Save Our Souls
C.E NNALUGHA
Poetry
Originally Published: 19 December 2025
How Long
The dining table is set
Everyone is seated
Tables, chairs, plates and cutlery
French butter, Irish whiskey, French vanilla and burgundy-coloured napkins
Pumpkin spiced coffee, Arab labeled teabags, and sliced coconut bread
Stuffed chicken coated in barbecue sauce
Pasta and meatballs
Side by side with the jar of orange juice
How long are we going to sit quiet at the dining table
Unsalted French butter does not make the pain sweeter
The Irish whiskey is not refreshing
It burns our throats filled with unsaid words
How long are we going to sit quiet at the dining table
The pumpkin spiced coffee and Arab labeled teabags
Used to complement the sliced bread
Sprinkled with tiny white lies
How long are we going to sit quiet at the dining table
Chicken stuffed with bigotry, anxiety and depression
Coated with a thick smile just like a thick cloud that conceals
How long are we going to sit quiet at the dining table
The plate of pasta stringed like a tempting suicide weapon
At least the jar of orange juice is refreshing
How long are we going to wait until death
Puts the burgundy-colored napkins over our
Necks before we speak up
How long?
How long until we save our souls?
Prelude to Save Our Souls
Muffled screams
Distorted cries and incandescent voices
Paupered souls cheering corrupt glutes
Invasion of sanity by kleptomaniac brutes
Muffled screams hoping to be heard
Save Our Souls
To the dyslexic kids in kindergarten
Who couldn’t keep up
To the stammerers who hear a simple
“How are you?” as a tug of war
To the plus-sized individuals
Who pray to survive each day without being reminded how many calories they have
To people crucified on the alter of morality because of who and who and who they choose to love
To 1965-1967
The petrified and terrified people of Eastern Nigeria
To Funmilayo Ransome Kuti being reduced to a driver
To Queen Moremi
To Queen Amina of Zaria
To colonialist Nigerians
To 20-10-20
The lives lost and misplaced fired bullets
Who ordered the shooting?
To anxiety laden individuals who turn to Jesus antidepressants
To the insecure, big nose, big teeth, stretch marks and the infinity
You are beautiful
To the Bible, the Quran and the crucifix
To the middle class being eradicated from the palms of capitalism
“The rich getting richer, the poor getting poorer”
To Naira to Deborah and to free speech
To me and to you
To the raped and assaulted
All you did was trust
All you did was try to get home at night
All you did was pray hope you’d be invincible
To the objectified and fetishised
You are a star
You are worth more than you think
To the writers who struggle with their pens and ink
Scribbling
Erasing
Erasing
To the readers who have to read the news headline
“36 million naira swallowed by a snake”
To parents who have to explain to their 4-year-old
Why they moved from their 4-bedroom apartment
To a 1-bedroom apartment
Why she hasn’t been in school in two weeks
Why father has been home more often
To families displaced to Europe
The Caribbean and the Americas
In search of good healthcare, jobs and survival
To families who just took their last family photograph
Because father used all his savings
Sending di okpala abroad to study engineering
To families who finally meet again in all black
Mourning and mourning
A burial then disperse
Save our souls
About the Poetry
The author describes the poetry as lingering in the depths carved by silence. At its heart stands the dining table, not merely as furniture but as a stage upon which distractions gather; cutlery, conversation, and the rituals of daily life; each masking the unspoken weight of trials and tribulations. The table becomes a mirror of society itself, a smaller world that reflects the larger one, with all its evasions and unhealed wounds.
The poetry journeys outward, tracing the restless footsteps of Africans who, in the pursuit of greener pastures, depart their homelands for Europe, America, Asia, and distant shores. It dwells on the rupture left behind, how the act of leaving becomes a permanent reshaping of the family fabric, leaving many bound by longing, distance, and silences that grow heavier with time.
In its final cadence, the poetry turns toward the broader currents of life: the shifting notions of identity, the ache of belonging, the weight of displacement, and the quiet strength of resilience. It asks what it means to sit at a table where voices are missing, and whether silence, in all its layers, can ever be fully broken.
The Creative
C.E NNALUGHA
Everistus Nnalugha is a lawyer and poet whose work reflects both his immediate society and the wider world. On Medium, he shares thought-provoking essays, while on Academia he publishes law-focused articles that interrogate the relationship between law, culture, power, and social responsibility. His fiction explores the human condition, often challenging norms that society has quietly taught people to accept. Through poetry shared on Instagram, he captures the layered realities of life as a Nigerian.