Poem by: Victoria Aderinto (Instagram: @ria_revolution)

Ka õ di

To the tales of love
Spread across a thousand seas till it reaches a thousandth hill
Cursing the hearts of frail mortals indebted,
Blessing the gallant with arid harvests and defense inbuilt .

Ka õ di
When soldiers come home to their beloved
Soaked in the sweet bitter sweat of their brothers blood,
Bearing tales of battle cries and the throbs of fear
Succumbed by ego and the taste of manliness in their lungs;on their tongues.

Ka õ di
To the ones whose lips are sealed before they merit to speak, the chance
Of duties and beauties never questioned.
The must of every mutter,
The muster of every mutter.

Ka õ di
To the she’s who see not the aforementioned victory
Nor the richly gay laughter of drunk husband’s and sons,
Who with ale stumble upon speech
And face the hunting shadow of words uttered in stupor.

Ka õ di
To our daughters who in softened pleas, beg
For stabbing deaths to invade their pains; Maidenhead
Snatched from the grip of their calicos,
Engaged to the fate of unborn sons.

Ka õ di
All is fair in love and war
To he who kills and he who is killed.
To she who wins and she who weans.
To all in one fate.
Ka õ di to 1967.

Ka õ di means ‘Goodbye’ in Igbo