We have come From over the years, Bearing sheaves of history History that was for us, a reality Reality, that remains more than a reality.
We have come From over the years, Bearing memories And lines engraved on the templates of our memories Refusing to be washed by time’s heavy rains.
We have come,
With irregular tattoos on our arms Carved with impatient tips of acrid swords From hands, too impatient to be schooled.
We have come, From the place where we gulped gallons of pain Sweetened with the ingredient of hopelessness.
We have come,
From dining with our enemies
Where we ate the grains of sorrow
Served in the bowl of shame.
Yet!
Our eyes remained alive.
We refused the comfort of bending our knees And remained unbroken. As our hearts pounded insolently Under the thin shield of our black skin.
We do not look like where we have been We do not look like where are coming from And we do not look like the battles we have fought We are the overcomers.
And today, With soles, firmly planted on the soil of freedom We gift you a better morrow Set on the sail of dawn.
Christy Chris is a young Nigerian poet and most of her works are deep expressions of the prevalent situation in her country and of life and the world at large. Her works depicts an unflinching and undaunting hope for change and growth. She hopes to touch and influence lives by her writings. Christy Chris was the winner of the Okigbo poetry competition (2014) and the winner of ‘Scribble the future’ (2016). She was also shortlisted as one of the 100 best young African poets in 2018. Her works are documented in her blog:abvnormal.wordpress.com