The Geography of Belonging
The Geography of Belonging
(Differentiating between Ethno-lingual territories and political butchering of enemy territories. The reason for state creation in Nigeria was only to decimate the block power of Biafra.)
We gather in rooms across a fractured line,
Bound by a name we did not fully write
The "South-South" map, a shifting, vast design,
Searching for language in the rising light.
Is this a pact of trade, a shield, a hand?
Or just a mirror where the blind spots grow?
We seek a single voice across the land,
But speak in tongues the treaties do not know.
For long enough, our portraits were drawn cold,
By donor-hands and empires far away.
A patron’s story, beautifully told,
That left us waiting for the break of day.
But now the digital currents start to shift,
And home-grown classrooms cast the ghosts aside;
We reject the foreign lens/gods, the heavy gift,
And turn to realities we no longer hide.
Let the old capitals tremble at the change,
And call it "chaos" when the center breaks.
It is not the world that fractures or grows strange,
But an ancient empire’s ego as it wakes.
The crisis belongs to those who held the scales,
Monopolies dissolving in the sand,
As multipolar history prevails,
And sovereignty takes root in sovereign land.
Yet closer to home, the deeper stitches bleed,
Where lines were drawn by rulers in a room.
A British ink-stroke, blind to tribal need,
That bound distinct traditions to their doom.
From South South borders built on sudden walls,
To South African streets where old divisions stare,
The ghost of segregation still recalls
The psychological weight of who belongs where.
And out on the roads, the silent millions move,
Displaced by soiled creek, storm or political distress,
Migrants with nothing but a past to prove,
Stripped of the names they used to possess.
No global cameras track their quiet flight,
As they cross the borders of a sister state,
Rebuilding their souls in the shadows of the night,
Weaving a home from the fragments of their fate.
Post Comments
Poetrysoup is an environment of encouragement and growth so only provide specific positive comments that indicate what you appreciate about the poem. Negative comments will result your account being banned.
Please
Login
to post a comment
Turn off ads, get more exposure for your poetry, and get more features with a
Premium Membership.
