BAKASI STORM

We heard the sounds of strange gongs and steams
accompanied by the sounds of whistles
A merchant said the sounds weren't strange
but this feelings had never been familiar.

I heard the wails of 'newborns',
the sobs of the expectants,
the wails of the nursing,
but this feeling had never been familiar.

I heard the scathing sounds in the greens,
perceived and believed my intuitions
It was an ambush, we never expected,
this feelings had never been familiar.

We heard there was same ceremony in Lagos, Oyo and Ife
We heard their machines made the allied forces wild
And it set Owu ablaze,
But this feelings had never been familiar.

We heard they came with a new religion
that they came like a thief in the middle of the night
This feelings had never been familiar

We watched the villages washed and wiped away
by the Bakasi storms,
the market places seized.
New goods of tin and iron ore planted in it
We knew that was the onset,
Yet this feelings had never been familiar

We watched King Jaja's throne overruled
King Jaja expelled and exiled
Lolo's hut was shattered
Princes stolen
This experience had never been familiar

We heard the stolen became slaves,
but they were said to serve our nation
Oh, buffalo soldiers!
Our pride, disgraced
Our freedom, trampled upon
This experience had never been familiar

Alas! The pride of my fatherland
Stolen, never to be seen again
Now, it's a strange land we dwell!
Yes! This feelings become reality.