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