The Jerusalem Annex | Jude Chukwuemeka Muoneke

The land is weeping
Who will redeem us?
Men slaughtered in battle
Restless ghost crying and smiling.

Oh! Great land of Wukari
The Jerusalem Annex
Inhabiting friends and foes
From North, South, East and West.

Kwararafa Kingdom
Land of fearless warriors
Their men and women are lions
Bravery smiles at them.

Boundaries and walls threatened
Strangers in fear
Warriors in fame
The enemy is within.

Nights threatened
With crying guns
Legs on their heels
Sleep an illusion to man
Day and Nights
Fear the strangers companion.

Aren't we brothers?
From the descendant of Abram?
Israelites not Ishmaelites
Why not bury the hatchets?

Peace becomes an illusion
If we can't bend our swords
and arrows,
Pride a destructive force.

Peace a banquet for all
Crisis an enemy of peace
Reconcile the fracas,
No Victor, no vanguish.

Poet's note: This poem is dedicated to the Kwararafa Kingdom, Wukari in Taraba state. This kingdom has experienced a lot of crisis from her neighboring states. The land also experienced religious crisis that disrupted the peace of the people in by and large.