Nigeria bleeds
News of your deaths spread like wildfire without a fighter
Without saying goodbye
You kiss mother death
Adieu!
Breadwinners gone too soon
Hope of generation faded
Moanings of the wounded hearts
Black Wednesday, farewell
Mighty heroes
Obeying the clarion call
Died on active service
Adieu!
We’ll remember your labour
The toilings in the deep
Burning the midnight candles till day breaks
Enduring pain for gain
Lo! Death came knocking
Took you from us without a word
Adieu!
Oh death! Where is your victory?
Our beloved compatriots swallowed by grave
Wailings of motherhood
Shattered dreams
in the cold hands of death
Alas! Fatherland took you unawares
Adieu!
Dedicated to the prospective corps members who lost their lives in a ghastly motor accident that occurred along Abaji/Kwali Expressway on Wednesday, 28 July, 2021.
– The poet, Arogbonlo Israel, is a journalist with one of Nigeria’s most widely read newspapers.
