“Boys of the Savanna“ by Chinedu Gospel
Chinedu Gospel is a Nigerian poet, an ASSON student from College of heath sciences, Okofia. He is also a member of the Frontiers Collective. He enjoys playing chess and listening to music when he's not busy with school work or writing poetry. His works have been published across online and print magazines and journals; he recently won second place in the Blurred Genre contest, 2023. Find his X profile @gonspoetry.
A Word from the Author:
This poem was influenced by the struggle of migrants — beyond the physical dangers of crossing, and the reasons are pushed to leave their homes and seek a new life. It is a heartbreaking struggle; from Nigeria to the Mexican-US border, whenever the suffering of people attempting to cross shows up on the news it breaks my heart all over again.
There's a God. And there are
voices that whir from beneath
the turf — angels, ancestors. Our boys
are buried under the grass. Because
where I'm from, they'd grow into a
forest of trees — evergreen, beautiful, godly.
There's a boy. And there are arrows
& bullets searching for home between
his ribs. There's a woman, a mother tired
of asking God for opened doors in her
prayers. Because at the doorway of every
open door there was a bullet aimed at her
son's skull, for being young. & being
green. & being Nigerian. This is the
story of the Savanna; there's a sheep
on one end of the land. And a trigger-happy
shepherd on the opposite end. One
inching closer towards the other is a bad omen.
The birds sing it. The cloud with
gloom on its face sees it and cries.
But, too blind, we do not see the ruin ripening.
