By Eniola Abdulroqeeb Arówólò
Lagos flood killed three siblings, four adults—NEMA
it is hard to imagine how water too can be a villain
wearing the face of soft rains. until there's puddles
until brothers on an errand is munched by a flood.
how swift it is for glee to alchemize into ruin without
sympathy for who carries the aftermath. when Okri
wrote famished road, he was sharing his massive
waterloo with avenues too. and sometimes, you step
on the road's tail too long you end up a bowl of dinner
somewhere far away where vultures busy themselves
with your guts. Èkó arómisá lègbe lègbe, i am learning to
escape every livid eye of the sky lest i fossilize in the calloused
palms of rain—a blessing shower i banged on God's door
once as a kid to gift me as if a parcel of birthday's present. a boy
down the street went to school some weeks ago and never returned.
they found his remains at the shore this morning. the sea that brought
him must have thought: you don't kill a flower and eat its tendrils.
or who gnashes teeth at the tiniest misery miracle of boneyard burial?
Eniola Abdulroqeeb Arówólò is a Nigerian writer and a member of the Frontiers Collective. His works have appeared—or are forthcoming—in 4faced Liar, Rulerless, Perhappened, Kissing Dynamite, Lumiere Review, Temz Review, Afritondo, Fourth River Review and elsewhere.
Twitter Handle: @eniola_abdulroq