WHERE SORROWS ARE DROWNED

WHERE SORROWS ARE DROWNED

Under the masquerade tree

The one not far from my perch,

The place where dead butterflies find peace,

And lost souls find solace,

I buried my sorrows with leaves at night.

They moan at night over my house

Like night runners in the streets of Kenya, 

They don't scream; instead, they cry and shed tears

Of buried memories and forgotten happiness—

Enchanting famines and vultures feasting on proteins;

Of scarred virgins and wandering widows;

Of countries that never be and will never be;

Of the protruding belly of a war child;

Of natives of nowhere but their home;

These noises and moanings make my heart restless

And my brain lost its greyness—its peace.

                                     I woke up this morning and unburdened the trees                                     

I filled my head up with all the dross

And set out on a fulfilling journey. 

Even though my head smells like a scented offal,

I held my head in my hands and journeyed

Through disturbing winds and angry breezes

I heard them say water is therapeutic

And the sand beneath it washes away

Stains on metal-rounded properties 

I pleaded with the winds to transport me through their anger 

And the breezes through their pain

And I appeared in the middle of nowhere.

I took my head off and showed it to the hanging bulbs above the water,

I watched as the greyness of my brain restored itself

And my worries and scarred memories dissipated

Into the vengeful water rushing towards me to find peace,

And they did find peace by accepting my sorrows

And drowning them in pure salt and sand for cleansing

Just like a metal pot or kettle. 

Now I know where to empty pains and sorrows,

At the lost island where no birds sing;

Where market women and men exchange vows;

Where love may never find its way;

Where the open sky is prayed to by escaping demons

And the sorrowful bank wants nothing but gushing chaos;

Solemn coldness and a wet nose

This is the place where sorrows are drowned.

 

©ODUNEWU ABDULHAKEEM