We Have Become Ghosts: Poem by Ohikhuare Isuku

We died yesterday,
Even before our conception,
Even before our consciousness
Took flight to maturity

In our womb,
Our forebears stabbed us
And spilled our blood
To wet their paths

Then, they stuffed us
Like cotton wool
Into one wooden casket,
And dug for us a shallow grave

But now, we have become ghosts
With fiery eyes and breaths like dragons;
Our deafening cries shall
Rent the air from dusk to dawn;
We shall hurt these climes
Until our ghosts sublime.