'The Flowers and the Charlatans' by Ahmed Abdullah

The poem attacks the continuous trend of our people to focus on mediocrity while a lot is at stake especially on the matter of Boko Haram

The Flowers and the Charlatans

The moment was quite unripe

Without thought, pregnant with strife

Witnessed was horror as we began to wipe

Tears off the face of such a sour tragedy of life

They were for the Chibok maidens

Over five hundred days ago

They had their destinies embezzled

By psychopaths and idiotic nonentities

They had a nation bedazzled

As it struggled to unravel their identities

As well as those of the culprits

Over five hundred days ago

Apparent was the anguish

There was no solace

Nothing has come to vanquish

The melancholy from the face

Of the flowers that were plucked by imbeciles

From the Chibok gardens

Stronger than a mother’s anguish

Is a mother’s wrath

Incurable in each

When she witnesses a bloodbath

Of godless bastards

That portrays themselves as humans

Tue, I spit on their faces

Shame on us all

If the only price we can pay

Is to hang on to a fickle thread of hope

Shame on us all

As we allowed this decay

And watched lambs in lion’s clothing elope

With the flowers from our gardens

Shame on us all

While we all bickered

Our fickle heart wavering

Pointing fingers away from the obvious

Shame on us all

As we splintered along tribal borders

And festered the wounds of our cowering hearts

Shame on us

For thinking they are Muslims

For calling them Islamist

While the name that truly befits them

Is preserved for the devil alone

Shame on us five hundred times more

We go to sleep and wake

While the flowers were being deflowered

By thugs and beast

Who deserve a united fury

From a nation without a united jury

An empty bed

A cold stare

Lifeless pictures

Sleeping shadows

How can we measure the pain?

When our memories

Have been converted to numbers

Their laughter will echo without end

The heroes of chibok

Haunting the serenity of the night

Of those who contributed to their travails

I will call their captors for who they are

‘Evil strikes again’ I will say

Anytime they rear their head again

From the jungle they have sought refuge

I will call them

The Sambisa Charlatans

Ahmad Abdullah, AKA Ahmad Holderness is a medic and a writer who is about to be published. He is the director of Home Of Book foundations that seek to help Nigerian youths to read and write better. His writings can be viewed at and you can follow him on instagram at @home_of _books_foundation