Rebuild

​By Maryam Sa’eed Otuh

Here is where our story begins; 
Knees scrapping ground, hands clearing the path.
We are rising from the ashes of our heroes past, 
Lost in the ocean of generations that put their wrists forward
even as the rope cut through skin and drew blood.

We swam from the middle of the sea
Our tears have mixed with the salt that surrounds us,
We reach the shore still.
This is where we begin to rebuild.
​Wood, axes, nails, and hammers,
Ink and paper too.
No nation survives on lost history

Our past heroes may not have laboured enough 
If the voices of those who dared to speak were swallowed and silenced.
But hope will rise from fear, 
And courage will find a new home. 

Ink touches paper,
Paper catches fire.  
This is how we start to rebuild,
From the ashes of our heroes' past.
Here is where our story begins.