So, I’m in church
Lifting up hands and giving praise to my God
In that sweet moment of worship,
I feel happier than ever
So at peace
My feeling of contentment so real and unforced
Suddenly, there’s a commotion
There are men at the door with ruthless weapons
‘Ah!’ I think
‘They’ve come for us too’
The men our Holy Book call “the children of the bondwoman”
The men we call our brothers
They’ve been on rampage for a while now
Persecuting Christian brethren everywhere
Their aim they say
Is to convert everyone to their religion
But how can that be?
How can I deny my faith?
How can I let the fear of death deprive me of that City of gold?
So, I say to them
‘No, I do not deny my faith
I stand for Christ’
The torture begins
My limbs are taken off one after another
I am reminded of how we used to play as children
How we’d take the limbs off cockroaches with glee
Oh! The pain
I feel pain such as I’ve never felt before
But the alternative repulses me even more
Soon, they tire of my cries
A knife is put to my neck
I close my eyes and prepare to meet my Maker
I say a prayer for my family
I say a prayer for my country
I pray God to restore peace and sanity
The pain comes again
But only for an instant
I know the end has come
And I’m glad.
By Nten Mpama
About Author
Nten is a teenage girl who loves putting her thoughts to paper. Writing is to her what food is to the body. She is a ferocious reader and an avid lover of poetry. She also loves to bake and eat what she bakes. Her faith is probably the most important part of her life. She lives in Calabar with her family.
