CONFESSIONAL: "WHAT I REMEMBERED BEFORE I DIED" BY BLACK MEMORIES

I accept the will of fate.

On a fertile land I was born

surrounded by bloomed roses.

Had I known, I would not have plucked them

They were covered with beauty

but filled with venom.

On the mountain 

where I laid to rest

Unknowingly, there were holes

where scorpions dwelt.

In a river I swam to calm myself

Unknowingly,

its calmness

was a disguise.

I drank from the bitter pot

Unknowingly,

it was a melted copper

full of thorns.

My fingertips touched the roses

they withered.

My prints are full of harm.

I remembered before I died

My flesh was sliced and served to the starved,

My blood poured in rounds

their cups like wine.

I remembered

my soul groaned in pain,

But they all smiled,

Dined and wined.

I remembered before I died

“Don’t jump the fence;

They won’t cross the gutter 

if you fall.”

My heart was so cold,

it could not notice the evil

Not until I kissed the ground.

As a worm feeds on an ant.

My flesh was dined and wined

on a sinful table filled with my sweat,

my tears

my fear

my flesh

my blood.

Before I died,I remembered

Not to pour from an empty glass.

© BLACK MEMORIES  (olaAllah ✍️)

-Nigeria

This poem is a haunting confessional piece where the speaker reflects on a life marked by betrayal, pain, and exploitation. Through stark imagery and bitter irony, they recount being used and discarded by others, likening their experiences to being surrounded by venomous roses and scorpions. The speaker's tone is one of regret and disillusionment, as they recall warnings unheeded and the cruelty of those who feasted on their suffering. The poem's powerful themes of victimization and mortality culminate in a stark message about the consequences of exploitation.