If only you had asked me,
Just one more time,
About how I feel,
Maybe, maybe,
Just maybe…
I had died, a long time ago,
I will taste death today,
I will die again,
Tomorrow.
The world runs too fast,
And everyone forgot to care,
My heart screams out for help,
But humans never listened, no one!
When my grades sank into earth,
They said; no jobs without some A’s,
Ha! But F, E, F, F sit all over my papers,
Let me die, these matter less in the pit.
When men sex my sisters in our home,
With me and brother stealing at night,
Just to eat and feed our ailing mum,
If only you had asked and helped out,
Maybe sister would have tested HIV (-),
Maybe brother would not have been shot.
I take codeine and scam foreigners,
I scratch my head and sniff in pain,
The law that steals stole what I stole,
Since there is nothing left, let me die,
Let me die, these matter less in the pit.
When I was about to take the pill,
Before I jumped into the lagoon,
Heaven made some humans say, “hi.”
They asked how I felt, more than once,
They made me speak,
And now its over.
Author: Damilola Kareem
Damilola Kareem is a graduate of Accounting from Obafemi Awolowo University. He is a strong advocate of: humanity above all. He uses poetry to get his message out to the world.