When the Music Stops

A poem by Stephen Emmanuel Ogboh

Photo of Anthonia Nwankwo dancing courtesy of the author

you realise you’ve been

dancing to the drums of

others — to their beats

you realise you’ve been

singing & crying to their

story-songs; sounds quite

like yours but not, just as

yours sounds like theirs

but isn’t theirs, too.

when the music stops

you learn you need to

shed your own tears

you suddenly realise

you had better find

your own song

& sing

& dance.

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For more by this author, try:

Lessons From Auntie Chidinma

A Woman’s Troubles