Silence had always been my hallmark,
A hallmark that never made a significant mark.
My eyes had always spied around curiously,
Searching for relevant answers desperately.

My ears twitched to the voices of agitation,
But my lips remained glued amidst the exasperation.
I wasn’t reluctant to speak, don’t get me wrong,
The words just resisted escaping my lips.

Even when I witnessed children sitting on bare floors to acquire knowledge,
My teeth clasped, holding my tongue in bondage.
Those children were the same ones we called our future leaders,
But from what I saw, they could never succeed our present leaders.

I was supposed to speak when I saw the vegetation set ablaze for no reason,
Maybe I didn’t because I was optimistic that they were going to be replaced.
Unfortunately, the once green scenery became barren and looked worse each dry season.
The rains ceased, paving way for the sky to unleash its heat in replace.

I observed young people flaunting their degrees,
After a quadrennium of constant learning sprees.
Their enthusiasm suddenly diminished,
When they couldn’t acquire a job with what they had accomplished.

My lips were still shut even when I spotted people drowning in penury,
And choking on the fear of its existence in their entire generation for another century.
The absence of bread to appease their starvation and water to dampen their throats,
Didn’t even conceal their lack of shelter and deprivation of decent clothes.

I still remained silent when the bumpy roads caused my head to wiggle,
Giving me a blurry vision of the brown pool lying in the heart of the road.
Certainly, no one swam in this pool and its splash only made legs to jiggle.
Sadly, carrying gory memories of crashes on those paths was definitely a load.

I failed to hold anyone accountable,
Though the vices had become uncountable.
The patronage of hard drugs wasn’t the only problem,
But armed robbery had also become an emblem.

I never believed in hearsays because they barely carried credibility,
So when I heard the sick perished due to inadequate health facilities,
I didn’t believe because I knew the system was tasked with a responsibility,
To ensure the avoidance of such fatalities.
I was proven wrong, when I noticed that responsibility was neglected.

After witnessing all these misfortunes,
My voice still refused to be heard.
But unknown to me, my silence was breeding a lump in my throat.
I could no longer swallow even the tiniest of hitches.
When I tried to, my throat ached and became sorer.

The antidote for this sudden illness, I found,
Was to speak and no longer remain mute about the complications surrounding me.
This was the only remedy that could cure the pain in my throat and the one in my heart.
I have left the culture of silence behind me.
And I am hopeful that speaking up will not only dissolve the lump in my throat,
But also, the existence of cruel predicaments.