By Victor Uzodinma Chukwuma
18. Beyond slavery
Canes twisted man off my back,
Ripping open any doubt from my soul.
Chains wrote off my existence
Along the route to be the beast
That tills and dungs.
Time ate my name and tongue,
Leaving not a relic.
Night and days saw me
Vainly beckon knives to the yoke.
Now, I have taken an oath
Between oaks, among lions,
Am rather dead than let my flesh
Grease again those labyrinthine thongs
That castrate humanity for men
19. Come Back
There you lay in the earthen crypt,
My good one,
My watershed,
The breeding piece,
The moon in my night.
Not fate,
The black dignity
You would remain.
But you set at dawn,
Not even twilight,
And never saw dusk.
How long will you remain?
Eternity? Don’t.
Stop my bleeding eyes,
You have kept us long waiting.
The morning you left without bye,
Our door was ajar the day long
longing for the sweet sound of your steps.
Victor Chukwuma, Professor of Physics, renowned for his immense contribution to the development of Astronomy and Space Science in Nigeria, is a Fellow of the Astronomical Society of Nigeria and the Nigerian Institute of Physics.