The Right To Belong

Photo Courtesy: UNHCR

I belong

I'm stateless no more

I waited

For so long

And patience paid

Me in my own coin

I found my own spot

The lots

Have fallen for me

In pleasant places

I've touched base,

My own personal space

No longer faceless

No longer nameless

I have a nationality

That translates as an identity

No longer on the run

No longer dodging bombs

It's easy to begin

Again when you found reprieve

I belong

And it's been long

But my travail has come

To a veritable end

Now the climax begins

In a tale of new beginnings,

Of hope swelling

Within a soul once

Forlorn and crushed

And emptied of hope

I belong and that's a reason

To believe in hope

I can stand on my two feet

And pounce on the wind

Boy above all

I belong.

Akpan