MURDERED BOYS
written by: Chanda Chongo
Paka paka paka…
Paka paka paka…
These are the lyrics
to the bitter melodies
that hover above the heads
of fatherless boys.
War is when you
paint the colors of Ubuntu
in the hole of a gun
and pretend to
not knowing the colors
of fate.
And to kill a boy
is to hang in his heart;
a burnt photograph
of his murdered father.
To kill a boy
is to set on fire
the city in his body
while showing him
the way to his mother’s grave.
For he shall never cease
to wear sorrow around his neck
until every flesh
on his body turns into a book.
This is how fatherless boys
are murdered in my hometown.
Let us pray-
Angels East
Angels West.
I bring forth;
bones and garments
of boys whose hearts
turned into graves
before their fathers
melted into dirges.
perch on your wings
their shadows
and mold them together
with the face of heaven
where the Lord
preaches beautiful stories
to murdered boys.
Angels East
Angels West,
this prayer I chirp.
Amen!
NOTE FROM THE AUTHOR:
Ubuntu: Humanity
Some of his works have appeared on Lunaris Review, Youth Shades and FunDza. He has also featured in anthologies and Issues mainly compiled or initiated by Nigerian Editors.
Well, he believes; not even the sky is the limit for him.
- MURDERED BOYS - January 20, 2018
