When Lights Go Out in the Village
       

And the watchman
Tired from patrols
Leans on the gates

I find myself awake
In the same dream

Of goats painting
Their hooves green.

Of women, drunk
On the aroma
Of bell-peppers

Passed out
In the village square
Naked.

Of my father again
In the family shrine

Crossing himself
Then reciting

Bismillah

Hoping the floating boat
That ferries the dead
Passes by

Without dropping anchor
Outside my house.

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Copyright © 2021 Abayomi Animashaun All rights reserved
from Seahorses
Black Lawrence Press
Reprinted by Verse Daily® with permission