James Ogunjimi Poems

Dear mother,

I know you brought me up in the way of the Bible,
And yes I know you've prayed for me never to stumble.
...

Lest we forget,
January 1st,2012, they removed subsidy on PMS.
They promised they were going to provide palliatives.
But our people have been lied to long enough to read the lips of a liar.
...

If only the heroes of our nation dead and buried could watch,
If only they could see what their labours have been reduced to and how their people have become lost,
Then maybe our ears will be open enough to hear,
Their shrieks and endless tears.
...

I want to be remembered for good. I want to be on the right side of history.

I want to be remembered as a man who never shied away from speaking the truth.
I want to be remembered as a man who never kept quiet in the face of injustice.
...

I listened to the late night cry of the owl.
I waited and watched with unabated breath the face of the dog as it scowled.
I heard in the far distance the constant cooing of the fowl.
Life has been murdered, I was told.
...

'The change must come,
The looting must stop.
This impunity must end,
If the nation must regain its strength.'
...

What, i ask is the cost of a Nigerian life?

Give ear to my words, o rulers,
Turn not thy ears away thou that art in power.
...

Conformists fall for anything,
Driven by others' opinions like a leaf in the wind,
The world is full of men who just want to blend in,
Men who would sell their voice even if the world'll come to ruin.
...

If Every time our souls are barren, we pick up our pen and write,
We would give up trying to be as famous as Wilbur and Orville Wright,
For whether we turn to the left or to the right,
Whether we end up being wrong or right,
...

The poor getting poorer, the rich getting richer,
Justice benched on the sidelines,
The lofty dreams of our youths they have marred,
While they live their lives daily with no dime,
...