I was always there,
Though you never saw me.
My eyes flowed silently,
Witnessing your misdeeds.
I know all your secrets,
Every lie,
And empty promise.
I saw everything.
Day and night, I kept records—
Your whispers,
Your echoes,
Your cries,
And your daughters.
Should I be worried?
For I am powerless.
I longed to comfort you
In your days of sorrow,
To chastise you
When you erred.
But I cannot.
I am the river that flows,
Intimate with the shore’s secrets,
Watching as women bared their nakedness,
Indulging in the acts of love,
Staining my waters with their passions.
Yet I cannot reveal these truths.
Not now,
Not ever.
Here to let you know
That the octopus beneath may not know,
The tilapia may not pay attention,
But I know it all
And I see everything you try so hard to hide.
© Ifedolapo Ogunniyi
2024
Ifedolapo Ogunniyi 