Much have we traversed this bleak terrain,
With jaded winds bathing our eyelids
And sand grains from once-lush fields
Lodging within the caves of our hearts;
Hearts, dense with crimson tears
Shed by eyes scarred by inequity;
Hearts, scorched by black lies
Told by tongues of today’s truants.
Little we see in nature which is ours
Is continuously plundered by myopic plunderers,
While the bellies of forlorn babies
And minds of potential saviours
Are moulded, into figurines of despair.
II
As closed petals open to the morning sun
When the night’s darkness is overcome,
We must stretch towards a new scope
Where tears and joy shall intertwine.
Our feet must tread with unyielding vigour
Along this tortuous path to redemption.
The thin cracks in our binding ties
We must mend, by living with love.
We must grow beards and stand tall
We must start now, e’en if we fall;
For beneath the voice of time’s unerring whisper,
Lies a green future, sinking in quicksand.
DARLINGTON EKENE OGUGUA
Darlington Ekene Ogugua was born about nineteen years ago in Kaduna State, Nigeria. He attended Living Word Academy Nursery/Primary School some years later, after relocating to his state of origin, Abia.
As a nine-year-old JS2 student at M.B.J. Uturu, he won first prize in the Junior Category of the CONYA Story-Writing Contest.
Darlington loves writing and hopes that through Medicine and Literature, he would positively affect the lives of lots of people in the near future.
He is currently a 300 Level Medical student in Abia State University, Uturu.
