Once we were slaves
Sold to the tragedy of life
Beaten by the rain of sorrow
Sailed on the boat of difficulty
Lost in the forest of fear
Found in the middle of confusion
Where frustration became our new names

Our minds were chained with lies
So we sang songs with bitter lyrics
Tears dripping from our eyes for our mothers
We danced the dance made for our fathers
And fought battles with defeated weapons

But only the brave lived to tell the stories
Of how we watched our sons sold to slavery,
Taken for hard labor, trained to be warriors
Who grew up to kill their own

We watched our daughters getting raped
Our wives taken by other men and our children died
We longed for freedom, like a child for its mother’s breastmilk
But slavery taught us that true strength
Is not in defeating the weak


Gabriel Dkings hails from Benue state. He is currently based in Suleja, Niger state. He is also a writer, spoken word poet, and a creative mind.


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