Poem by Moses A. Uyang (Project 60, Abuja, Nigeria)

Our Skin

Your skin, my skin, our skin

I am black, you are white

You’re black, I am white                         And so what?

Our skin doesn’t talk, 

It does not hate

We talk, we hate.

When we live in a world of white, brown or black

Hispanic or Asian

Africans or Americans

Europeans or Oceanians

Then, for sure, the world has long left us behind.

We become relics of our dishonourable past.

From the North to the South

Across the oceans

Down to the arid lands

We carry a badge of shame on our existence

An insignia of prejudice and ridicule

If our hearts have no regards 

For human dignity, then

Till we leave the dungeons of our ignorance

We may not have a living spirit within

But just a statue, taking a tour around the surface of the earth 

With hate, without dignity

What a sad existence!

What a sad world we create

Choose to love!

It’s priceless