Forgotten Dairies

I Heard -By Seun Elere

I heard her say to me, we were taken, tortured and cut down in our primes and our abductors and slave masters returned bearing religion to help you forget.

Published

6 months ago

November 4, 2023

Seun Elere

I heard the cry, the whimper, the moan and the whisper across the river banks

I heard her voice, just like a piercing spear fresh from the red hot coal slashing through my thought, say: ‘how can this river ever be clean with the filth that lies underneath.

I heard her say to me: many of us never made it out of here alive.

Even when I could only see the swift movements in the mangroves that surround the riverbank, I heard

Even through the chirping of the birds, I heard

I heard because every wave and ripples share tales of pains, agony and regrets of the young boys and girls whose bones, even after many centuries, are still fresh beneath the river.

I heard her say to me, we were taken, tortured and cut down in our primes and our abductors and slave masters returned bearing religion to help you forget.

I heard her say:
move on from the hurt but keep us in memory
Heal but don’t forget
Pray but also watch

I heard her say, I am free in this land of no return but I worry for you for you live yet in bondage.

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Related Topics:Life Poem

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Seun Elere

Jeff Okoroafor is a leading member of a new generation of civic advocates for government accountability and democratic change in Nigeria. The Citizen Affairs Initiative is a citizen-driven governance initiative that enhances public awareness on critical issues of service quality in Nigeria. It encourages citizens to proactively seek higher standards from governments and service providers and further establishes new discussions in communities about the standards that citizens should expect and deserve from those they have given their mandates. Jeff is the Managing Director of SetFron Limited, a multimedia development company that is focused on creative and results-driven web, mobile app, and ERP software solutions. He is the co-founder of the African Youths Advancement and Support Initiative (AfriYasi), a non-governmental not-for-profit organisation that provides tertiary education scholarship for young people from low-income homes in Nigeria. He is a Fellow of the Young African Leaders Initiative and the United Nations World Summit Awards. A Strategic Team member of the Bring Back Our Girls movement, and a member of the National Technical Committee on the Establishment and Management of Missing Persons Database in Nigeria. Jeff holds a Bachelor and Postgraduate diploma degrees in Computer Science, and a Certificate in Public Administration from Ghana Institute of Management and Public Administration, GIMPA.