"Tell Zuma she's a black" by Obochi Moses

O my sweet Zuma

How could you forget so soon

The memories of how we sat

Under the Dabino tree

On the green plains of the savannah

With shriveled winds

Of the lofty Sahara sipping through

Pores of our souls?

Those times we appreciated

The gods for having made us black

And that is what we truly are.

Those times we looked into the depths

Of each other’s eyes and loved

The inherent beauties of a culture

That’s simple, naïve, vibrant and dovetailed

In the love that’s found in you and me.

O Zuma my priceless pearl

How could you forget so soon

The times we sat under the moon

Absolved in tales of the warriors?

How they died so many times without dying

To live in the immortality of the gods…

And you say ‘’I can’t remember these anymore.’’

How could you forget the fingers

You once relished and licked

After dipping it into the soups of the ancestors

And you say ‘’I can’t remember the ingredients that

spice my origin and background anymore.’’

O Zuma my sugared banana

The chocolate ebony color of your skin

Still catches my eyes with a deep thrust

Only for you to soil it in lust

To say ‘’I don’t like all that’s within,

the within of what makes you to be an African.’’

How could you forget the coconut oil

We used to rub on our skins

And made its beauty reflect

the natural splendors of a people

And you say ‘’I’m not Black.’’

Obochi Moses, born 2nd of February, 1987, is a 300-level student of the Department of Theology Good Shepherd Major Seminary Kaduna, Faculty of Theology Pontifical Urbanian University Rome training for the Catholic Priesthood under the aegis of the Catholic Archdiocese of Kaduna.