Calls of the River (At the confluence of River Nun & River Benue)
by Martin Ijir
Comrades communicate with Middle Belt warriors.
Here, we either swim or drown.
Our blood curdles at the suppressor’s carnage.
In our country, at our home, we are milked dry
of farms and resources by herdsmen.
The goons of these cahoots label us social terrorists.
Their incisive crimes forage our states
beyond the walls of these riverbanks.
The maiden spirits of reprisal call,
like water’s foam, a tornado wind.
They seek young warriors to engage,
like Orkar and Bori, to oust oppression’s spirit.
This pandemic can end when we end the saboteurs
down across the rostrum of the far north,
where oligarchs’spells drown their stooges.
If these lines reach you as a kindred spirit,
bear in mind the lengthy spirits of the river waters.
To the face, it glooms endlessly with surprise—
a tactical strategy for bringing down a strawberry.
The voice of Okara will be held accountable,
like light coming forth from a hidden bushel.
Martin Ijir is a social entrepreneur, teacher, mystic, poet, humanist, and social activist. He is the author of Jeremiad: Sepulchral Energies. His work has appeared in ANA Review, LangLit Journal, Rock Pebbles Journal, Azahar Spanish Magazine, Arcs Prose-Poetry Magazine, and Amritanjali Quarterly Journal. He won the 2020 Arcs Prose Poetry Award and is a two-time recipient of the Premio Internazionale d’Onore at the Sentieri Diversi Associazione Culturale Poetry Prize (Italy, 2018 & 2019). His honours include the World Icon of Peace Award, the International Ambassador of Peace Award, and the Literature Award from the World English Writers Union, India. He is a Fellow of Global Arts in Medicine (UK).
