Oremus

For those whose tongues wear different garments

in confusion, dying and waking to die again while

speaking to please those whose shadows are same as theirs.

For those who threw their beads and cowries in the sea

hoping to pluck leaves of fortune from magic trees on arrival,

For those whose arrival turned to sudden departure,

whose departures are lessons learned by less than a handful:

let us pray.

For those who deny their names

screaming and trembling at the sight

of small gods which we all have been,

carrying cards that sell both them and

theirs for no more than a pence,

For those whose names now have a bitter

taste in this conference that has no end,

those who do not seek to end a love that

kills itself and its own for no cause:

let us pray.

For those who see these signs and strive

to find excuses on the internet,

those whose days have become nights like

books which have dusts and roaches as readers,

For those in whose dreams new alphabets are created

that form no word nor world,

Those who only see sins on screen

and read piety from books and Naira notes:

let us pray.            

© Echezonachukwu Nduka 2015

Note: Images are taken from the internet.