BAGA.

We belonged to a country

Took pride in the green and white flag

In our thousands

We birthed the new year

Severing its umblical cord 

From the passing one

We struggled to forget the past

The air was thick with bad news

Our ears were deafened by bombs

And crackles of gunfire from surrounding villages

'The Nigerian Army is winning the war,' we were told

We believed until that midnight

Slashed throats and broken skulls

Human bowels lying on the bloodied street

They stepped on the mangled limbs

As they brought hell alive

We heard the machine gun sing

And watched the blade sever our spirits

From our disfigured bodies

Our virgin city stood defiled

Desolate with blood stained walls

Rotting flesh everywhere

Pot-bellied vultures perching and chewing

Dried blood on the pavement

The dense air, a curtain of darkness

Dead dreams and burnt faith

Our new year plans have been soaked in blood

The lucky ones have fled to Chad

The ill-fated ones still litter the streets

Just days before the city was filled with laughter

Now? Wandering shadows, birds, rodents

And eerie silence

©Kelvin Alaneme, 2015.