This Is How an African Grieves || Olusoji Obebe

 

by Olusoji Obebe

he hangs his memories like some undried linens

on the line, pegging them done with 

difficult silence. Sorrowful sighs. Rumblings as of

the skies when withholding the downpour.

as today turns to a rough sheet of paper

bearing hard exams of the past, he loses confidence

in the contents hidden in the neat folds of tomorrow,

in anything called rain on the desert where he had drilled for water.

so, what does he do?

he filters into the alcove of his home—a home that now

is a body of heavy remnants of shattered hopes,

of fainting sounds of love, of

portrait of blood plastered on each wall

and like a sand castle that

shall perish if the foot is withdrawn.

Here, a home is a beautiful place to die.

because everything beautiful dies in home.

 

Image Credit: Healing Roadmap

Born in 2003, Olusoji Obebe is an emerging Nigerian poet, essayist and fiction writer, writing from Ondo State. He was longlisted in the African Human Right Essay Competition, 2021. He was a finalist in the Voice of Peace Intercontinental Poetry and Short Story Contest, 2021. He also appeared, in the same year, as an outstanding contributor to the Sixth Chinua Achebe Poetry/Essay Anthology. Olusoji’s works have appeared in Fiery Scribe Review, Nnoko Stories and Terror House Magazine. When he is not writing, he does pencil and pen sketches. He is 'olusojiobebe' on Instagram and on Twitter, @olusoji_obebe