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Fun Awon Eniyan Mi ("For My People")

4/25/2020

5 Comments

 
Picture
By: John Obayomi, 8th Grade

​Fun Awon Eniyan Mi,

Whose artifacts were stolen by the British,
In the Kingdom of Benin,
When they arrived suddenly,
And killed our people,
Speaking a rubbish language here,
And with a nonsense accent there.


Fun Awon Omo Jesu,
Where there is also discrimination,
“Can you imagine?”
The Omo Cele’s,
The Ogo Kerubu’s,
And the Pentecostali’s,
All Fighting to be the best among the races,
With different cultures and traits.
Where church is life, all trying to make it to Paradise

Fun Awon Eniyan Mi
Black and Brown, Beige and Ivory,
Coffee and Mocha, Peanut and Hickory,
Cinnamon and Brunette, Ginger Bread and Syrup
So many different tones for one group of people,
Certain ones seen almost as high and mighty as a steeple.
The teacher told them that they need to shut up and speak English and that they should practice their accents every night.
But then again who asked you to bring us here.
I say again, nonsense people.

Fun Awon Omo Yoruba Mi,
Who are believed to do voodoo,
But are actually mostly Christian,
We are risen and stand upright to defy the works of the Oyinbo’s,
We are not illiterate, but one of the most educated groups of immigrants,
We are not poor, but one of the richest tribes in the country.

Fun Awon Omo Naija,

Who are seen as dull,
Don’t sull,
Go on, be great, you got this,
Show the world who you are,
Tell them say, “I am the star.”
The most confident people, we will not wither, nor will we falter.
Because We Are Nigerians.

5 Comments
Maryanne
5/1/2020 03:21:31 pm

Hello John,

You brought the pride you feel in Nigeria to life in this poem, and you did so with great passion.

I hope you will continue to create poetry... you seem to me to have a real gift!

Maryanne Sea
Portugal

Reply
SPF
5/3/2020 10:51:42 am

Wonderful job explaining your deep emotions.
Keep up your beautiful writing!

Reply
Ms. Dominique (APES)
5/20/2020 08:28:04 am

This poem does a great job of capturing your deep feelings of pride for your culture and thoughts/feelings of the colonizers. Keep up the great work!

Reply
Ryan Miller
5/20/2020 10:48:59 am

Hi John,
Great poem! Your descriptions of skin tones in stanza three were intriguing! I especially liked how you started with the adjectives before saying what idea they were connected to. That created suspense for me! Keep up the good work and keep writing!

Reply
Jubola
12/13/2020 08:39:11 pm

This is it . I almost cried reading this ,thank you for teaching people who we are and what were not ,it really touched me .

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