#20BornoAbductedGirls (poetry)

…by Poetic Tee ‘Here, take a sip” 

Once when we were young
I was taught to count
From one up to a hundred
Each of them numbers had
A symbolic value for me.

One stands for Allaah (God)
Two for excited lovers
Three is for a first born
And four, the earth corners.

So it goes, but for a number
Tried much as I could
To identify it with something
It refused to bulge, represent.

Now, it stands clear for all
With a conscience to see
That a girl-child is to cherish
And a virgin is to pride upon.

Not 1, 2, 6 or even a dozen
Imagine one such of yours
Forcefully taken, to be-kept
Against all known true creeds.

A mother wails "My daughter!"
A father who, rarely in tears
Stands helpless not knowing
Where to start, or even how.

Poor souls would want to ask
For which crime's the cruelty
Just like baby daughter of old
Queried why she was buried alive.

Day light that is comforting
Is terror filled in their hearts
What evil then harbors the night
As it comes visiting, numbing.

Someone care less, goes asleep
His sheep's not of the abducted
Another stands in prayers, in a
No concentration supplications.

What could have gone wrong?
As neighbours go about the day
As if frightened souls aren't left
At the mercy of their captors.

Think you all not, today it's them
Tomorrow might be your turn
How'd you cope if left alone
With a situation so compounded?

So what if that's how he behaved
When it was another's cry, ringing
True death isn't a cease in breath
It's but to walk dead as a spirit.

O, still want to know the number
That waited till now to take up its
Stand on the no-ovation podium
20 is it, just in case you do care.

And to the #20BornoAbductedGirls
My sincere, prayers go out to you
Whoever you are, wherever you may be
May God Help you in this trauma of today.


©® Tijjani M. M.
20142102@18:09:19
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