Thursday, June 20, 2013.
OPEN BASKET
Seasons
after Seasons
Digging
out the caked earth crust
Its
clod jumping behind your back
Seasons
after Seasons
Knocking
out the rusty metal
That
shrouds the purest juice
White
orbs gawk at the varicose veins
Piercing
through quivering fingers and moldy nails
And
the thenar in red hue blisters eroding the palm lines
Under
the heat of the yellow flame is your sooty spine curved
Pushing
out drenched skinny buttocks
And
colored rain in tiny droplets fall from your wrinkled temple
Soaking
the morsel-seed.
SEASONS AFTER SEASONS
The
leaves have glistened with bubbling waters
Seasons
after Seasons
Crunchy
leaves have floated with the whirlwind
But
the plowing never stops
And
the watering never stops
For
a harvest that may never come
But
hands must toil the earth
To
put morsel in mouths
And
moisten dried wells.
Jennifer N. Mbunabo is a writer and lives in Lagos, Nigeria.