The Crown And The Chain Poem by Emeka GOC

The Crown and the Chain

The crown proclaimed a mission to uplift,
A noble burden wrapped in moral thrift.
But villages burned beneath the Union Jack,
And justice wore a rifle on its back.

They taught of freedom in the classroom's light,
While jailing those who dared to speak that right.
Two faces: one reciting human grace,
The other tightening shackles into place.

Through decades of the Ekumeku war,
And Mau Mau echoes rising from afar,
Still Africa rose; from forest, coast, and plain
To break the sermon and unmake the chain.

They blindfolded history, choosing not to see
The fierce collective power of Igbo dignity,
Forgetting how the Aba Women's Riot of twenty-nine
Broke imperial Hubris and rewrote the line.