Barbed Wire by Retyit Watson

Twists and turns like melon vines,

Sharp,with glistening shine under scorching heat,

Adorning the fence’s concrete like a winding crown,

The barbed wire runs to and fro, holding up space with a jagged blade.

With rust at bends, tetanus threatening,

Ripped fabric, ever terrifying,

A piece of many who have dared to climb.

Keep your feet safely within boots,

There lays barbed wire on your fence ahead.

Keep your hands fitted safely within gloves,

It cuts and slashes through soft, pulp flesh.

The barbed wire, to keep the settlements safe,

From ‘monsters’ who would dare to cross,

And you,who would dare to jump away from its ‘protective’ grasp.

Little less known if the barbed wire saves,

Or if it kills,but yes truly, it thorns the mind.

Keeps you in check,

Those behind it, know less of you,

You, on its opposite side,know less of them.

And so, barbed wire’s ignorance and arrogance,

Turns cycle after cycle.

Retyit Watson is a writer, currently studying Science Lab Technology at the university of Jos. Her poetry has appeared in the Academy of the Heart and Mind and Poems, Tales and Old English Words. When she isn't writing, she debates with friends or reads a good book.