The Vocabulary Of A Survivor

Tue 21st Jul 2026

Ma 
pikin dem una cam ooh
No 
MaMi Satan dey for Road
Ma 
pikin dem una cam ooh
No 
MaMi gun di halla for Road
This 
is how childhood sounds in my town
Not 
stones falling on the ground
Not 
feet playing Tabala
But 
Children
Children 
memorizing escape routes
Faster 
than multiplication tables.
Children 
learning fear before learning themselves
 
We 
use to run home laughing
School 
bags bouncing behind us
Uniforms 
stained with red mud
Mouths 
full with stories.
“MaMi 
Teacher praise me today
MaMi 
na me score goal’’
 
Now?
Now 
children run home without looking back.
Ma 
pikin dem Una cam oooh
No 
MaMi bullet di fall for road
 
A 
sound that never asks for permission
Just 
one bullet
And 
a whole sentence ends
Maybe 
Jesus was talking to my town
11 
years fit be Jerusalem too
“Una 
no must cry for me
Una 
must cry for una self and una pikin
Forseka 
big trouble way go fall for una country”
           And trouble came
 
Suddenly
Every 
mother in the quarter
is 
counting heads instead of blessings
     Tell me
What 
kind of a place
Teaches 
a child to recognize danger
By 
sound alone?
This 
one means run
This 
one means hide
This 
one means someone won’t return tonight
           Still at dawn
Mothers 
tie their wrapper tightly
With 
courage on their heads
Beside 
bucket of tomatoes
Fathers 
clear their throat, pretend strength
So 
children don’t inherit fear early.
 
 
Children 
still try to play
Even 
if games ends faster
Even 
if Laughter stays small
Not 
to attract the wrong attention
Conflict 
has changed my town
Roads 
walk differently
Nights 
breathe differently
Silence 
feels like it is listening to something
But 
the saddest thing?
Is 
not the sound of gunfire
It 
is hearing children speak
Fear 
like it is Ordinary
Ma 
pikin dem una cam ooh
No 
MaMi school no open
No 
MaMi road no safe
No 
MaMi we hear sound for outside
Somewhere 
in this wounded place
Hope 
refuses to die
Because 
mothers still cook for tomorrow
Teachers 
still keep registers
Children 
still draw suns
At 
the corner of their notebooks
     So NO
My 
town is not chaos
It 
is resilience
It 
is people
Holding 
each other Softly
While 
the world forgets to be friendly
 
 
Ma 
pikin dem una cam oooh
 
 
And 
every night now
Mothers 
wait at their doors
Praying 
with open arms the answer will be
 
YES 
MAMI
WE 
DON CAM BACK!!!