,
how can they see the soul that wallows in a huge pit?
how can my candle burns in the Mariana trench?
the mind desire to tell the truth,
my mouth must never utter it,
how can I say it without opening my mouth?

My life had just completed a dead cycle

in the hand of the dictator.
I am going through another misery
my heart bled for mercy;
the ruler is not a human to understand my language.
I am crying aloud; the alien does not beget an ear.
just like my name in the Holy Book:
freedom is very near!
till the day of peace, I cling to the faith I bear:
the faith that cries for freedom,
freedom! freedom! is my song.

Photo by Tomas Robertson on Unsplash