Monologue In Spasm
Tonight breathe
Breathe tonight
Let silence grow into a fence
into a fence let silence grow
Tonight breathe
Breathe tonight.
in the year of the lord
in the year of the lord, epitaph morph into homilies
to retell the tale of broken things, places and people.
in seclusion, tranquility stutter,
shapes into a wasteland and a slaughterhouse.
eyes redden like fiery coals
eloi eloi lama sabachthani— lord, this is a forsaken land, wrecked to the cesspool.
this land feasts on a spongy wafer dipped in vinegar;
only calvary could mumble this distress in majestic language.
flames dandle down like dreadlocks
but our taskmasters have mastered the wisdom of water;
they stuff a few mouths with cash and watch many wretch
starvation exterminate stomachs & no head rolls;
humans pocket humans &
bloodletting is how we tar our roads.
our taskmasters elected or our gun-masters, herd-lected
have become daunting stones, unmovable
rapacious with loot; bodies and stashes. & this
flurry of gore has left no door un-knocked.
in this year of the lord, this poem will/can not save a country
but will phoenix into an epitaph singing many others down beneath.
Image by vector_corp on Freepik
Ojo Olumide Emmanuel is a Nigerian Poet and Book Editor. He is the author of the Poetry Chapbook “Supplication For Years in Sands” (Polarsphere Books, 2021). He is the winner of the WeNaija Literary Contest (Non-Fiction, 2023). His work has appeared and are forthcoming at Ake Review, Feral, Quills, Poemify, Melbourne-Culture, TNR, and elsewhere. He is the Editor-in-Chief of The Nigerian Review (TNR). He is a Senior Mentor at the Hill-Top Creative Arts Foundation and he is a fellow of the SprinNG Writers Fellowship.
Twitter and Instagram @OjoOlumideEmma2
