The size of my country
Is not the stretch of soil we boast of in maps,
Nor the dotted lines that cage us in pride.
The true size of my country
Is measured by where peace still breathes,
And if you check today,
It has grown terribly small.
I cannot journey north without tasting fear;
I cannot travel east on a Monday,
For silence rules the streets,
And the wind hums dirges of lost freedom.
Farmers no longer sow crops;
They are buried as seeds,
While cows, adorned with coats of arms,
Graze upon our grief.
Once upon a time, the size of my country was mighty,
A giant striding across the plains of hope.
Now it bends,
Shrinking beneath the weight of blood and betrayal.
Oh, how I long for peace to flow like a river.
Wide, deep, and endless;
That my country may stretch again,
Not in land but in love,
And in the laughter of her living sons.
#GodsonOsarenren #naijapoetryfest #poetry #nigeria #peace
