Muted

I won't cry
Lest tears erode the glaze off my gleaming Face
How could I betray my pain
Let them see the Mammoth of my losses
I dare not tell
Of my Big Chicken-hearted Brothers
Who could broker Order on the Tables of Power
But they say nothing
So I ask, "Who am I to say anything"?
Muted,will I always be.


If I am frequently stirred
Not by lulling melodies of the Avian
But claps of Hammer, clatter of Scissors
The intrusions of Nomad Cobblers and Tailors
Perusing deep into my Ancestral Reserves
Undisturbed, Unafraid, Untouchables
Unaware of the Abattiors of Jos
Or the Minefields of Madalla
Where Doras' dismembered Cadaver lay Unmourned
Forever Muted, though she had tons to say.


Even when you burn my Cross; call me Infidel
I won't dare stutter
Am not even Christ-like
Least, not by your Immaculate standards
I was only born in the same NIGER-AREA
Not Niger-Delta; a strong believe in equity
Yet, if my Wails are inconsequential
And a Compromise with you, denied
Then I shall be almost content
And very Muted will I always be.


Or what would you have me say?
When you have fattened from my Oily Teats
Like a chubby-kid, on my Bossom you now shit
Every debt of favour need repay
Maybe these are your Amortizations
So I'll forget the Proverbialization
Placing my bets on our Diverse Cultures
If being different makes me Inferior
You desrve preference for being Superior
So Muted, will I always be.


I will not growl
And let them Know my Blood is a Gorrilas'
Boiling in the Bellows of Retribution
Or let them see my Hackles
Lest they misplace my subdued Anger for Fear
I will overcome these Shattering Explosions just like before
Recall; the travails of my Limb-less Uncle
Stumps- product of crude amputations
Seared by heat from merciless Sharia- Blades.


I will Endure through
I will Drum harder
Haggling on the price of Reason
Struggling to keep our Intellect non- Auction
Inspired; the Blood of Martyrs
Puzzled; your Petulance and lack of Compunction
Yet if asked, Why?
The Smiles in the Face of Adversity
I will mumble dope-ishly
That I am a Nigerian who has Nothing to Say.