Saturday, March 8, 2014

human dogs! (Poem number 62 by Ojijo)

(extracted from Fireplace Stories: Ojijo's Performance Poems. Poem .2012. ISBN.978-9966-123-17-6)

62.      human dogs!


 

i swore as i wore my clothes today,
to tell the best story ever,

 

to this great audience of sorts
but i cannot perform my piece,

 

because i want to invite a friend of mine,
to tell us what happened;

 

please come up and talk to us,
tell us what happened my friend,

 

please tell us what happened,
remind us  of how they approached,

 

we know the  signboard made you to expect a beast,
and it made you to watch out for a human dog,

 

you saw neither of those,
not any of the two did you see?

 

tell us how they approached you,
the two men, smartly dressed,

 

did they make you anxious or fidgety?
did they make you loose guard and feel gay?

 

tell us the story,
say it again and again and again,

 

we want to know how they asked for the direction,
to a place in your direction,

 

did they smile so innocent?
did they behave so gently?

 

tell us of the beautiful stories,
of the small talk,

 

tell us of their hurry to get to their destination,
the hurry that disarmed your guard,

 

retell us again of their gay laughter,
as you shared how your day was,

 

oh how natural they were,
tell us how normal, how natural they looked,

 

tell us of their flattery and generous comments,
the looks and lusts, the sighs and clicks

 

tell us of your “oh really, thank you so much”
tell us of your, “oh, you are full of nice words”

 

tell us of the darkness that brought you together,
unity in the face of the enemy,

 

tell us of the immediate change in tone,
say it again, the husky voices,

 

tell us of the rough hands tearing your clothes,
of the cold hands on your warm body,

 

tell us of the fright and fear you felt,
as they pushed you tot eh corridors,

 

tell us of your distress, your misery
what betrayal you felt, oh how you groaned,

 

tell us of the threats as you repulsed their attempts,
tell us of the nausea as they pressed against your person,

 

tell us of their repeated slaps
say again how violently they shook your limp body,

 

tell us my daughter,
tell us how they forcefully penetrated your youth, your pride,

 

tel us how you lost your self-esteem
your poise and your pride

 

say it again and again without shame,
how they penetrated you with vigor


tell us how they sweated and grunted like pigs,
how they were at it again and again and again,

 

tell us of their foul smell on your mouth
say how they suffocated your dignity,

 

tell us how you broke to run but your feet could not move,
how they caught up with you,
kicked you to the ground,
pinned you to the ground,
and had turns at you, shifting and changing,


tell us how you tried to cry,
but all your strength was drained,


tell us of the abuses they threw at you,
the insults they poured on you


tell us if the saliva spat on you, as you lay helpless,
tell us of the final kick that made you lifeless,

 

then tell us of the long wait by the wayside,
of the passersby glancing with suspicion,


tell us of the biting cold and dusty ground,
tell us of the mosquitoes and the hard ground,
 

now tell us of the policemen, who found you,
tell us of how they came strolling,


tell us of their mischievous glances,
their embarrassing questions,


tell us of your tears at their lack of understanding
tell us of your hurting at their lack of feelings


then tell me of the slow and endless ride to the hospital,
as they told you to thank your god and stars,
that you did not die


tell us of how you struggled to block their careless talk,
how you struggled to block the pain in the inside of you,


tell us of your friends and relatives,
tell us how they were choked and shocked


tell us of their dismay and unbelief
their ridicule and gossips


that cut deeper into the wound not yet healed,
their talk that was like salt into the injury


tell us of how you felt like committing suicide,
how you planned and schemed,


tell us how difficult it was for you,
tell us how difficult it has been for you


then tell us of the happiness that you have today,
that we have come to condemn this disgraceful act
 
 

 (Ojijo is an ICT lawyer, author of 31 books, performance poet, armature pianist, luo culture expert, business feasibility study and financial projections consultant, public speaker and coach:+256776100059: ojijo@allpublicspakers.com)

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