by Soyombo Ayomikun
Once upon a time
A very great man lived
Thought to be the wisest of all times
The wildest thinker of all generations
To Him was brought a woman caught in adultery
Screaming as she enjoyed what some tagged ‘sin’
From her fountain of pleasure she was dragged by a crowd
To the great man for judgement,then subsequent stoning
On reaching the great man,He bent & scribbled on the sand
Then said ‘he who hath no sin should cast the first stone’
The crowd sublimed like smoke
From the tip of a quenched matchstick previously aflame
They disappeared one after the other
Into dark crevices to go kiss their sins a little more
Shaking,the woman found redemption
In eyes that chose not to condemn
Eyes that made her realize
That no human is indeed better than the other
Gay,straight,or even the saintly Pope
We all are beings seeking to feed & be fed with love
Sad Nigeria decided to plunge
Into gray murky waters of discrimination
Against hearts choosing tenets by which to stand
Without an intention of harming another
Embracing a religion that loads them with joy
A belief that transforms their worlds into one gayly colourful
Religion is sacred,culture sweet
But the convictions of others shouldn’t be suffocated
By exaggerated hypocritical displays of attempts at saving the world
I think I should even ask; ‘Who made you God?’
The gay has not come with arrows of death
With which to pierce our already blackened hearts
Neither has the gay come with bullets
With which to rip out our guts
The gay is a brother seeking to be heard
A friend seeking to be loved
A cousin desiring to be smiled at
Colleague needing a warm embrace
Not a soul to be convicted as a killer
To be thrown behind bars for years
It’s time our false saintly display met its death
Time to tear our aprons of condemnation
If a gay smiles at you smile back
Don’t frown like you’re heaven’s agent sent to destroy the ailing
Refute laws establishing their incarceration
As they haven’t hurt you nor drawn blood from your veins
This beautiful family we are will never find joy
If openly we tag innocent souls ‘outcasts’
Gay, straight or even the saintly Pope
We are born to live & let others likewise live.
Dr. Soyombo Ayomikun works at the Omotosho Power Plant in Ondo State. He tweets from @alabaster85. He can be reached at [email protected].
The opinions expressed in this article are solely those of the author.
