WE WALK AMONG THE DEAD: tribute to the victims of the Bristow Helicopter crash

WE WALK AMONG THE DEAD
(To Those We Just Lost in – BRISTOW HELICOPTER CRASH IN LAGOS: 12082015)

Ukpong said they saw the helicopter crash
Into the Lagoon while they were fishing in the area:
We entered the water at 7 a.m.
And recovered the bodies at about 10.30 a.m.
The bodies were brought to the shore at 10.45 a.m.
Sources said the white man was the helicopter’s pilot,
While the black man was the co-pilot.
The corpses left Oworosoki Police Station at 11.45 a.m.
Six souls died and six survived,
Leaving us all in awe – horrified.

Mourning the manner in which they were taken,
These scenarios won’t enable us to awaken,
Our destiny may be delayed, but never denied,
Cold teardrops will be harvested in time.

The sightless seem to grin in our silence
Knowing our grim fate in this painful alliance,
Voyage by road is chanced by a tanker on fire,
Making your terminus an ephemeral desire.

We served too many years of ignoble sentence,
Dragged through this despair without essence
We now laugh in sombre whispers in our parks,
As the government hardly ever barks.

My country is a prisoner of my heart. There I sleep,
But this copter dive into Lagos lagoon makes me want to weep,
This tragedy leaves my soul as heavy as bricks,
As blood flows, our silent screams simmer and prick.
My mind is black, our minds blank. We sauntered home.
We only have flying coffins exhumed from distant catacombs.

We keep on walking as if we are already dead,
Losing steam, we stream along with steps of lead
Not knowing where we are going, we keep walking,
Sinking deeper into the ground and not talking.

A charade is on, with pools of blood at our soulless feet,
My saline tears cascade in symphony with our woes,
If I return to my Duke Town, I may be kidnapped by foes.
I want to be free and safe in the country of my birth,
As a glacier, a frozen territory with only girth.
In the attics of my mind, I refuse to appreciate this loss,
But God is and will always be the boss.

Orok Otu Duke
Duke Town

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