My home is like a beaker,
where two men mixed a toxic solution.
One man came like H2O (water), clean and clear.
The other man came like C6H12O6 (glucose), sweet but deadly.

They added my mother to the mixture,
like NaOH (sodium hydroxide) to HCl (hydrochloric acid).
The reaction was explosive,
leaving my mother in an unstable motion.

The men’s words were like H2SO4 (sulfuric acid),
burning and corrosive.
They offered my mother a little naira note,
like a few grams of NaCl (sodium chloride).
She took it, not knowing the cost.
Now look at her!
She’s like CO2 (carbon dioxide),
trapped and helpless.
And here I am like H2O (water), flowing from her source.
But our bond is like H2O2 (hydrogen peroxide),
unstable and explosive.

You see men’s actions were like a chemical reaction,
unstoppable and destructive.
They mixed their lies with my mother’s trust,
creating a deadly compound:
2C8H12O6 (glucose) + 2H2SO4 (sulfuric acid)
→ C16H24O12 (deadly compound) + 2H2O (water).

Now I am the product of that reaction, a mixture of elegy,
like a solution of HCl (hydrochloric acid) and NaOH (sodium hydroxide).

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Photo by Michael Glazier on Unsplash