The night of the fire!

Swords and chants were guests for the night,
On walls, blood would be used to write-
Inscriptions and slogan for sights.
Ahmed told me we were going for freedom,
To live with honour, and kill our boredom,
To tread paths of founders like Wole,
It was all I wanted till a request was made;
For flesh of she who ‘watched my infant head’.
Was given an option of acceptance or death.
I was just a boy trying to make an impact,
In a place I could not retract.

Little did I know, Gabriel followed us there,
The bonfire lighted his path like the sun,
I told him Ahmed and I were out for fun,
He knew I lied; He was used to my pun.
An eagle eye was their symbol for vision,
An image representing the club’s mission.
Three minutes was for me to make a decision.
Bang! came the sound of the loaded toy gun.

Everyone except me fled,
Was already cut seven times till I bled,
Gabriel lifted me and catered to my scars.
I almost said ‘yes’ to the request to be free;
But he was the freedom I sought.
‘Everyone’s friend’ was invited to arrest,
Ahmed and others, to ease the unrest.
That night is always one to remember-
Thirty-first of 2008 in December.

Tomide Abdul