THIS LAND IS NOT AN HABITAT FOR US
by Enobong Ernest
in this dream
a family bends down
to
search for the body of their father
among the remains
of bomb blast
a new orphan is
soaked
in the colour of a loved one’s blood
i wake up, pleading God’s son’s blood
tv is on. newscaster is
doing mortality count
i’m reaching
for the remote. i’m
pleading more blood. compatriot,
don’t read this poem. you’ve seen it before
after bloodshed,
a national anthem instrumental
filters
out of father’s radio then
president reads speech
on rice pyramid
every time i leave my house
i think of masked men & ransom
of detonation & bullets
of psalms 91 & mother
let my
countryman open his mouth & say
that he has not incised
the name of the Lord
on his forehead
that his lungs do not feel
like a pair of explosives
let heaven send a dove here
& see if it will perch
& see if it will peck
an olive branch
in a nutshell:
we squeeze our lives into your palms, Elohim
keep it for us.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Enobong Ernest Enobong is a Nigerian poet and award-winning essayist. His poems are mostly centred on memories, psycho-social experience, humanity, Black, Africanism, and mythology. He is a Best of the Net Nominee of Arts Lounge Magazine (2021). His poem featured in the 2021 SprinNG Afro-Eros anthology To Borrow Screams from the Atmosphere. His works have appeared or are forthcoming in Praxis Magazine, Brittle Paper, Ghost City Press, The Shallow Tales Review, Arts Lounge, Acorn Haiku Journal, African Writer Magazine, Kalahari Review, Wales Haiku Journal, & elsewhere. He is a staunch believer in the power of memories, the formative years of children and the pro-African gospel of Professor P.L.O. Lumumba of Kenya. He writes from Lagos and is currently a law student at the University of Lagos, Akoka.
