#ENDSARSMEMORIAL: LETTER TO MY BROTHERS IN UNIFORM - A Poem by Ola Olawale
Tributes and Tears: LETTER TO MY BROTHERS IN UNIFORM
In uniform lies your power
The power to kill and mute
In uniform lies your power
The power to repress
In uniform lies your dignity
The dignity to be human
In uniform lies your courage
The courage to stand tall
If you don't know, know now that
This uniform is a symbol
This uniform is an authority
This uniform is a collective power
The power to protect not to kill
The power to serve not to exploit
The power build not to destroy
But the stories are otherwise
If you don't know
The system has caged your voice
The system has muted your tongue
The system has enslaved your mind
They make you see your brothers as enemies
And your enemies as friends
And fighting, those fighting your battle
And to what ends?
Outside the uniform
Your pains are mine
Outside the uniform
We both live among the
Wretched of the earth
From hand to mouth
The market price and bills
Has no regard for Uniform
Our needs are uniform
The Uniform makes no difference
Your children like mine are out of school
Your graduates like mine are jobless
Our roads are death trap
Our hospitals are mogul
The drop from the illicit
Won't make you any difference
Reason out of Slavery
Think outside the box
Only if you know that
Those you protect are your enemies
Those you murder on order
Are your true friends
Because they speak where you are mute by duty
Dear brothers in uniform
Join the battle for freedom
Not against it
Come to the side of Justice
Move to the side of humanity
Defend your friends
Battle along with your friends
so together we can defeat our common enemy.
Tributes and Tears: LETTER TO MY BROTHERS IN UNIFORM
In uniform lies your power
The power to kill and mute
In uniform lies your power
The power to repress
In uniform lies your dignity
The dignity to be human
In uniform lies your courage
The courage to stand tall
If you don't know, know now that
This uniform is a symbol
This uniform is an authority
This uniform is a collective power
The power to protect not to kill
The power to serve not to exploit
The power build not to destroy
But the stories are otherwise
If you don't know
The system has caged your voice
The system has muted your tongue
The system has enslaved your mind
They make you see your brothers as enemies
And your enemies as friends
And fighting, those fighting your battle
And to what ends?
Outside the uniform
Your pains are mine
Outside the uniform
We both live among the
Wretched of the earth
From hand to mouth
The market price and bills
Has no regard for Uniform
Our needs are uniform
The Uniform makes no difference
Your children like mine are out of school
Your graduates like mine are jobless
Our roads are death trap
Our hospitals are mogul
The drop from the illicit
Won't make you any difference
Reason out of Slavery
Think outside the box
Only if you know that
Those you protect are your enemies
Those you murder on order
Are your true friends
Because they speak where you are mute by duty
Dear brothers in uniform
Join the battle for freedom
Not against it
Come to the side of Justice
Move to the side of humanity
Defend your friends
Battle along with your friends
so together we can defeat our common enemy.
