YOU ARE STILL THERE

The Nigerian civil war, also called the Nigeria-Biafra war is a sad but important event in the history of the great nation called Nigeria.The battles were fought mostly within the Biafra heartland. The war ended in the defeat of Biafra in 1970 after a gruesome thirty months during which many lives were lost, and the Biafrans suffered untold hardship due to hunger caused by economic blockade of the region.

Hilltop Enugwu Ngwuo overlooking the coal city of Enugu was a strategic war front during the advance of the federal troops. After the end of the war I lived in one of the colonial bungalows on top of the hill 'Enu Okwuneghe' Ngwuo. While digging up the garden in front of my house I struck some objects - two rusty helmets with holes in them, and a rifle magazine.

Being a veteran of the war, these were not just ordinary objects to me, they emitted a whole lot of emotions in me, driving me on a mental roller-coaster on reverse, replaying some of the numerous gruesome and near death experiences I went through.

I put up a stake and hung the objects in front of the house. I sat in the garden most evenings after work staring at the objects. It was during one of such evenings the following words formed on my mind.

YOU ARE STILL THERE

The battle’s been fought,

many souls lost.

only scares remained

no victor, no vanquished.

but you are still there,

telling the gory story bare

Of terrors

and horrors.

rust-infested riffle

magazine, twin helmet

with punctured crowns.

long busted and weathered by time.

helmets, worn by brave hearts

once upon a war

for survival

between brothers.

riffle magazine,

once upon a battle

held by young braves

who’s lives to a meaningless war gave.

blasted to bits

by shrapnel.

your owners are gone

but you are still here

telling the gory story bare.

of terror and horror,

booms! Whams!

and bangs!

Ike chime. Nov 1985