The Walk

Spoken Word

Nobody knocked the door that brought down the house

But somebody struck the match that burnt up the mouse

Everyone wanted to accept the wealth they can condone

But little did they know they will have to walk alone.

Strike the shepherd, the flock disperses

Little lambs scouring for forage

Eating and hitting the roof like parasites

Men and women hungry for all ages.

We will die! We will die alone, they chorused

After we have walked together on this path

Each our part played to the tune of the gods

We will be the dancers, prancing stags like cats

The sport of immortals played with human lives.

But when the plague hit us hard,

And our streets were stripped naked as prostitutes

When the wind blew into our nostrils

The dust of the earth we have always known to hug

Will we choose to walk alone by choice?

Who will go for us?! I heard a shout

Who will go for us to cart all the bells?!

Our ears have become deaf from the silence

Of our hunger and the noise of our stomach

Our eyes have seen the glory of our folly

And we have been humbled by the price of life

That we have so much taken for granted

Who will go for us, I heard them ask again.

But the town crier calling for volunteers has

Built a bunker under piles of gold and he has

Stocked up his barns with tubers of new yam

He took away our liver and got foreign silver for himself

He bought our passports and auctioned our transports.

The town crier can’t shout no more, he’s pregnant.

So we walk alone, everyday and even now

We walk alone towards the bayonet of soldiers

In our beautiful rags we tag along with empty cans

And even soiled the earth with solid tears…

But no, we will never walk alone

The ties that bind us, though isolated, we will knit

The keys to every of our houses, though locked, we will oil

Over the noises of our generators we will sing:

We will never walk alone

We are united by separation

We are together in isolation

We are, bonded by the ties that break

Chat heads and ring tones like rainbows will speak hope

Zoom calls and flash gengs, like tear gas will smoke out our depressions

We will face our books in the chimes of time like tick tock

We have challenged ourselves to never be alone.

So we, will never, walk alone.

Words written by Deji Adeyemi.