Our Peace in Pieces

Our peace has blown apart
Like the clay pot that fell
From the top of a lofty height
Our peace – a haven of bloodshed
Our peace – our wealth of humiliation

Integrity, not a moral steadiness
Where honesty guides
The heart of the nation
But integrity is maiming the truth
Integrity is inequality and corruption
Integrity now the art of pretence

Democracy, not for equity and fairness
But the manipulation of electoral processes
And the government of the gluttonous high chiefs
Where the masses are held captive
In meanness and meagreness

Three sacred cords bind our souls
Like the fetters of bronze
Freedom that ensnares our liberty
Peace that embraces bloodshed and
Unity that ruins our togetherness

Peace itself is not absence of violence
Where things are in perfect order
Peace is suppression of violence
With shooting and maiming
And jailing of the vanguards of peace
Peace is rape in various forms
Peace is hostility and violence
Peace is destruction and death!

Truly, peace can never be peaceful
If our minds embrace grudges
And our minds mind no other minds
In sharing and caring
Hearts that abhor pardon
But only harbour the sword of vengeance
Never sleep with all eyes closed

Let us mend our pieces of peace
With the fingers of the Potter
That the peace we daily preach
May remain the beacon of our daily peace.

Olatubosun David is a Nigeria writer and poet. A graduate of Rufus Giwa Polytechnic, Owo, Ondo State (2013). Currently works in Achievers University, Owo. Ondo-State, Nigeria Read other articles by Olatubosun.