Stretched Too Thin by Ogwuche Rapheal Eneojo

Stretched Too Thin

I wish I could write and bring out these feelings the way I feel them,

I wish I could flow with words and make you bleed fresh tears,

I wish I could bring out these feelings, Express them the way it happens in my mind,

But this individual lost it.

He lost it long ago when he was told to shut up before he even formed the words,

When he was told to stay still before the music even started, 

When he was told to not think about it even before he wished for a wish,

When he was told not to complain even when the shoes was two sizes too small and pinches,

When he was told to sit inside and he watched the order kids play through the cracked opening of the window,

When he was compared with every other kid in the street that scream  “hate my parents” at the school play ground when no one was listening,

When he was told “keep it to yourself,your opinion do not matter anyway”,

When he was told to respond “yes sir” to every high-toned sentence thrown his way,

When he was told to like what every other person likes,

When he was told not to point at nice clothes in line at market stalls,

When he was told to be a man even before he knew he was human and could pronounce his own name,

When he was told not to look his elders in the eye and bow his head in shame when being spoken to,

When he was told to keep quiet when he was just nodding to the beat of the music,

When you told him to put on his neck tie when he doesn’t even own a buttoned down shirt. And now you complain about his communication? 

When it was you, you who pointed him in all these directions, told him every shoe must be worn with socks.

He accepted and stayed in line. To his own self you made him a foe and disposed everything he stood for and stole his life.

He lost who he was and became who you wanted when you told him he should be seen and not heard.

Tell me, what other response do you want from someone who only knows how to nod his whole life, perhaps a screaming note like this one?

Bio: Ogwuche Rapheal Eneojo is a 23 year old Nigerian poet.