August 19 Poem by Olalekan Joseph Ajayi

We drifted like automatons
Towards chants of Aluta Continua
In the August drizzle
Like warriors in search of war
We raised youthful voices
In battle cry
As comrades recited verses
From advocates of old
And new librettos
Brandished sticks sought to upturn
Decrees by the bespectacled dictator
The morning sun defied the rain
Warming the blood in childlike veins
That took the form of apprentice soldiers
Untrained feet trudged outside the citadel
Mounting commandeered trucks like chariots
We charged towards the despot's palace
Leaving behind coward comrades
Who said it was not our war
The tyrant set his rabid legion upon us
Outnumbered they rained pellets
Felling tens like soldiers do in war
Dashing through wet bushes
The murderers slaughtered more
Weary bodies quivered in the deluge
For we had smelt death in the forest

Sullen faces returned to the citadel
Unable to tell the tales of quick deaths
Warriors we were but this…
This was not our war
Victory was most uncertain