Unusual days

Photo: Tayler Lyons

At first it sounded indistinct

because it came when the world was asleep

And streets devoid of men

But they woke up and saw footprints

Large, as if ingrained

So, men said God had visited earth

Whatever God is to them, maybe some gods

Who made fear roam their streets

They stayed in their camps

And spoke every day about the fear

That had enveloped their lives

The fear that walked their streets,

That drank the blood of men and ate their flesh

That dropped their skulls by the road

For vultures to clean up

They covered their nostrils with clothes,

A measure made to keep death away

And in muffled voices spoke about how uncertain life is,

How unusual each day had become

How staying indoor had made them pale

They counted figures: dead and sick men

And men who were made whole by forces they are yet to understand,

Maybe they never will

They danced with them—men who were made whole

And asked if they had been really sick,

Because they still question how true this is,

If their being sick was not an illusion

They sat by their radios and listened to the news,

They complained about their government,

And listed reasons their leaders should be dead.

They lamented about their hunger, how angry it had made them.

And maybe one morning

Who knows

They will wake up

To begin their normal lives again

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Damilola Omotoyinbo believes in the power of the pen and the positive difference it can make in our world. She has published works in Kalahari, Pelleura, Praxis, Parousia e-magazine, The Nigerian Tribune Newspaper, and elsewhere. Damilola is a 2019 Fellow of the Ebedi International Writers Residency, a YALI Alumna and a fan of Àsá. She studied Biochemistry and blogs at damilolaomotoyinbo.wordpress.com. She may be reached on Facebook @Damilola Omotoyinbo.