THE DESERT OF HISTORY- BY ADAIAH

Men make history 

History shapes Man’ s existence

Man studies history 

That he might keep it fluid in the veins of civilization 

But not without attrition and affliction 

Of the monuments and momentos of history

But what really is history?

Is it the playground of the wise and mighty?

Or the tale of opportunistic men 

Peharps it is the compendium of mistakes and folly

Possibly the immortalization of men.

Or the will of God cast in stone.

Maybe it’s all of that painted in a collage;

 with the colours of emotions and prejudices of men;

To create a picture that beautifies a perceived hero

And vilifies a necessary villain

A picture of contrasting landscapes

Of hills but no valleys, mountains but no molehills

Fountains but no filth, farmlands but no wastelands

And fertile lands with no deserts

But pause, take a closer look at the picture 

And in the desert lies the fertile lands.

The valleys just around the hills

And the molehills at the mountain foot

Take a closer look and you will see;

Men that were crushed in the name of history

Buried in the distorted narratives of human manipulations

Forgotten, despite their great accomplishments 

Abandoned despite the abounding efforts 

For in the race of history, 

Few make it to the muddled minds of men

And unto the pages of history

The multitudes that were part of it all

Most often end up in a place of oblivion

With no epiphets and monuments to their credit

But left to rot in the desert place of history

    Adaiah Yahaya Momoh