Chiori Mathew

How in pale I wonder,
These beloved trees,
Once dressed in green glamour and glitz
flapping majestically its apparel
...

This heart that was once fresh and soft like the morning dew
When I cared, I wanted to care more
This heart that had been chewed and vomited severally,
This heart that had passed through the eye of the needle
...

Our land will smile once more,
The word provoked the peasant passing wind
Flamboyant bogus ‘Agbada' dangling,
And a one sided ‘Kembe' folded
...

The fragments of diverse norms and traditions,
Scattered around the entity.
Glued by the colonial greed,
branded with a label, Ni-ge-ria.
...

Black skin glows
Tough and toxic we are,
The strength of the horse attached to the hoe of the earth.
...

I am Ngba, the game of Ndi Igbo.
Played by men of stone chest,
And stone skin.
Where legs will gather to gaze.
...

Relax and take a breath
that's the cure
in a rush don't speak
on pressure don't talk
...

So what is life without death
light without darkness
joy without pain or
White without black.
...

Now wake up Africa.
There is more outside the stomach
There is a rising sun in the east
If only you could see, if only you could feel
...

I've got nothing at all
No gold no silver
No cars, nor houses
...