We allow the alluring
flaws in us to nourish
the soul and then marvel
at the fruits of our sowing
we set a table for two in a
corner lit by darkness and
morbid things and wonder
at the flickering shadows
our back has no shame
we cannot cover, the future
has no name we cannot
face, change or claim
we have won the wars to
come, captured the captives
freed from caged liberties
in the mind’s open prisons
we have raised our floors
to the wonders in the skies
built by our mouths and the speculations of our heart
not knowing that raised
questions never rest till the ghosts are laid in the bosom
of the lies we tell ourselves.
(c) Sumaila Umaisha
(Written on Sunday night, 19/5/24, while staring out of the window of my hotel room in Katsina)
