Today on Express~Shun and in celebration of the International Girl Child Day we have Egbele Theresa, a young Nigerian poet with the pen name –Enero Aji. Theresa has been writing for 3 years, although she had a few months break sometime last year, we are super glad to have her back to the League of Writers!
In this month of October, with the theme of Freedom, we asked Theresa to write and share a piece on what ‘Freedom’ means to her, and in what seemed like a jiffy, she had a lovely piece to offer!
From the springs of her beautiful mind, Enjoy her poem on Freedom:
I am free
Am I bound by chains?
I can put one feet beyond the other
And do not have to look over my shoulder
Dully anticipating
The whip-lash of the whip
You can say I am free.
I am free
I am told not to kill my sisters
I am told that it is a sin
To choose to stop breathing
I am told that my wrists will be tied
If I plunge my manhood between thighs
Unwanted
You can say I am free.
I am free
The sun beats against my skin
Black on black
As my tools dig into the soil
Pointless toil for a meal
Listening to my child squall for milk
In long dried breasts
Mumbling excuses as tears burn down his cheeks
You can say I am free.
I am free
Rock hard heels drumming
On the expressway
Lagos expressway
As I try to seduce weary traveler
To buy one more chips
Cleavage jiggling
Just one more!
My mouth watering at a mirage
Of cool shades and chilled water
You can say I am free.
Am I free?
Dropping votes
With a godly dose of prayer
Not for political parties
Nor prayer for the thieves
But I pray that my choices
Will not lead to tears and curses
You can say I am free.
© Enero Aji
About The Author: Ebele Theresa is a hundred level English student in the National Open University of Nigeria (NOUN). Before she started inking papers, she had a healthy dislike for English, especially the oral parts. According to her, it wasn’t because she was bad at it. She was quite good, but just didn’t believe one could love English and not be a teacher.
Poets like ‘Lere Oladitan, a celebrated professor in OAU and her colleagues (generally) inspire her greatly – (especially her crush..)
Here’s what Theresa has to say on what she hopes to achieve with her writing:
“I want to write something so good, something so thought provoking that I am recognized in every aspect of writing. I dream of my works to be something students appreciate and quote in class, something that springs out of teachers and fellow writers lips when they need to express their thoughts artistically.
I’m a person that lives off emotions, I believe it to be the center of the universe…. That, and money. I’m automatically friendly to anyone who’s a writer, even though people tag me as an Introvert. I love reading and listening to Rap, my favorite artist is NF, I have two astoundingly lazy cats who do not hesitate to remind me that I am very lucky to have them in my life.”
Yaaaaas! With just this peep into her mind, we’re sure you’ll agree with us when we earlier said it’s a beautiful one.
We look forward to seeing all Theresa’s lovely dreams turn reality!
You can reach Theresa via the following platforms:
egbelet4@gmail.com
Ig: eneroaji_theresa
Twitter: TheresaTheNerd